PYC 2601 ASSIGNMENT 1

PREVIEW OF QUESTION 1 The world first became aware of a new disease in June 1981 when the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta in the USA pronounced the occurrence of not only an exceedingly rare form of pneumonia (Pneumocystis pneumonia or PCP, then called Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia) but also of a very uncommon type of cancer (Kaposi’s sarcoma) in five young homosexual men in Los Angeles. Scientists were baffled by this new disease because the causes and the modes of transmission were unknown. Initially, it was thought that this disease only affected homosexual men, but, by the end of 1981, PCP was also diagnosed in haemophiliacs, people who inject drugs and Haitian immigrants in the USA. In 1982 this new disease was named ‘Aids’ or acquired ‘immunodeficiency syndrome’ This study source was downloaded by from CourseH on :54:16 GMT -05:00 This study resource was s