AIDS

The Making of a Chronic Disease

Elizabeth Fee, Daniel M. Fox, Elizabeth Fee, Daniel M. Fox

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN:
  9780520075696
• eBook ISBN:
  9780520912441
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: North American History

When AIDS was first recognized in 1981, most experts believed that it was a plague, a virulent unexpected disease. They thought AIDS, as a plague, would resemble the great epidemics of the past: it would be devastating but would soon subside, perhaps never to return. By the middle 1980s, however, it became increasingly clear that AIDS was a chronic infection, not a classic plague.

In this follow-up to AIDS: The Burdens of History, editors Elizabeth Fee and Daniel M. Fox present essays that describe how AIDS has come to be regarded as a chronic disease. Representing diverse fields and professions, the twenty-three contributors to this work use historical methods to analyze politics and public policy, human rights issues, and the changing populations with HIV infection. They examine the federal government's testing of drugs for cancer and HIV, and show how the policy makers' choice of a specific historical model (chronic disease versus plague) affected their decisions. A powerful photo essay reveals the strengths of women from various backgrounds and lifestyles who are coping with HIV. A sensitive account of the complex relationships of the gay community to AIDS is included. Finally, several contributors provide a sampling of international perspectives on the impact of AIDS in other nations.


When AIDS was first recognized in 1981, most experts believed that it was a plague, a virulent unexpected disease. They thought AIDS, as a plague, would resemble the great epidemics of the past: it would be devastating but would soon subside, perhaps neve

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction: The Contemporary Historiography of AIDS Elizabeth Fee and Daniel M. Fox
• AIDS and Beyond: Defining the Rules for Viral Traffic Stephen S. Morse
• Causes, Cases, and Cohorts: The Role of Epidemiology in the Historical Construction of AIDS Gerald M. Oppenheimer
• The Mass-Mediated Epidemic: The Politics of AIDS on the Nightly Network News Timothy E. Cook and David C. Colby
• The Politics of HIV Infection: 1989-1990 as Years of Change Daniel M. Fox
• The AIDS Litigation Project: A National Review of Court and Human Rights Commission Decisions on Discrimination Larry Gostin
• The History of Transfusion AIDS: Practice and Policy Alternatives Harvey M. Sapolsky and Stephen L. Bostvell
• Scientific Rigor and Medical Realities: Placebo Trials in Cancer and AIDS Research David J. Rothman and Harold Edgar
• Entering the Second Decade: The Politics of Prevention, the Politics of Neglect Ronald Bayer
• Until That Last Breath: Women with AIDS Ann Meredith
• Riding the Tiger: AIDS and the Gay Community Robert A. Padgug and Gerald M. Oppenheimer
• The First City: HIV among Intravenous Drug Users in New York City Don C. Des Jaríais, Samuel R. Friedman, and Jo L. Sotheran
• AIDS Policies in the United Kingdom: A Preliminary Analysis Virginia Berridge and Philip Strong
• Foreign Blood and Domestic Politics: The Issue of AIDS in Japan James W. Dearing
• Medical Research on AIDS in Africa: A Historical Perspective Randall M. Packard and Paul Epstein
• AIDS and HIV Infection in the Third World: A First World Chronicle Paula A. Treichler
• Notes on Contributors
• Index