A case of acquired immune deficiency syndrome before 1980

A case of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in a heterosexual Canadian man who was injured in Zaire in 1976 and died in 1980 was verified by identification of HIV in stored blood in 1983. The victim was a 32-year old heterosexual who was injured in a plane crash in Zaire in November 1976. He was given a blood transfusion at Kisingani University. During hospitalization in Edmonton he had a low leukocyte count of 1.4 x 10 /L general malaise weight loss of 15 kg and severe mucocutaneous candidiasis. T cells and lymphoblastic transformation were far below normal. He had bout of ataxia and severe dysarthria thought to be due to cerebral embolism from Candida endocarditis. He developed herpes simplex type 1 of the lips pharynx larynx and upper trachea resulting in respiratory distress which along with gram negative septicemia caused his death in June 1980. Postmortem examination showed disseminated cytomegalovirus herpetic esophagitis and pharyngitis and Torulopsis glabrata endocarditis with cerebral emboli. There were multiple glial nodules in the central nervous system possibly a direct effect of HIV infection. This is one of the earliest recognized cases of AIDS in a North American.