Emerging Diseases Fall, 2015
Writing Assignment: And the Band Played On
I. Introduction
HIV-AIDS is the best-known emerging disease of the 20th Century. It seemingly came out of
nowhere and helped to destroy society’s sense of optimism about infectious diseases. A disease with
no origin, no cure and no recovery did not build confidence in the medical establishment. The
spillover of HIV/AIDS and its worldwide spread helped to drive another of the great health
transitions .
II. Instructions
1) View the video entitled And the Band Played On in class during the week of November 16, 2015.
Class meetings are November 17 and 19 and the DVD will spread over both days-it is a long one.
2) You may or may not be able to locate an internet version or downloadable version of the video to
view on your own.
3) The video is a docudrama based on a non-fiction book of the same title. It provides an overview
of the early events of the AIDS pandemic in the United States (1980’s). Like your textbook author
Laurie Garrett the video makes an effort to humanize the real-world people who are part of the
story. It makes heroes out of some and villains out of others but they are depicted as human beings.
The video is not objective and does not attempt to seem objective. It has a definite point of view,
taken directly from the book.
4) Use the discussion questions and discussion points given below to guide your viewing and be
prepared to discuss the questions and points in class and in the writing assignment on this video.
Some version of these questions is likely to appear on Exam #4 next month.
III. Questions on DVD And the Band Played On
Instructions
1) What were the first signs of the AIDS epidemic in the United States and when did they occur?
Were there prior cases outside the United States? If so, where and when did they occur?
2) What is GRID?
3) How did Jim Curran’s team at CDC react to the “new” disease that eventually came to be known
as HIV/AIDS? How did their reaction compare or contrast to that of the NIH?
4) How did the political apparatus react to the new disease in the gay community? How was their
reaction different from their reaction to Legionnaire’s Disease or Swine Flu?
5) Who was Gaetan Dugas and how did his job as an airline steward affect the course of the AIDS
epidemic? Does modern science (i.e. 2015) support the video’s point of view regarding Dugas?
6) What lines of evidence showed that AIDS could be transmitted via blood and not only by
homosexual activity?
7) What was the impact of AIDS on the American blood supply and what factors delayed
recognition of a problem?
8) How did the gay community react to the gradual understanding that a new disease was rampant
in their culture?
9) How did politics and ideology play a role in the US government’s reaction to the beginning of
the AIDS epidemic?
10) Do you think that Don Francis was effective in advancing the cause of AIDS research?
Important people, places, diseases, etc: Don Francis, Robert Gallo, Max Essex, Luc
Montagnier, Jim Curran, Francoise Barre, Michael Gottlieb, Pneumocystis carinii and PCP,
candidiasis, Kaposi’s Sarcoma and KSV
IV. Writing Assignment
Writing: After you have viewed the assignment and thought about your answers to discussion
questions, write a brief summary of the video. Approximately one-half of a standard page is
sufficient (approx. 250 words). Write your brief summary as though it is intended for a group of
IUP students at about your own level of education. Use complete sentences organized in paragraph
format for your summary. Write your summary to briefly explain the key points of the video as if
you were presenting them to someone who had not viewed it. In order to receive full credit your
summary must be scientifically accurate and backed up by specific examples from the video. There
is no right or wrong way to write or organize the summary. Use your own words. Your grade for
this part of the assignment will depend on your accuracy and how well you use examples.
In addition to your brief summary, address the following question in your writing assignment. An
additional 250 words should be sufficient for the answer to the following question, bringing the
overall writing assignment including both parts to a total of approximately 500 words.
QUESTION: The DVD presents a point of view that the US government essentially ignored the
initial outbreak of AIDS in the early 1980’s out of political convenience and this point of view has
become accepted as conventional wisdom today. Based on your viewing of the video, what steps-if
any-do you think that the government and the US medical establishment could or should have taken
to try to halt the disease during the period depicted by the DVD? There is no right or wrong answer
to any aspect of the question. Your grade will depend on how well you use facts and examples to
back up your answer.
Write your answer as though it is intended for a group of IUP students at about your own level of
education. Use complete sentences organized in paragraph format for your answer.
Grade: The written part of the assignment will count toward the “Writing” component of your grade
as outlined in your semester syllabus with the summary and the answer to the question weighted
equally in the grade.
The assignment is due on Monday, December 7, 2015 at 4:00 PM in hard copy format.
V. A Final Note
Make sure that you save a copy of the course answers and discussions.
Some version or form of the discussion questions above is likely to appear on a course exam.