Epidemics in North America

Epidemics in North America

Part 1: AIDS

 AIDS is a consequence of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The readings indicate that two types of HIV infect humans, i.e., HIV1 and HIV2. HIV1 is more virulent and easily transmitted. It is more closely related to the virus that emerged among the sub-Saharan monkeys. However, HIV2 is endemic in West Africa and is seldom seen outside the region. During the initial stages of AIDS, the victim may start experiencing influenza-like symptoms followed by periods of no symptoms. In the later stages of the diagnosis, however, the disease interferes with the immune system, increasing the risk of other infections or tumors. 

HIV/AIDS is caused by HIV and is transmitted via unprotected sexual intercourse. It can either be anal or oral sex. Virus transmission can also occur from mother to child during pregnancy, delivery, or breastfeeding, or by sharing contaminated needles. One should note that not all bodily fluids can transmit AIDS. Body fluids like saliva and tears do not transmit AIDS. It attacks and destroys the CD4 cells, also known as T-cells. It destroys the CD4 cells hence making the victim’s immune system weaken. It is stated that a person can have HIV for several years before the virus progresses to AIDS. One can be diagnosed with AIDS when their CD4 cells fall below 200cells/mm^3. It is also stated that the virus can progress to AIDS if a person experiences AIDS-complicated conditions like tuberculosis and pneumonia. There is no cure; however, researchers worked on antiretroviral therapy to suppress the virus in the body. 

Why Gay Disease? 

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) reported in June 1981 that 5 young men had been hospitalized for PCP, a rare form of pneumonia in Los Angeles. It is claimed that all were infected by CMV, which is a rare form of herpes. The patients shared common characteristics, i.e., all were actively gay and had multiple partners. However, at this point, its cause was unknown. One CDC official questioned whether the sickness solely affected gay males or if they were overrepresented in the diagnosis. The virus was classified as a sickness since it was considered that gay men contracted it through anal sex at the time. Men's bodies were thought to be suffering from immunological or sperm excess, as well as rejection of foreign things they were exposed to. Due to their various sex partners, doctors began to claim that gay men were disproportionately represented. The rate of its spread in Haiti was high, and the sole reason was that the gay communities in the region passed it to the gay tourists on the island who came for a vacation. Even though this theory did not account for other risk groups like the hemophiliacs and intravenous drug users, the social stigma that AIDS was a gay disease remained for a long time. 

Response 

The medical researchers dedicated themselves to identifying and understanding the virus. Resources and responses were limited. However, San Francisco came up with an innovative approach to HIV/AIDS. Ward 86 became the first dedicated AIDS clinic in the world. It was a collaboration between hospital staff and the University of California. Members of the community were also dedicated to treating people with AIDS. They introduced the Model of HIV Care to focus on interdisciplinary care. The researcher also studied and tested new treatments in the late 1980s. The Government responded slowly to the epidemic. It was due to the existing political climate at that time and the stigmatization of the queer community. The will to mobilize resources was limited. The first response came in 1982, when U.S representative, Henry Waxman, convened the first congressional hearing on AIDS at the Los Angeles gay community and services center. The U.S representatives introduced the first legislation to allocate AIDS funds for research in the same year. The first funding occurred in July 1983. Public pressure enabled the United States public health service to open the National AIDS hotline to respond to the public increase in 1983. In 1985, the first international AIDS Conference was held with support from the U.S health department and the World Health Organization (WHO). Congress allocated $119 million for AIDS research. In September, President Ronald mentioned AIDS publicly for the first time. The Government was due to activists’ pressure. In 1988, there was a launch of the United States Coordinated AIDS Education Campaign. There were publications aimed at educating the public members on AIDS. The federal Government provided health education to the Americans. 

Part 2: Venereal Diseases  

Karin Zipdf explains how the government responded to the venereal disease in North Carolina. The author states that the State Board of Health sent agents to spy on police chiefs, observe proceedings in criminal courts, and haunt red-light districts in cities throughout North Carolina. It was a mandate given by the General Assembly to control venereal diseases because people believed that the threat was more significant near military training camps. The article states that many men and women who entered the military training had venereal diseases during this time. Therefore, the authorities aimed to control the disease through the isolation of the civilian population. Thus, the authorities targeted the most dangerous and most likely source of infection they could find. However, this didn't prove easy, especially in large cities and cotton mills towns. Therefore, the federal and the state government of North Carolina during World War 1 launched a campaign to protect soldiers and potential enlistees from venereal diseases. Authorities did this by controlling the movement of girls and young women. 

As stated in the article, the "girl problem" in North Carolina was the term used to refer to a category of girls and women identified as immoral and, therefore, a threat to the moral purity of the nation (Zipf, 2012). The authorities stated that immoral delinquent girls and women were the source of venereal diseases such as syphilis and gonorrhea and therefore introduced policies that were supposed to segregate, quarantine, and be studied to protect the potential enlisted men. Military and other enlisted men were not supposed to interact with the group because they would be exposed to venereal diseases. 

The laws to eradicate VD were gender-biased because they were aimed at protecting men rather than women. An example is the establishment of the Commission on Training Camp Activities (CTCA) by the War Department in 1917, which promoted a form of cultural nationalism that was intended to remake American manhood into a national standard. The new man would be sexually pure, self-controlled, physically fit, and ready to accept broad responsibilities at home and abroad. However, the CTCA advertisements portrayed women as sexualized objects. The laws regulated women's bodies to satisfy the moral fitness of men. They did not consider the sexual desire of women but instead focused on men's sexual satisfaction. Other laws passed, like the Chamberlain-Kahn Act, which later created the Interdepartmental Social Hygiene Board (ISHB), did not specifically single out women as control objects. However, they discussed the problem of delinquent girls and women who settled near military training camps throughout the nation. It, therefore, means that even though the Act did not directly discriminate against women as the sole cause of venereal diseases, there are elements of gender biases in them. Discussion based on the delinquent girls and women prompted the war department to create detention houses and detention hospitals where all women who were arrested would be detained and treated. It shows that women were still treated as objects of control though indirectly. 

Therefore, the formed laws viewed women as objects of control over men. The article indicates that many federal and state policies joined the movement to try and restore American manhood. The authorities did not form any law to try and fix the women's dignity. It is a shame that almost everyone portrayed women as sex objects and not responsible members of society. According to the laws, the system trained men to take responsibilities such as being in the military; on the other hand, women represented the domestic arena. They were expected to stay at home and give birth to children. The laws ignored women's status as military soldiers. 

Reference

Zipf, K. L. (2012). In Defense of the Nation: Syphilis, North Carolina’s “Girl Problem,” and World War I. The North Carolina Historical Review, 89(3), 276–300. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23523735