History

In the early 1980s, doctors in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco began seeing young men with Kaposi's Sarcoma, a cancer usually associated with elderly men of Mediterranean ethnicity.

Eventually these men died.

These men were gay, or at least had male-male sex.

As the realization that men who had male-male sex were dying of an otherwise rare cancer began to spread throughout the medical communities, the syndrome began to be called by the colloquialism "gay cancer".

As medical scientists discovered that the syndrome included other manifestations, such as pneumocystis pneumonia, (PCP), a rare form of fungal pneumonia, its name was changed to "GRID", or Gay Related Immune Deficiency.

This had an effect of boosting homophobia and adding stigma to homosexuality in the general public, particularly since it seemed that unprotected anal intercourse seemed to be the prevalent way of spreading the disease.

Within the medical community, it quickly became apparent that the disease was not specific to gay men (as blood transfusion patients, heroin users, heterosexual women, bisexual people and newborn babies became added to the list of afflicted), and the CDC renamed the syndrome AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) in 1982.

Public perception

A popular misconception holds that the disease was introduced by a gay flight attendant named Gaetan Dugas, referred to as "Patient Zero".

However, subsequent research has revealed that there were cases of AIDS much earlier than initially known.

It has also been theorized that a series of inoculations against hepatitis that were performed in the gay community of San Francisco were tainted with HIV.

Although there was a high correlation between recipients of that vaccination and initial cases of AIDS, this theory has never been proven.

One of the best-known works on the history of HIV is And the Band Played On, by Randy Shilts.

Shilts contends that Ronald Reagan's administration dragged its feet in dealing with the crisis due to homophobia, thus allowing the disease to spread and hundreds of thousands of people to needlessly die.

This resulted in the formation of ACT-UP, the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power by Larry Kramer.

Shilts also details the fact that the Red Cross refused to ban bisexual and gay men from donating blood at the request of the Centers for Disease Control early in the discovery of the epidemic to keep the blood bank industry from suffering shortages.

Thus, tens of thousands of hemophiliacs and transfusion recipients were infected and died.

Activists and critics of current AIDS policies allege that another preventable impediment to the attack on the disease was the academic elitism of  "celebrity" scientists.

Robert Gallo, an American scientist who was one of many to try to attempt to figure out if there was some kind of new virus in the people who were affected with the disease, became embroiled in a legal battle with French scientist Luc Montagnier trying to do the same thing.

Gallo, too, appeared hung up on the possible connection between the virus causing AIDS and HTLV, a retrovirus that he had worked with previously.

Critics claim that because some scientists (and biological research companies) wanted glory and fame, this held up progress on research and more people needlessly died.

Eventually, after meeting, the French scientists and Gallo agreed to "share" the discovery of HIV.

Publicity campaigns were started in attempts to counter the often vitriolic and homophobic perception of AIDS as a "gay plague".

In particular this included the Ryan White case, the red ribbon campaigns, the celebrity dinners, the film of And the Band Played On, sex education programs in schools, television advertisements, etc.

Announcements by various celebrities that they had contracted AIDS (including basketball star Magic Johnson and tennis player Arthur Ashe) were significant in making the general public aware of the dangers of the disease to people of all sexual orientations.

Current status

The CDC reports that of all AIDS cases in 2003 in the United States,

• 48% were tracked back to male-to-male contact, (60% African-American men, 15% Caucasian men)

•27% were tracked back to male-to-female contact and intravenous drug use,

• 7% were tracked back to male-to-male contact and intravenous drug use,

• 16% tracked back to male-to-female contact, and

• 2% were tracked back to other causes, including hemophilia, blood transfusion, perinatal, and risk not reported or not identified.

As of 2005 HIV cases in the United States are disproportionately high among the African American community, according to the CDC.

A recently released report stated that 52 percent of new cases involved African-Americans while according to the 2000 Census they make-up about 12 percent of the general population.

African-American men are four times more likely to be infected with HIV during male-male contact compared to their Caucasian counterparts, of the 48% of new cases traced back to such contact 60% occurred between African-Americans, whereas Caucasians accounted for 15% (CDC).

Black women account for 72% of the female cases in the United States regardless of infection method, while white women make up 18% and Hispanic women 8.5%.[3]

President George W. Bush asked Congress for increased spending on HIV education focusing on the African American community during his 2005 State of the Union address:

"African-Americans make up 54 percent of annual new infections, though they are just 13 percent of the population.

African Americans account for two-thirds of new AIDS cases among teens, but are only 15 percent of the national teen population."

A recent study by Rand Corp. and Oregon State University reported that half of African-Americans in the United States believe AIDS was man-made, more than one-quarter said they believed AIDS was produced in a government laboratory and 12 percent believed it was created and spread by the CIA.

The study was published in the February 1, 2005 edition of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. 

TESTO PARALLELO INCASELLATO
Scopri come è facile capire l'inglese se c'è a fianco la traduzione parallela incasellata!

History

 Storia

In the early 1980s, doctors in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco began seeing young men with Kaposi's Sarcoma, a cancer usually associated with elderly men of Mediterranean ethnicity.

Agli inizi degli anni '80, i medici di Los Angeles, New York e San Francisco iniziarono a vedere dei giovani di sesso maschile con il sarcoma di Kaposi, un tumore associato [solitamente] a uomini anziani di etnia mediterranea.

Eventually these men died.

Alla fine questi giovani morirono.

These men were gay, or at least had male-male sex.

Questi uomini erano gay o comunque avevano avuto rapporti di tipo omosessuale.

As the realization that men who had male-male sex were dying of an otherwise rare cancer began to spread throughout the medical communities, the syndrome began to be called by the colloquialism "gay cancer".

Mentre la nozione che uomini che avevano effettuato pratiche omosessuali stavano morendo di una forma di cancro altrimenti rara iniziava a diffondersi attraverso le comunità mediche, la sindrome incominciò ad essere chiamata con l’espressione familiare di “cancro dei gay”.

As medical scientists discovered that the syndrome included other manifestations, such as pneumocystis pneumonia, (PCP), a rare form of fungal pneumonia, its name was changed to "GRID", or Gay Related Immune Deficiency.

Man mano che i ricercatori scoprivano che la sindrome comprendeva altri fenomeni patologici come la polmonite pneumocistica, (PCP), una rara forma di polmonite da fungo, il suo nome fu cambiato in “GRID”, o "immunodeficienza collegata all'omosessualità maschile".

This had an effect of boosting homophobia and adding stigma to homosexuality in the general public, particularly since it seemed that unprotected anal intercourse seemed to be the prevalent way of spreading the disease.

Ciò ebbe l'effetto di amplificare l’omofobia e di aggiungere un’impronta infamante all’omosessualità nell’opinione pubblica, soprattutto perché sembrava che i rapporti anali non protetti fossero la via di diffusione prevalente della malattia.

Within the medical community, it quickly became apparent that the disease was not specific to gay men (as blood transfusion patients, heroin users, heterosexual women, bisexual people and newborn babies became added to the list of afflicted), and the CDC renamed the syndrome AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) in 1982.

All'interno della comunità medica divenne rapidamente manifesto che la malattia non era specifica degli omosessuali di sesso maschile (mano a mano che pazienti che avevano ricevuto trasfusioni di sangue, consumatori di eroina, donne eterosessuali, persone bisessuali e neonati si aggiungevano all'elenco dei contagiati), e nel 1982 il CDC rinominò la sindrome in AIDS (sindrome da immunodeficienza acquisita).

Public perception

Percezione pubblica

A popular misconception holds that the disease was introduced by a gay flight attendant named Gaetan Dugas, referred to as "Patient Zero".

Un pregiudizio popolare ritiene che la malattia fu introdotta da un assistente di volo omosessuale di nome Gaetan Dugas, chiamato “Paziente Zero”.

However, subsequent research has revealed that there were cases of AIDS much earlier than initially known.

Tuttavia ricerche successive hanno appurato che ci furono casi di AIDS molto prima di quanto inizialmente si era pensato.

It has also been theorized that a series of inoculations against hepatitis that were performed in the gay community of San Francisco were tainted with HIV.

Si è anche teorizzato che una serie di vaccinazioni contro l’epatite effettuate nella comunità gay di San Francisco siano state contaminate con l’HIV.

Although there was a high correlation between recipients of that vaccination and initial cases of AIDS, this theory has never been proven.

Anche se esisteva un’alta correlazione tra i destinatari di quelle vaccinazioni e i primi casi di AIDS, questa teoria non è mai stata provata.

One of the best-known works on the history of HIV is And the Band Played On, by Randy Shilts.

Una delle opere più conosciute sulla storia dell’HIV è “E la banda continuava a suonare” di Randy Shilts. 

Shilts contends that Ronald Reagan's administration dragged its feet in dealing with the crisis due to homophobia, thus allowing the disease to spread and hundreds of thousands of people to needlessly die.

Shilts sostiene che l’amministrazione di Ronald Reagan tardò ad affrontare il problema a causa del suo pregiudizio omofobico, il che consentì alla malattia di diffondersi e di far morire centinaia di migliaia di persone che avrebbero potuto salvarsi.

This resulted in the formation of ACT-UP, the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power by Larry Kramer.

Questo fatto determinò la costituzione di ACT-UP (datti da fare, reagisci!), la Aids Coalition To Unleash Power di Larry Kramer.

Shilts also details the fact that the Red Cross refused to ban bisexual and gay men from donating blood at the request of the Centers for Disease Control early in the discovery of the epidemic to keep the blood bank industry from suffering shortages.

Shilts spiega anche che la Croce Rossa si rifiutò di impedire a bisessuali e uomini gay di donare sangue su richiesta dei Centri per il Controllo della Malattia nei primi tempi in cui fu scoperta l’epidemia per evitare all'industria delle banche del sangue di incorrere in mancanza di prodotto.

Thus, tens of thousands of hemophiliacs and transfusion recipients were infected and died.

Così decine di migliaia di emofiliaci e di destinatari delle trasfusioni furono infettati e morirono.

Activists and critics of current AIDS policies allege that another preventable impediment to the attack on the disease was the academic elitism of  "celebrity" scientists.

Attivisti e critici delle politiche attuali sull’AIDS asseriscono che un altro ostacolo che si poteva prevenire nella guerra all'AIDS fu l’elitismo accademico di alcuni "divi" della scienza.

Robert Gallo, an American scientist who was one of many to try to attempt to figure out if there was some kind of new virus in the people who were affected with the disease, became embroiled in a legal battle with French scientist Luc Montagnier trying to do the same thing.

Robert Gallo, uno scienziato americano che fu uno dei tanti a cercare di individuare se vi fosse qualche sorta di nuovo virus in coloro che erano stati contagiati dalla malattia, fu coinvolto in una battaglia legale con lo scienziato francese Luc Montagnier che stava tentando di fare la stessa cosa.

Gallo, too, appeared hung up on the possible connection between the virus causing AIDS and HTLV, a retrovirus that he had worked with previously.

Anche Gallo sembrava innamorato dell'idea che vi fosse una possibile connessione fra il virus che provoca l’AIDS e l’HTLV, un retrovirus che aveva studiato precedentemente.

Critics claim that because some scientists (and biological research companies) wanted glory and fame, this held up progress on research and more people needlessly died.

I critici affermano che siccome alcuni scienziati (e le aziende di ricerca biologica) cercavano gloria e fama, ciò abbia ostacolato il progresso della ricerca e molta gente sia morta per questo.

Eventually, after meeting, the French scientists and Gallo agreed to "share" the discovery of HIV.

Finalmente, dopo essersi incontrati, gli scienziati francesi e Gallo acconsentirono "a condividere" la scoperta dell’HIV.

Publicity campaigns were started in attempts to counter the often vitriolic and homophobic perception of AIDS as a "gay plague".

Furono [anche] intraprese delle campagne pubblicitarie nel tentativo di neutralizzare la percezione deformante ed omofobica dell’AIDS come “peste dei gay”.

In particular this included the Ryan White case, the red ribbon campaigns, the celebrity dinners, the film of And the Band Played On, sex education programs in schools, television advertisements, etc.

Tra di esse figurano in particolare il caso Ryan White, le campagne del fiocco rosso, le cene con personaggi famosi, il film “E La banda continuava a suonare”, programmi di educazione sessuale a scuola, spot televisivi, ecc.

Announcements by various celebrities that they had contracted AIDS (including basketball star Magic Johnson and tennis player Arthur Ashe) were significant in making the general public aware of the dangers of the disease to people of all sexual orientations.

La rivelazione da parte di vari personaggi famosi che avevano contratto l’AIDS (compresa la stella del basket Magic Johnson e il giocatore di tennis Arthur Ashe) fu importante nel rendere consapevole il grande pubblico dei rischi che la malattia comporta per le persone di qualsiasi orientamento sessuale.

Current status

Lo stato attuale

The CDC reports that of all AIDS cases in 2003 in the United States,

La CDC riporta che di tutti i casi di AIDS nel 2003 negli Stati Uniti:

• 48% were tracked back to male-to-male contact, (60% African-American men, 15% Caucasian men)

• il 48% è addebitabile a rapporti omosessuali maschili (60% uomini di ceppo afroamericano, 15% uomini di razza caucasica)

•27% were tracked back to male-to-female contact and intravenous drug use,

• il 27% è addebitabile a rapporti eterosessuali e uso endovenoso di droghe,

• 7% were tracked back to male-to-male contact and intravenous drug use,

• il 7% è addebitabile a rapporti omosessuali maschili e uso endovenoso di droghe,

• 16% tracked back to male-to-female contact, and

• il 16% è addebitabile a rapporti eterosessuali e

• 2% were tracked back to other causes, including hemophilia, blood transfusion, perinatal, and risk not reported or not identified.

•  il 2% è addebitabile ad altre cause, incluse emofilia, trasfusione di sangue, perinatalità e rischi non segnalati o non identificati

As of 2005 HIV cases in the United States are disproportionately high among the African American community, according to the CDC.

A partire dal 2005 negli Stati Uniti i casi di HIV risultano essere sproporzionatamente numerosi nella comunità afroamericana, secondo la CDC.

A recently released report stated that 52 percent of new cases involved African-Americans while according to the 2000 Census they make-up about 12 percent of the general population.

Un rapporto pubblicato di recente asserisce che il 52% dei nuovi casi riguarda gli afroamericani mentre secondo il censimento del 2000 essi costituiscono [solo] circa il 12% di tutta la popolazione.

African-American men are four times more likely to be infected with HIV during male-male contact compared to their Caucasian counterparts, of the 48% of new cases traced back to such contact 60% occurred between African-Americans, whereas Caucasians accounted for 15% (CDC).

Gli afroamericani maschi hanno quattro volte più probabilità di infettarsi di HIV durante un rapporto omosessuale rispetto ai maschi di origine caucasica, del 48% dei nuovi casi addebitabili a tali rapporti il 60% si è verificato fra gli afroamericani, mentre i caucasici hanno rappresentato il 15% (CDC).

Black women account for 72% of the female cases in the United States regardless of infection method, while white women make up 18% and Hispanic women 8.5%.[3]

Le donne nere rappresentano il 72% dei casi di HIV femminile negli Stati Uniti, senza prendere in considerazione le modalità di contagio, mentre le donne bianche costituiscono il 18% e le ispaniche l’ 8,5%.

President George W. Bush asked Congress for increased spending on HIV education focusing on the African American community during his 2005 State of the Union address:

Il presidente George W. Bush ha chiesto al congresso di incrementare la spesa per l'educazione anti-HIV riferita  alla comunità afroamericana nel suo discorso sullo Stato dell'Unione tenuto nel 2005:

"African-Americans make up 54 percent of annual new infections, though they are just 13 percent of the population.

"Gli afroamericani costituiscono il 54% delle nuove infezioni annuali, benché siano appena il 13% della popolazione.

African Americans account for two-thirds of new AIDS cases among teens, but are only 15 percent of the national teen population."

Gli afroamericani rappresentano i due terzi dei nuovi casi di AIDS fra gli adolescenti, ma sono soltanto il 15% della popolazione adolescente nazionale."

A recent study by Rand Corp. and Oregon State University reported that half of African-Americans in the United States believe AIDS was man-made, more than one-quarter said they believed AIDS was produced in a government laboratory and 12 percent believed it was created and spread by the CIA.

Uno studio recente della Rand Corp. e dell’Oregon State University ha segnalato che la metà degli afroamericani degli Stati Uniti crede che l’AIDS sia stato creato dall’uomo, più di un quarto crede che l’AIDS sia stato prodotto in un laboratorio governativo e il 12% crede che sia stato creato e propagato dalla CIA.

The study was published in the February 1, 2005 edition of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.

Lo studio è stato pubblicato nel numero del 1° febbraio 2005 del “Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes”. (Rivista delle sindromi da immunodeficienza acquisita)