Origin and Treatment of AIDS

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History and Introduction:
There are different myths and views in relation to the origin of HIV. Some researchers believe that HIV-1 and HIV-2 have originated in non-human primates, particularly from chimpanzee and monkeys, in West-central Africa and were transferred to humans in the early 20th century. (UNAIDS, 2007)
Another school-of-thought says that people who went for hunting acquired SIV. After, several individual to individual transmissions of SIV, its mutant form, HIV appeared. Some genetic studies of the virus suggest that the most recent common ancestor of the HIV-1 M group dates back to 1910, linking HIV epidemic to the increasing population of colonial African cities at that time. The spread of prostitution and unsafe sex also made their contribution. Another alternative view sheds the light on, the unsafe medical practices in Africa after World War II, unsterile reuse of single use syringes during mass vaccination, being the major vector of virus. (Sharp, 2001; Kalish, 2005)
In 1981 in the USA, first time AIDS was observed in the clinic. Initially, homosexuals and injecting drug users were reported to have compromised immune system with symptoms of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP). (Gottlieb, 2006)
Earlier the CDC did not had any specific name for the disease and they would refer to it by the diseases and symptoms associated with it, such as, lymphoadenopathy and opportunistic infections. It was also named “the 4H disease”, in accordance with the type of people (Haitians, homosexuals, hemophiliacs and heroin users) it prevailed in. Finally, in 1982 the CDC started referring to the disease as AIDS. (CDC, 1982; Kher, 1982)
In 1983, research groups led by Robert Gallo and Luc Montagnier independently declared tha...

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