Concerning the early and current spread of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 and the scientific burden of proof versus the burden of current human immunodeficiency virus incidence

摘要

Some ten years' investigation led to the hypothesis that human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV_1) must have reached Haiti as early as the early to mid-1960s. In a massive scheme of UN cooperation (administered by the UNESCO, Paris), many scores of Haitian teachers and other technical personnel were replacing for many years the close to 2000 Belgian teachers/technical staff that left abruptly around independence (mid-1960). The teachers had yearly leave and could thus have carried the virus during the 1960s straight to Haiti. Both the Caribbean and that African area in question have the same HIV-1 type C. Haiti was then probably the starting point of the Caribbean silent HIV spread via labour-force movements. While depending on very unequal and most deficient acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) reporting, a reconstruction effort of minimal HIV incidence for the late 1970s ('1978') leads to additional observations and reasoning (AF 400, available on request from the author).