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World AIDS Day: a look back at 40 years of the fight against HIV
Discovered in 1983, HIV caused a massacre at a time when no treatment yet existed. Triple therapies today make it possible to live with one’s HIV status, although the fight against the virus remains relevant. – (franceinfo)
Discovered in 1983, HIV caused a massacre at a time when no treatment yet existed. Triple therapies today make it possible to live with one’s HIV status, although the fight against the virus remains relevant.
In March 1981, a mysterious illness struck the United States. It manifests itself by the appearance of spots on the skin and quickly leads to death. It also appears in France. “We were helpless because we were hardly trained for anything. We announced 11 months of survival, it was extremely complicated”, recalls Gilles Pialoux, head of the infectious diseases department at Tenon hospital in Paris. It is the beginning of a massacre. No treatment, and unanswered questions about the mode of transmission. “Usually, they got sick and ended up in the hospital. They reached what is considered today, now that we know everything, as the final stage”remembers Hugues Fischer, former president of Act-Up Paris.
PreP use increased by 31% in one year
In 1983, a French team from the Pasteur Institute led by researcher Montagnier discovered the HIV virus, responsible for AIDS. The disease is scary and the sick are singled out. The only way to protect yourself: a condom. If the French adapt, the 90s are the deadliest, until the arrival of triple therapies. 30 years later, it is estimated that around 200,000 HIV-positive people are living with the disease thanks to effective HIV treatment.
