[ad_1]
Forty years ago. It was December 1980 when a researcher at the University of California, working on immune system deficiencies, began to study the case of a young patient suffering from a rare case of pneumonia, the Pneumocystis Carinii. He became suspicious because this form of infection, then, only affected premature babies and immunosuppressed people.
Many other diagnoses of the same type followed, again in the US The number of sick and deceased people increased. The research machine, in the laboratories, was put into operation: in less than two years it was discovered that the person responsible was a virus. I was Winter, it was the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Tomorrow, December 1, will be the World Day dedicated to the disease (Toll free number of the Institute of Health: 800861061).
Covid, cortisone yes (after 72 hours) and without heparin and supplements: the CTS protocol for home care
In June 1981 I was specializing in infectious diseases when the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published in its bulletin the report that between October 1980 and May 1981 three different hospitals in Los Angeles had observed five young men. , all homosexual, with Pneumocystis Carinii pneumonia. I began to follow the evolution of the situation, although the companions labeled it as the American of always ”. Tell Giuseppe Ippolito today Scientific Director of the Spallanzani Institute in Rome.
Was the alarm not immediately understood?
“In Italy, the perception of the problem was low, if not non-existent. But not for those who, with me, followed the phenomenon like Fernando Aiuti, Donato Greco, Giovanni Rezza, Giovanni Rossi, Mauro Moroni. From 1984 the disease began to grow. And the wards were occupied by young, serious patients for whom there were no effective treatments. Only then did politics perceive the problem that it had underestimated despite requests from doctors and patient associations ”.
Are you concerned about the 2,531 new cases in 2019 40 years later?
“Fortunately we are far from the data of the past. The number of new HIV infections is two-thirds of that of 2012. This is cause for satisfaction. The decline has been greater in the last two years despite the absence of prevention campaigns.
The infection seems to be rejuvenating, right?
«The new diagnoses are mostly related to the age group 25 to 29 as shown by the data from the Higher Institute of Health. There is a perception of a disease that is no longer fatal, that it is treatable. All associated with a growing irresponsibility of young people.
One in three people get sick much later than when they were infected, why?
“The percentage of people who are late for diagnosis is higher than the European average. The concentration of cases in Lombardy, Tuscany and Lazio ».
Hope for the vaccine seems to have faded. Treatments, on the other hand, allow patients to live with the disease. Very well?
“The infection was a death sentence in the 1980s.
But then, in the mid-1990s, antiretroviral drugs came along that changed the history of the disease. One of the greatest discoveries in the treatment of infectious diseases. These drugs have paved the way for other antivirals, such as those for hepatitis C. “
Is it true that if a patient is well cared for, they no longer transmit the virus?
“If the patient scrupulously follows the treatments, also respecting the times taken, it is possible that the virus is unidentifiable in the blood in almost all cases. And if the virus is not detectable, it is usually not transmitted.
An appeal to the young?
«Responsibility and respect. They are used for all infectious diseases, both for AIDS and for Covid.
Last update: 10:33
© REPRODUCTION RESERVED
[ad_2]
