mally resisted by the human immunological system. They were dying not from the HIV virus but from its adverse effects on the human immune system. According to Jarvis, Closen, Hermann & Leonard, "people who die as a result of the disease condition now known as AIDs do not actually die of AIDs itself, rather they die from one or more opportunistic infections." Eventually, by the early 1980s it became apparent to medical researchers that "HIV invades cells vital to the body's ability to defend itself against diseases, especially T-4 (T-helper) cells . . . Impairment or destruction of T-4 cells results in a weakening of the immune system, leaving the body susceptible to infection."
During this period, it was clear that in most cases, persons displaying AIDS symptoms would die. It was also noted that AIDS symptoms might remain latent for up to ten years after the original HIV infection occurred.
In this first phase, while researchers could only describe the virus and its effects and not even identify it, the reactions of authorities in many areas focused on preventing individuals from becoming infected. Ignorance and fear generated beliefs that HIV infection could be contagious in the same way that ordinary infections were. The clue most of them had was that certain groups were particularly vulnerable or prone to infection, including gay males engaged in anal and other forms of sex with other males, intravenous drug needle users and drug users among black immigrants, especially Haitians.
By 1985, tests were devised which could detect antibodies in the blood of persons who were HIV-infected.
Mann, Dan & Kay call the period 1981-1985 one of scientific discovery concerning the nature and functioning of the HIV virus and its effects on the human body. However, national and other governments pursued what Olsen and Wojciek called "ineffective ways to control the spread of AIDs and HIV infection" largely based on "racism, xe...