Document 0174
 DOCN  M9440174
 TI    Australia's first case of AIDS? Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and HIV
       in 1981.
 DT    9404
 AU    Gerrard JG; McGahan SL; Milliken JS; Mathys JM; Wills EJ; Royal Prince
       Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, NSW.
 SO    Med J Aust. 1994 Mar 7;160(5):247-50. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE
       MED/94150378
 AB    OBJECTIVE: To present the earliest Australian case of the acquired
       immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) reported to date. CLINICAL FEATURES: A
       72-year-old man developed a prolonged illness, beginning in February
       1981, characterised by anorexia, malaise, weight loss and an episode of
       herpes zoster. In July he noted the insidious onset of dyspnoea with a
       productive cough. He was admitted to hospital in August, where
       Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia was diagnosed from a transbronchial lung
       biopsy. Splenomegaly and generalised lymphadenopathy were noted but a
       scalene lymph node biopsy examined at that time failed to establish an
       underlying diagnosis. The patient was single and lived alone in an inner
       suburb of Sydney. He had never left Australia and had never received a
       blood transfusion. His sexual history is not recorded, nor is there any
       documented history of intravenous drug use. OUTCOME: The patient died in
       September 1981. Recent re-examination of the preserved lymph node
       specimen by means of an in-situ hybridisation method detected human
       immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Preserved prostatic tissue from a
       resection performed in January 1980 on the same patient was also found
       to be HIV positive. CONCLUSION: AIDS existed in Australia as early as
       July 1981, around the time of the publication of the first American case
       reports. Whether this represents an isolated case in a man who
       progressed rapidly because of his relatively advanced age, or whether
       HIV was present earlier in Australia than previously thought, remains
       unanswered.
 DE    Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/DIAGNOSIS/*EPIDEMIOLOGY/  PATHOLOGY
       Aged  Australia/EPIDEMIOLOGY  AIDS-Related Opportunistic
       Infections/*EPIDEMIOLOGY  Case Report  Human  HIV-1/ISOLATION & PURIF
       In Situ Hybridization  Lymph Nodes/MICROBIOLOGY/PATHOLOGY  Male
       Pneumonia, Pneumocystis carinii/EPIDEMIOLOGY/*ETIOLOGY  Support, U.S.
       Gov't, P.H.S.  JOURNAL ARTICLE

       SOURCE: National Library of Medicine.  NOTICE: This material may be
       protected by Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.Code).