The first confirmed case of HIV in America
Robert R was a teenager who died of an undiagnosed illness in Missouri in 1969
Witness History · BBC World Service
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Show Notes
Robert R was a teenager who died of a mysterious illness in Saint Louis, Missouri in 1969. It was only in the 1980s that doctors studying the Aids epidemic realised Robert had died of Aids. Ned Carter Miles has been speaking to Dr Memory Elvin Lewis was one of the doctors who treated Robert R. She was so intrigued by his case that she kept tissue samples after his death, which later proved that he had contracted HIV/Aids.
Photo: HIV particles, computer artwork. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. Credit: Science Photo Library