This document provides context about the early days of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. It summarizes the key events and discoveries, including:
- In 1981, the first cases of AIDS were reported in the U.S.
- In 1983, Luc Montagnier's team isolated the virus (called LAV) that would later be known as HIV from a patient in France.
- In 1984, papers were published by Montagnier's team and Gallo's team describing their separate isolations of the virus and the politics surrounding their discoveries.
- By the late 1980s, the virus was known as HIV, blood tests were available, and the first antiretroviral drug (