And the Band Played On 634 people were reported having AIDS, and of those, 260 had died. The "New York Times" wrote three stories in 1981 and three more stories in 1982 about AIDS, none on the front page. The Tylenol Crisis was a criminal act of product-tampering; Legionnaire's Disease was a public health emergency. Twenty-nine members of the American Legion died in 1976 at a convention in Philadelphia. The National Institute of Health spent $34,841 per death of Legionnaire's Disease. In contrast, the NIH spent $3,225 in 1981 and about $8,991 in 1982 for each person who died of AIDS. Shilts accused Ronald Reagan
Legionella cherrii were cultured around 36 °C in an environment containing 2.5% carbon dioxide. The genus "Legionella" is named after the 1976 pneumonia ("Legionella pneumophila") outbreak at the American Legion convention at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia. The genus was previously unknown, but it was established three years later. The specific term "cherrii" is derived from the scientist William B. Cherry due to his contributions on the studies of Legionellae. "L. cherrii" is rod-shaped and considered an oxidase-negative bacterium since it lacks cytochrome c oxidase and does not use oxygen in its electron transport chain. "L. cherrii" also has the ability to