Dispatches from the AIDS Pandemic A Public Health Story

"A compelling and powerful chronicle of the AIDS epidemic. A riveting narrative of the critical role played by the CDC from the earliest days of the epidemic. As the global community faces new health threats, taking to heart the lessons learned from the AIDS response, as elucidated in this book, is more important than ever." -- Wafaa M. El-Sadr, Director of ICAP and Professor of Epidemiology and Medicine, Columbia University "A global epidemic deconstructed and reconstructed through the first-hand experiences of many dozens of investigators. A must read for students of public health, social science, history, politics, and infectious diseases." -- Jeffrey P. Koplan, Professor of Medicine and Global Health, Emory University, and Former Director, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "A compelling first-hand account by some of those who were first involved and sought to understand and control the early and emerging AIDS epidemic. The three authors each contributed in important ways to our knowledge and efforts to combat the global health priority that is HIV/AIDS. This book is an important contribution to the unfinished history of this pandemic." -- Peter Piot, Former Director, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and UNAID "Although it arose in Africa, it was in the United States that AIDS was first recognized in 1981 as a new disease that soon became the most fatal pandemic since the "Spanish Flu" in 1918. At the heart of US investigations were CDC epidemiologists who, before the first accurate report of the causative agent, HIV, from Paris in 1983, had precisely defined the ways the disease spread and who were at greatest risk. This fascinating account documents the early discoveries and subsequent efforts to control the pandemic with personal yet objective reminiscences by leading investigators of these momentous events." -- Robin A. Weiss, Emeritus Professor of Virology, University College London "I could not stop reading this book from start to finish. The best aspect of this fascinating book is its readability, captivating readers with how linked the problem is worldwide. The writing is succinct and has a human touch with stories of researchers and victims from around the world." -- Barbara A Anderson, DrPH, MPH, MS, BSN(Frontier Nursing University)