Robert Rayford
Robert Lee Rayford | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 3, 1953 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Died | May 15, 1969 (aged 16) St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Pneumonia, possible AIDS-related complications |
| Known for | Alleged first known AIDS death in the United States |
Robert Lee Rayford (February 3, 1953 – May 15, 1969), sometimes identified as Robert R. due to his age, was an American teenager from Missouri who has been suggested to represent the earliest confirmed case of HIV/AIDS in North America. This is based on evidence published in 1988 in which the authors claimed that medical evidence indicated that he was "infected with a virus closely related or identical to human immunodeficiency virus type 1."
Rayford died of pneumonia, but his other symptoms baffled the doctors who treated him. A study published in 1988 reported the detection of antibodies against HIV. Results of testing for HIV genetic material were reported at a scientific conference in Australia in 1999. However, the data has never been published in a peer-reviewed medical or scientific journal.
No photos of Rayford are known to exist.