Thirty-five years ago this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a report on five cases of a mysterious lung infection in previously healthy men in Los Angeles. No one could imagine the devastating loss of human life that would follow that first article.
The doctor who took care of the patients and wrote the report was Dr. Michael Gottlieb, an immunologist at UCLA. Right after his article was published, physicians from New York, San Francisco and other cities across the country began reporting patients suffering and dying with similar symptoms.
The cause was a mystery for the medical community. It took two more years after Gottlieb’s report before scientists discovered the men suffered from AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome), caused by a new virus the medical community called HIV.
With Gottlieb’s initial case report, the era of the AIDS epidemic had officially begun.
Three decades, 34 million deaths and at least 71 million cases of infection later, Gottlieb continues his work against HIV.
“We have learned an amazing amount about HIV,” Gottlieb told me. “I have seen those very first patients who were so deadly ill. And I’m now witnessing the good health of our average person today – that has been a miraculous experience.”
In 1985, Gottlieb co-founded the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR). He also serves on The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundations advisory board and continues to see patients with HIV.
He spoke with NBC News about the five biggest changes and milestones in HIV/AIDS.