Identify the oldest case of AIDS

1990/10/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Osasuna

The case of the first person who died of AIDS was recorded in the 1950s. Researchers at the University of Manchester (England) discovered evidence of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) in the textile genetic material of a 25-year-old Caucasian marine who died of pneumonia in 1959.

The first cases of AIDS infection were those of three members of a Norwegian family. AIDS was contaminated in the 1960s and died in 1976. AIDS antibodies were first found in the blood sample received in 1959 from a Zaire patient, but in this case there is no evidence that the patient died from AIDS.

The new discovery will not entail a review of AIDS epidemiology, but experts consider that AIDS has been in Africa for at least 30 or 40 years. In the case that researchers carry out studies with delay in time, some case of AIDS may appear. For AIDS infection testing, Manchester researchers used the reaction of polymerase chains (PCR). This technique allows to follow the footprint of large quantities of genetic material, in this case the probatory DNA.

The genetic material, amplified and based on DNA, allows to determine its identity. One of the disadvantages of the reaction of these chains is their sensitivity to contaminants. This is one of the reasons why false results have been obtained in the past. On this occasion, the researchers have carefully carried out their trials and have obtained the same results in different textile samples.

Unfortunately, we have little information about this sailor: his medical history and the countries he visited before 1959 are not known.