Defining ‘AIDS’

Before 1982, a variety of names are used to describe the clusters of unexplained cases of serious opportunistic infections. Among them are GRIDS (gay-related immunodeficiency syndrome), ‘gay cancer’ or ‘slim’, depending on where in the world they are. AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is first defined by the USA Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in September as a disease characterised by the onset of an opportunistic infection and compromised immune system, for which an underlying cause is unknown.