2015职称英语考试《卫生类》新增文章：Tracking Down HIV
卫生 C 阅读理解新增文章
第五篇 Tracking Down HIV
In the summer of 1980,a patient had a strange purplish spot removed from below his ear.It was Kaposi's sarcoma,a rare form of skin cancer.This patient also had lymph node swelling and exhaustion.In November 1980,a Los Angeles immunologist examined a young man who had diseases linked to immune system malfunctions.The doctor had a T-cell count taken of the patient's blood.T-cells are a type of white blood cell that plays a key role 1 in immune responses.The patient had no helper T-cells.
By the end of 1980,55 Americans were diagnosed with infections related to immune system breakdown;four had died.A year later the death toll was 74.Intravenous drug users had T-cell abnormalities.People who had received blood transfusions showed symptoms of immune system breakdown.By July 1982,471 cases of the disease,now called Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS),had been reported;184 people had died.
In April 1984,American virologist Dr.Robert Gallo isolated the pathogen,or disease producer,responsible for 2 AIDS.He called it HTLV-III.In Paris,Dr.Luc Montagnier identified a virus he called LAV.An international panel of scientists determined that both men had found the same virus.It became known as Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV)。 Blood banks began screening for HTV in 1985,but by then about 29，000 people had been infected through blood transfusions.Some 12，000 hemophiliacs had contracted HIV through blood-clotting products.By 1995,477，900 Americans had AIDS;295，500 had died.
In 1996,researchers announced drugs that reduced HIV in infected people.Today scientists are testing vaccines and believe that if HIV can be suppressed,then perhaps it can be eradicated 3 ,but it is still a race against time.