January
On January 15–during a snowstorm that shut down the government–the
second AIDS patient seen at NIH was admitted to the National Institute
of Allergy and Infectious Diseases service (NIAID) and was seen by
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci. |
March
On March 3, a conference on the new disease was held by the U.S. Public
Health Service (PHS) at the CDC in Atlanta. Debate centered on whether
the disease was caused by a transmissible or immune-suppressing agent(s). |
March
NIAID intramural scientists conducted a study of adenovirus in patients
with the new disease. |
March
NCI established an Epidemiology Working Group on Kaposi’s Sarcoma. |
April
NCI intramural researchers conducted a field study to determine the
immunological status of healthy homosexual men. |
April
NIAID intramural scientists studied immunoregulatory defects, herpes
virus isolates, and Epstein-Barr virus and cytomegalovirus in patients
with the new disease. |
April
Rep. Henry Waxman, congressman from Los Angeles, held the first congressional
hearing on the new disease. The CDC estimated that tens of thousands
of people would be affected by the disease. |
June
NIH Clinical Center (CC) protocol approved to study etiology of immunoregulatory
defects in the new disease as a collaborative effort among CC departments,
NIAID, NCI, National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Communicative
Disorders and Stroke (NINCDS), National Institute of Dental Research
(NIDR), National Eye Institute (NEI), and the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA). |
June
An NIH Working Group to study the new disease was established with
representatives from each institute and liaisons from the CDC and
FDA. |
June
NINCDS investigators provided clinical appraisal of neurological symptoms
in CC protocols. |
June
NINCDS collaborated on studies of simian AIDS. |
June
The National Library of Medicine (NLM) began to compile a bibliography
on manifestations of the new disease. |
June
On June 30, persuasive evidence that the disease was caused by an
infectious agent was presented at a meeting held at the New York Department
of Health: cases had been reported in intravenous drug users, homosexuals,
hemophiliacs, and Haitians. |
July 15
The CDC reported 413 cases of the new disease in the United States
with 155 deaths. |
July 27
At a meeting in Washington, DC, attended by federal officials, university
researchers, community activists, and others, the name “acquired
immune deficiency syndrome,” or AIDS, was selected for the new
disease. |
August
NCI issued a Request for Applications (RFA) for research projects
related to AIDS. Six grants for this RFA were awarded by NCI and NIAID
in May 1983. |
September
The CDC reported 593 cases of AIDS in the United States with 243 deaths. |
September
The CDC defined a case of AIDS as a disease, at least moderately predictive
of a defect in cell-mediated immunity, occurring in a person with
no known cause for diminished resistance to that disease. |
November
The CDC published formal recommendations for the protection of laboratory
and clinical personnel having contact with AIDS patients and clinical
specimens. The recommendations were based on those for hepatitis B. |
November
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) signed an intra-agency
agreement with CDC to evaluate immunological alterations following
transfusion with blood or blood products in people with hemophilia,
sickle-cell disease, and thalassemia. |
December
The CDC reported a case of AIDS caused by blood transfusion in a previously
healthy infant. |
December
NIH’s intramural study of the natural history of the immunodeficiency
and consequent opportunistic infections had enrolled 25 patients with
AIDS |
