Gaetan dugas family

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Read Story Transcript. In the late s, Quebecois flight attendant Gaetan Dugas was openly and proudly gay, described by friends as flamboyant, sexual and generous, with a supportive family and penchant for makeup. Unashamed of his lifestyle despite lingering societal stigmas, he co-operated with the U. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the early s after he contracted what was initially called "gay cancer" in the media, providing blood samples and the names of 72 of his former sex partners. But as the new documentary "Killing Patient Zero" notes, he became demonized because of his promiscuity — and a typographical error. However, some misinterpreted the "O" as the number "0," as in "patient zero," leading to the long-standing and incorrect implication that Dugas brought AIDS to North America.

Gaetan dugas family

This story is from The Pulse , a weekly health and science podcast. Find it on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts. In the spring of , epidemic intelligence officers were almost a year into a troubling investigation. Residents of three major American cities, mostly gay men, were dying young and no one knew why. A handful of researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were tasked with traveling the country to interview patients and spot patterns. Maybe bad drugs were to blame? Or it was something environmental? Interviews in Los Angeles revealed a number of those dying had sexual contact with one another. Before long a number of cases were connected by sexual contact with one person specifically: a Canadian flight attendant. One that allowed investigators to keep connecting the dots in pursuit of what was causing these deaths. The study was reviewed internally at the CDC and prepared for publication for over a year. During this process, changes in terminology were made. He could not receive a corresponding number label. So eventually the decision was made to place him in the center of the diagram. And then, he said, something weird started to happen.

Reprints and permissions, gaetan dugas family. With these new test results in hand, researchers claimed this was a classic case of AIDS. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you.

This claim has since been proven incorrect. In March , a study tracked Dugas, along with other gay and bisexual men, to indicate his role in a particular cluster of 40 AIDS cases in the United States. A graph included with the paper traced the sequence of infection among 40 men and labelled one of the nodes as "Patient 0" with other nodes including the place of residence and a number indicating the sequence in which they developed AIDS symptoms, such as "NY 14". If the infectious-agent hypothesis is true, Patient 0 may be an example of a "carrier" of such an agent. Two of these three men had been his partners before he had overt signs of Kaposi's sarcoma. The researchers later stated they had originally intended to designate Dugas as "Patient O", with "O" standing for "Out-of-California" but at some point it was changed to a "0".

Read Story Transcript. In the late s, Quebecois flight attendant Gaetan Dugas was openly and proudly gay, described by friends as flamboyant, sexual and generous, with a supportive family and penchant for makeup. Unashamed of his lifestyle despite lingering societal stigmas, he co-operated with the U. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the early s after he contracted what was initially called "gay cancer" in the media, providing blood samples and the names of 72 of his former sex partners. But as the new documentary "Killing Patient Zero" notes, he became demonized because of his promiscuity — and a typographical error. However, some misinterpreted the "O" as the number "0," as in "patient zero," leading to the long-standing and incorrect implication that Dugas brought AIDS to North America.

Gaetan dugas family

By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use. The video with Dugas can be viewed at The month long 30 30 campaign and website "chronicles the untold stories from the leaders of the HIV movement in Vancouver. These thirty videos will share the stories of the doctors, the nurses, the scientists, the community members, the advocates, and the families who were touched and inspired to make change by this epidemic. Download the Advocate Channel App for your mobile phone and your favorite streaming device! All Rights reserved. Sign up today for our free newsletter. Privacy Policy Terms of Use.

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Close banner Close. University of Cambridge. Randy Shilts' book, And the Band Played On , which suggested that the flight attendant deliberately spread the disease, was particularly damning. Ways to Donate. The story has been changed to reflect this. Pan Macmillan. So he started asking around. In the spring of , epidemic intelligence officers were almost a year into a troubling investigation. Still, Ted remains interested in the life of Robert Rayford and what his death may reveal —— not so much about the boy, but about all of us. Download as PDF Printable version. The paper 3 , published on 26 October in Nature , shows that the virus had been circulating in North America since at least , and that the disease arrived on the continent through the Caribbean from Africa.

This claim has since been proven incorrect. In March , a study tracked Dugas, along with other gay and bisexual men, to indicate his role in a particular cluster of 40 AIDS cases in the United States.

Show results from All journals This journal. Reprints and permissions. During this process, changes in terminology were made. In , a group of researchers led by evolutionary biologist Michael Worobey conducted a genetic study that looked at blood samples taken from gay and bisexual men in and as part of a hepatitis B study, and based on the results of the data, concluded that Dugas was not the source of the virus in the United States. Randy's book was a kind of wakeup call," Lynd said. And The Band Played On. You may also like. McKay, R. Toggle limited content width. Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer. Change history 27 October The story originally said that Dugas was unlikely to be sexually active as a teenager, and attributed this to McKay. Pan Macmillan. Related audio.