Does anybody remember that AIDS was first called SAIDS?

[kay1864]

Or am I just losing my mind?

I thought that in the early-mid 80's, it was called SAIDS (Sexually Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), but the "sexually" was dropped (too racy during the Reagan years or something).

As a result, the "Acquired" part doesn't make a lot of sense (to me, anyway). Logically it should be called either SAIDS or IDS. Heck, not even SAIDS, since it can be spread by needles.

(FWIW, SAIDS now stands for Simian Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome)

Anybody else remember this early acronym?

[miss_american_pie]

1. Vaguely

In elementary school, our very first health class that mentioned it at all used that acronym.

I'm getting old.

[amitten]

2. "Sexually" was dropped because needle sharing and blood

transfusions were also discovered to be means of transmission.

[ScreamingMeemie]

3. I remember that, and I remember them dropping the "s" when it became

apparent that you could get it from transfusions, IV drug use etc.

I could be wrong, but I think that is primarily the reason it was dropped. :hi:

[TallahasseeGrannie]

4. I don't remember that.

[seemunkee]

5. Yes, and HTLV

My wife worked on an early HTLV study correlating data when Gallo and the scientists at the Pasteur institute started requesting the same data sets.

[uppityperson]

15. HTLV III is what I remember when the 2 groups were working

83, 84 maybe? Go Gallo.

[ForrestGump]

6. Nope

I just know SAIDS as the simian variation. Never knew the other -- if I did, I forgot. The first time I recall hearing about AIDS was about the time Rock Hudson came forth with his news.

[kay1864]

7. Okay, so I'm not losing my mind then.

At least not as it relates to this topic :)

So does anyone agree with me that the "Acquired" part doesn't make sense then? I mean, of course it's acquired. Doesn't add much to the description, now that you've dropped how it's acquired.

I remember thinking this as soon as SAIDS became AIDS. If the original description had been hyphenated ("Sexually-Acquired"), the oddity of the acronym would have been even more obvious.

Okay, taking off my grammarian hat now. Glad to know I'm not the only one who remembers that. Wikipedia (for once) has nothing on this early history, so I thought I'd ask here. Thanks!

[miss_american_pie]

9. Are there non-acquired immune deficiency syndromes?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

Yes.

The "bubble boy" disease is a congenital auto-immune disease.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

11. I think they mean...

"acquired" as opposed to "congenital."

[kay1864]

14. Oh great.

There goes my grammarian rant in one fell swoop. You had to go and bring LOGIC into it, didn't you. :hi:

Actually I was going to answer miss american pie's question with "I don't think so", then I found an answer on Wiki that there are heritable forms, before writing my answer. So I stand corrected!

Still weird that Wiki doesn't have the early acronym. I thought Wiki had everything.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

8. I remember GRID

Gay Related ImmunoDeficiency.

Those were interesting times.

[SacredCow]

10. I remember that one, too... n/t

[In_The_Wind]

12. I don't ever remember hearing it called SAIDS.

I read about AIDS for the 1st time in the early 80s.

[Lady Effingbroke]

13. AIDS was also originally referred to as GRID, or

Gay Related Immune Deficiency.

<snip>
By 1978 gay men in the United States and Europe and heterosexuals in Africa and Haiti began showing signs of what eventually became known as AIDS. Because it was first noticed in homosexuals in the United States, the disease was unofficially known as the "gay plague." In 1981 it was referred to as "gay-related immune deficiency" (GRID). In December 1982 officials learned of a case of AIDS acquired through a blood transfusion and the term was dropped.
<snip>

LINK

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