Innovations in HIV Testing Procedures

Find Out the Reults in Minutes, Not Weeks

What is HIV?

HIV is a virus that first made its presence known in the late 1970’s and was a mystery to the medical profession. Many men, mostly homosexually active men, were coming down with all kinds of rare diseases. It seemed to be a kind of rare and extremely aggressive cancer that was, initially, referred to as “Gay Cancer,” later identified as Kaposi's Sarcoma. After much research, it was determined that the affected men had one thing in common—blood tests revealed they all had HIV antibodies in their blood. Antibodies are formed by the immune system to fight diseases, and each disease has a signature antibody.

Where did HIV come from? 

The virus is a common one that is present in the Simian monkey found in Africa. The monkeys have the virus, known as SIV; they do seem to have any adverse reaction to it. Also, there is no conclusive evidence that determines exactly how the virus came to the United States. There are many theories, including bestiality, but the reigning theory now is that Gaetan Dugas, a Canadian flight attendant nicknamed “patient zero,” had sex with an HIV or AIDS infected African man. There is no conclusive proof of this, only that, by his own recollections, he had about 250 different homosexual partners each year. While it may not be clear if Dugas actually brought AIDS to North America, he certainly facilitated its spread. Dugas died in 1984 of AIDS. In the 1990’s, a study of blood taken in the 1950’s showed that the virus was here long before Dugas’ time.
How is HIV contracted?