The Origins of AIDS (45 page)

Authors: Pepin

BOOK: The Origins of AIDS

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Appendix
Classification of retroviruses

For readers unfamiliar with virology, this section reviews a few concepts, which are summarised in the table. HIV-1 and HIV-2 are the two human ‘retroviruses’ that cause AIDS. To replicate, retroviruses transcribe RNA into DNA, which is then integrated into the DNA genome of the human host cells. This process is the reverse of what normally happens (DNA transcripted into RNA), hence their name. Retroviruses are further subdivided into ‘lentiviruses’ (HIV-1 and HIV-2), ‘oncoviruses’ (HTLV-I, the first retrovirus isolated from humans, which does not cause AIDS but sometimes cancer or paraplegia) and ‘spumaviruses’ (not pathogenic).

Of course, the pandemic is caused by HIV-1. HIV-2 differed enough, genetically, from HIV-1 to be considered a distinct virus. It remained confined to West Africa, is less transmissible and less pathogenic than HIV-1 and slowly disappeared while HIV-1 spread throughout the world. HIV-1 infection is 100 times more common than HIV-2; when authors use the term HIV, in practice it generally means HIV-1.

Simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIVs) are a diversified group of retroviruses that infect apes and monkeys. They are a crucial part of the story: both HIV-1 and HIV-2 are simian viruses that managed to spread into human populations. Their name is something of a misnomer, because most apes and monkeys tolerate SIV infections rather well, without developing any immune deficiency, unless the virus is experimentally transmitted to a non-human primate species which is not the normal host of a given type of SIV.

Index

Abidjan,
85

Abomg-Mbang,
127

Abumonbazi,
9

Accra,
84
,
85

Adoumas district,
92

African trypanosomiasis
clinical characteristics of,
120
control of,
120
,
122
–3,
124
,
128
–31,
145
,
146
–7,
156
–7,
177
epidemiology of,
121
,
127
–8,
138
,
141
–2,
146
–7,
177
treatment of,
4
,
121
–2,
125
–8,
139
,
145
,
151
See also
arsenical drugs
,
pentamidine
,
suramin

Afrikaners,
12

Afrique Équatoriale Française,
87
–8
economy of,
228
hepatitis C in,
112
,
140
history of,
xiii
,
34
,
64
–6,
69
,
74
–5
Kaposi’s sarcoma in,
193
medical services in,
36
–7,
116
,
118
–38
population of,
68
,
73
prostitution in,
93
,
97
–9
See also
Central African Republic
,
Chad
,
Congo-Brazzaville
,
Gabon

Afrique Occidentale Française,
63
,
64
,
124

Akonolinga,
127

albumin,
197
–8,
206
,
232

Al-Fateh Pediatric Hospital,
108

Algeria,
120
,
219

Angola,
9
,
13
–14,
73
,
100
,
108
,
173
,
175
,
180
See also
Cabinda

Annabon island,
138

antimonial drugs,
137

antiserum,
55
,
152
–3,
154
,
219

Antonetti, Raphael,
36

Antwerp,
145
,
181

Antwerp, Institute of Tropical Medicine,
7
,
54
–5,
143
,
152
,
155
,
157

Arkansas,
207
–8

Armour Pharmaceutical,
202

arsenical drugs,
4
,
114
–15,
121
,
123
,
125
,
131
,
133
,
142
,
144
–5,
148
,
163
–5
See also
atoxyl
,
melarsoprol
,
orsanine
,
tryparsamide
,
trypoxyl

Atlanta,
1
,
52

atoxyl,
125
,
128

Auclert, Jean,
37
,
38

Augouard, Prosper,
63
–4,
98

Austria,
207

autopsies,
24
,
33
,
36
–9,
48
,
53
,
152

Ayos,
122

Babunda,
87

Bacongo district,
98

Bafia,
123

Baholoholo,
88

Bakongo,
59
,
71
–3,
100
,
101

Bakota,
45

Bakula,
77
–8

Baluba,
77
–8,
87
,
95

Bandalungwa district,
101

Bandim,
176

Bangkok,
106

Bangui,
63
,
64
–5,
70
,
73
,
210
,
212

Bantu,
44
,
59
,
140
,
221

Bapende,
87

Bapoto,
77
–8

Bari,
106

Barumbu district,
96
,
100
,
160
,
166

Barumbu, Carte de,
96

Bas-Congo province,
148
,
150
,
227
,
228

Basonge,
77
–8

Basuku,
77
–8

Batetela,
77
–8

Bayaka,
77
–8

Bayombe,
45

Beheyt, Paul,
164

Belgian Congo
See
Congo, Democratic Republic of

Belgian Red Cross,
158

Belgium
and the colonisation of the Congo,
67
–8,
73
–5
and the decolonisation of the Congo,
180
–8
experiments in,
55
HIV in,
10
,
168
,
189
and plasma trade,
207
and World War II,
159
See also
Antwerp
,
Belgian Congo
,
Brussels

Belize,
206

Benghazi,
108
–10

Benin,
84
,
96
,
213

beriberi,
36

Berlin treaty,
62
,
65

Bioko island,
138

Bismarck, Otto von,
65

bismuth salts,
131
,
133
,
148
,
163

blood banks,
159
–60,
204

Blukwa,
153
–4

Boma,
70
,
76
,
91
,
144
,
158

Bongolo, Henri,
94
–5

bonobo,
18
,
30
–1,
45
,
50
,
54
,
142
,
221

Boston,
215

Botswana,
9

Brazil,
60
,
140
,
206
,
215

Brazza, Pierre (Pietro) Savorgnan de,
61
–5,
88

Brazzaville
economic activity in,
34
,
63
,
74
,
80
–1,
228
history of,
62
,
63
–4,
69
–70,
74
HIV in,
61
–5,
210
–11,
212
,
227
–9
medical services in,
32
,
36
–9,
64
,
120
,
153
,
217
population of,
69
–70,
73
–4,
75
,
80
,
82
prostitution in,
93
,
97
–9