Translator: Rahaf Abdelal Auditor: Fatima Zahra El Hafa In the fall of 1981, You’re a new infectious disease fellow, UCLA has a ready to start fellowship program. It was great tours, Major medical tours happen when there are rare or interesting cases They are studied by experts. I had no idea About the importance of those tours to me. It was about gay guys from Hollywood Those who have had an unusual infection It’s called a pulmonary polycyst. We were familiar with pneumocystis. But only in case of severe immunodeficiency. They were healthy young men. What happened! We didn’t know. Was it a toxic thing? Were they all exposed to the same type? Was it an infection? It was all unknown. There has been long research on this topic. After a while, Reports prepared in Florida And another in New York, And others, too, in San Francisco. These gay men, Who didn’t just get pneumocystis It’s also herpes.

All kinds of opportunistic infections. We didn’t know the reason. But it is clear, This is something much bigger than a local disease outbreak. Europe was then, Then Asia, and then Africa This was a pandemic. We thought it was an infection. In fact, when the information began to emerge From the Centers for Disease Control, Notice a shocking pattern. Transmission of this infection is through sex. And through the blood. People who take drugs intravenously, And those who use the same needles and syringes, They show the same signs and symptoms. And then the hemophiliacs who took blood, And then the children Those born by infected mothers. It was just like hepatitis B. We knew a lot about hepatitis B. Suddenly we had a way forward. All this was unknown. The signs were pointing to a virus we are familiar with. We knew the interventions.

And how to prevent it. What we didn’t know is how to deal with it. That was sad. And it became real to me when I first saw an AIDS patient. I was still in fellowship. We were studying acyclovir for herpes. And I walked into a room On its door there is a note that this man is only 30 years old. He looked like he was 60 years old. He was lean. Had a herpes infection, the worst condition I have seen. He was in pain. And I was studying aciclovir; I had to know the finer details. It was unfortunate to hear that story. And the saddest was my awareness That I can only provide care And no cure.

I can even provide care and sympathy, And I ask questions that suggest I really cared about them, And I really did care. In the same period, We started facing another pandemic. A pandemic filled with stigma, fear and racism. It was awesome to follow her. My hospital colleagues refused to provide care for people with AIDS. They were afraid that they would get infected. They panicked When I walked into the room without wearing gloves, And without face mask or apron. Because I knew this virus was not transmitted this way. I was able to touch my patients, Which made them feel comfortable and know I care about them. And I did not care that they got infected. Their families abandoned them. They lost their jobs, And they lost their apartments, And they lost their friends. They weren’t just deadly ill They lost everything in their lives. I was their doctor. It was my role to care for them. Did I have any concerns because so many things were unknown? We did not know until years later that this was due to HIV, Immunity deficiency Virus.

We didn’t have any good drugs Until the mid-1990s. We didn’t have the right fitting Until 2010, Very slow progress. But despite all that, Although there is much unknown, I knew how this virus was transmitted. So let’s go faster. We’re in December now … 2019 year. China, Wuhan, China Announces an outbreak of pneumonia, It appears to be contagious pneumonia. overspread. While we heard this news, Chinese scholars, Because of advances in science, They learned the cause of this pneumonia. It was a corona virus. The Chinese knew what Corona virus was. It causes SARS, And it causes the misfire, A fatal infection. But the new Corona virus was different. We call it Covid-19. How is it different? It was not as deadly as severe. But his transmission rate is very high.

It spreads quickly in crowded places. Where did Covid come from? Well, Covid came Because humans and animals interact with each other, And animals are infected with Corona viruses, It is a highly changeable factor It always turns. What happened was that this virus that infected animals was mutated To become possible to infect humans. And so is that market in Wuhan, Through which the virus was transmitted to various people, Who brought him into the house, And then to their friends. By the time we heard about him in the United States then, We knew that. We are far ahead of where we were with HIV. We know how it spreads, It is transmitted through the air. We knew this because we were studying another virus For years he looks a lot like him.

flu. We were planning the flu, so even though it was terrible … Here’s what is horrifying about Covid-19: First: the virus is new. Second: Everyone in the world is vulnerable to infection There was no immunity. And so it became clear That this would not only be Wuhan, China. And it didn’t take long; Instead of years going by like HIV, Only weeks passed and we started seeing cases all over the world. Traveled with travelers, And then it travels easily in crowded places. Did you feel fear? I remembered HIV, That feeling brought me to life, “Gosh! This virus is deadly. Can I do my job? ” I knew how it spread, I was careful when using needles and handling blood, So I was able to take care of patients with confidence, Although I did not handle them properly For years, 20 years to be precise. But with regard to the Corona virus? This fast jump? It was a scary idea. How can we respond to this? And then I remembered what it was like for me with HIV.

I learned to do this by applying a trial and error process, But I trusted science, and trusted my colleagues, And I trusted my experience. I slowly learned how to deal with the unknown Because I was not able to move forward with expected steps. So what do we know about the Corona virus? We know it is very transmissible and passes through the air. Talking, breathing, coughing, laughing, and sneezing, All this pushes the virus to transmit. Do we know how to stop that? Because we don’t have a cure, there aren’t any drugs, There is also no vaccine. Yes! We know how to stop it. Because science since Five decades at least Tell us how to do it.

Which is to isolate yourself. This wave of the virus hinders transmission from one person to another. We know how to do that. We know you can wear a face mask Or take a distance from the spreading virus And do not get infected. So what happened when the Covid spread in the United States? There was another pandemic; The people were of Asian descent They get hideous messages Not just on social media, but in the streets and in the shops. They are blamed because the virus was new. There were many things we did not know about this virus. So we turned to blame. There was fear: What if … What if this was manufactured? What if someone wants to kill us? There was fear.

We often wondered, “We don’t know anything.” “We don’t know anything. what shall we do?” Although the virus is terrifying to me, I remember how knowledge progresses How do we do what we know he did. That was the most difficult this time. There was no Facebook, there was no social media When AIDS first appeared, So the spread of information was not that fast. There were no individuals They make of themselves experts And they distort people with messages. But people want clear answers. And in case we don’t have answers, I think that’s cause for concern. For me this part of the pandemic, Lack or misunderstanding of information, is frightening. But we know a lot. So we don’t have to be afraid. Just because we don’t know everything, Not that we do not know anything. We know something And the thing that we know It directly affects our response to COVID-19. when I go out, Wear a face mask, And stay away from others, I respect that distance. Because I want to live the experience To see knowledge about it That keeps us safe from COVID-19 in the near future.