Word: viruses
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...blemishes on the CDC's record involves an epidemic that never happened. In 1976, swine flu broke out at Fort Dix, N.J., killing one soldier. Health officials worried about the similarity of the virus to one that had caused the deadly 1918 influenza pandemic that killed more than 500,000 Americans. At President Gerald Ford's urging, a $100 million program was rushed into being to immunize people across the country. Not only did no epidemic break out, but 100 or so people came down with a syndrome, apparently connected to the vaccines, that caused partial paralysis. Ninety million unused...
Then came another clue: reports of drug abusers, most of them heterosexual, coming down with AIDS. This added credence to the theory that a virus or some other infectious agent, transmitted by dirty needles as well as by sexual contact, might be the cause. This conjecture was supported by evidence that sexual partners of drug users, and even a few children of those with the disease, had contracted what seemed to be AIDS. So had a few hemophiliacs and blood-transfusion recipients. One baby in San Francisco with symptoms of AIDS, it was discovered, had been given blood from...
Based on what is known so far, two theories have emerged. One is that AIDS is caused by a specific agent, most probably a virus. "The infectious-agent hypothesis is much stronger than it was months ago," says Curran, reflecting the prevailing opinion at CDC. NIH Researcher Fauci, who staunchly believes that the culprit is a virus, has been collecting helper T-cells from AIDS victims to look for bits of viruses within their genetic codes. So far, however, this and other complex methods of detecting viruses have yielded nothing conclusive. Suspicion focuses on two viruses: one is a member...
...other theory is that the immune system of AIDS victims is simply overpowered by the assault of a variety of infections. Both drug users and active homosexuals are continually bombarded by a gallery of illnesses. Repeated exposure to the herpes virus, or to sperm entering the blood after anal intercourse, can lead to elevated levels of suppressor Tcells. The immune system eventually is so badly altered that, as one researcher puts it, "the whole thing explodes." Other experts combine the two theories, speculating that a new virus may indeed be involved, but that it only takes hold when a combination...
Nevertheless, optimism is tempered by knowledge that the struggle against disease never ends. Of the deadly African Ebola virus, Foege says: "What keeps it from spreading here? I don't know." Thus research work on Ebola at Atlanta's Maximum Containment Lab goes on. Another potential threat is a subviral particle that combines with the hepatitis-B virus to cause more severe infections and liver cancer. Discovered in 1977, this so-called Delta agent is starting to show up in high-risk groups, including some of the same ones who develop AIDS. Even the victory over smallpox permits no complacency...