and the band played on

And the Band Played on
Name
Institution

And the Band Played on.
Q 1.
a.
There was an increase in cases of people dying from pneumocystis which was not a major disease. The patents began to rot in their brains and developed warts in legs and arms and fungus in the mouth. Some patients had swollen lymph nodes and also experienced fevers. Additionally, doctors detected that these patients had no T-cells and they could not tell the reason.
b.
The factors indicated an emerging health issue since nobody knew the cause of the disease. The epidemiologists had been able to control Ebola, but they were unaware of how to stop the disease from spreading.
Q 2.
Active surveillance is evident where a task force was established in 1981 in CDC Atlanta to investigate the epidemic for 3 months. Active surveillance was the best method since there was a rise in the number of cases of the virus being reported.
Q 3.
Gaetan Dugas was a gay flight attendant. He had sex with thousands of men from all over the world and therefore contributing to the fast spread of the disease. Additionally, he was a regular customer in the bathhouses was he often had sex without protection. Researchers named him ‘patient 0’ and used his blood, urine, and saliva to study the virus.
Q 4.
An example of patient confidentiality in action was when the officials from the New York Blood Center denied Dale Lawrence access to donor list since it was confidential. The limitation to access the patient names inhibited the progress of the HIV investigation since the epidemiologists were not able to identify the patient who was donating the infected blood.

Q 5.
Several reasons were responsible for slowing the fight against the epidemic. The virus was mainly transmitted in the bathhouses, but the epidemiologists like Dr. Don from CDC Atlanta were threatened if they suggested closure of these bathhouses. The owners were profiting big from the business. The gay community was also against the closure of the bathhouses. Additionally, epidemiologists feared that the funding for the three-month task force would be cut off by authorities if they went public to tell people the truth as it would have caused a nationwide panic. On top of that, the blood being transfused to patients was not being tested thus causing the spread of the disease. Finally, the disease was believed to affect only gays, and this was partly responsible for the slow response in curbing the epidemic. If I was an epidemiologist, I would facilitate closure of the bathhouses, ensure blood banks tested the blood and informed the public of the disease.
Q 6.
incidence rate=number of AIDS-related deaths reported a number of reported cases of AIDS×10ncase fatality rate=63058408×100=749.88%750 cases of AIDS-related deaths per 1000 infected people
b
There were 80 AIDS-related cases reported and 26 deaths related to AIDS
incidence rate=2680×103=325325 cases of AIDS-related deaths per 1000 infected people.
c.
According to CDC (2015), in 2015 there were 38500 AIDS-related cases, and deaths resulting from AIDS were 6465

incidence rate=646538500×10=167.9168 cases of AIDS-related deaths per 1000 infected people.
d.
The incidence rates continued to rise but with the introduction of antiretroviral therapy, and increased awareness by people, the incidence rates decreased.
Q 7.
a.case fatality rate=number of AIDS-related deaths reported a number of reported cases of AIDS×100case fatality rate=63058408×100=74.988%b.
case fatality rate=2680×100=32.5%c.
case fatality rate=646538500×10=16.79%d.
The case fatality was rising initially since people were unaware of the disease and therefore did not take the necessary precautions to prevent its spread. As people understood the disease, the case fatality dropped since people took the necessary measures to prevent its spread.
Q 8.
Although the Hepatitis B test was 88% effective in the identification of the virus, the blood banks refused to use it to test the blood their transfused to patients. They were aware they were providing contaminated blood thus infecting many people with the virus. This unethical act greatly contributed to the spread to the HIV virus.

Reference
CDC (2015). “HIV in the United States: At A Glance.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/statistics/overview/ataglance.html