In Their Own Words... NIH Researchers Recall the Early Years of AIDS

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Blumberg: Dr. Kenneth Sell is a physician at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, and he is Co-Chairman of the NIH Working Group which has been appointed to assist in the investigation of a new disease which has recently seen widespread occurrence. It's called acquired immunodeficiency syndrome–A-I-D-S, or AIDS. Approximately one-third of the victims of AIDS contract a rare form of skin cancer called Kaposi's sarcoma. Dr. Sell, this appears to be a complicated medical problem which is apparently linked to a breakdown in the immune system. Briefly, could you explain just what a normal immune system should do?

Sell: The immune system is that portion of your body which provides antibodies or cells which help protect you from infections that you face in everyday life–getting over a cold, or recovering from pneumonia, is accomplished by immune cells or antibodies which protect you and fight the invading organism. A failure of this system makes you susceptible to infection, and in the case of AIDS, makes you susceptible to all sorts of complications, one of which is Kaposi's sarcoma.

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Blumberg: Thank you, Dr. Sell. You've been listening to an interview with Dr. Kenneth Sell, a physician at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. I'm Gerri Blumberg.

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