The HIV virus is a complex mix of various epidemics within several countries and regions of the world. It is unquestionably the most crucial public-health crisis of our time. Research has extended our understanding of how the virus reproduces, controls, and hides in a contaminated person. Even though our perception of pathogenesis and transmission of the virus has become more refined and prevention options have lengthened, a cure or protective vaccine remains intangible. In 1981, The New York Times published a detailed article about an outbreak of an unusual form of cancer among gay men in New York and California. It was primarily referred to as the “gay cancer”, but medically known as Kaposi Sarcoma. Around the same time, emergency rooms in New York City began to receive a large number of apparently healthy young men who presented with fevers, flu like symptoms, and a pneumonia called Pneumocystis. About a year later, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) linked the illness to blood and gave it the term Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). In that first year over 1,600 cases were diagnosed with close to 700 deaths (3).
HIV is a lentivirus, and like all viruses of this kind, it attacks the immune system. Lentiviruses are in turn part of a bigger group of viruses known as retroviruses. The name 'lentivirus' literally means 'slow virus' because they take such a long time to create any unfavorable effects in the body. They have been found in plenty of different animals, including cats, sheep, horses and cattle. However, the most appealing lentivirus in terms of the investigation into the origins of HIV is the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) that affects monkeys, which is believed to be at least 32,000 years old(7).
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...ments from the national level down to the community level to put into action immediate prevention programs based upon education, behavioral modification, and treatment of those infected with HIV.
No vaccine has proved successful in preventing HIV. So the epidemic continues to spread, mainly among underprivileged and marginalized populations: the poor, people of color, people in prison, injection drug users, and men who have sex with men. Many do not understand they are infected and innocently transmit the virus to others. Unawareness, prejudice, and lack of access to healthcare is fueling the outbreak. Therefore, health professionals have a critical role in screening, testing, and educating patients, families, and communities. Health professionals can also teach by example, through offering nonjudgmental, sympathetic care to those affected by this deadly virus.
Carl Zimmer the guest speaker of this broadcast states that in 1981 doctors described for the first time a new disease, a new syndrome which affected mostly homosexual men. The young men in Los Angeles were dying and the number of cases was growing faster and faster. The number of deaths was increasing from eighty to six hundred and twenty five in just the first few months. After the first few cases in LA, AIDS was declared to be one of the deadliest pandemics the world had ever seen after the plague in the Middle Ages.
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was first recognized as a new disease in 1981 when increasing numbers of young homosexual men succumbed to unusual opportunistic infections and rare malignancies (Gallant49).During this time, many people were contacting this disease because it was not discovered yet and people did not have knowledge about it.Scientists believe HIV came from a particular kind of chimpanzee in Western Africa. Humans contracted this disease when they hunted and ate infected animals. A first clue came in 1986 when a morphologically similar but antigenically distinct virus was found to cause AIDS in patients in western Africa (Goosby24). During this time, scientists had more evidence to support their claim about this disease. Once discovered this disease was identified as a cause of what has since become one of the most devastating infectious diseases to have emerged in recent history (Goosby101). This disease was deadly because it was similar to the Black Death, it was killing majority of the population. Since its first identification almost three decades ago, the pandemic form of HIV-1 has infected at least 60 million people and caused more than 25 million deaths ...
Different people define success in many different ways. What is considered success by one person may be viewed as failure by another person. Randy Shilts, a homosexual newspaper reporter / author, attempts to make fundamental changes in America’s opinion on AIDS. In Randy Shilts’s essay, "Talking AIDS to Death," he speaks of his experiences as an "AIDS celebrity." At the core of Shilts’s essay is the statement, "Never before have I succeeded so well; never before have I failed so miserably"(221). Shilts can see his accomplishments from two points of view- as a success and as a failure. Despite instant fame, Shilts is not satisfied with the effects his writings has on the general public. Shilts’s "success" and reasons for failure can both be considered when one decides whether or not his efforts were performed in vain.
HIV is believed to be a mutation of the virus found in chimpanzees that cause immunodeficiency in Africa. It is supposed that the virus infected, human during hunting chimpanzee for meat and came in contacts with their blood (CDC, 2016). In the United States the first case of HIV was reported in June 1981 in homosexuals (Qian, Taylor, Fawal & Vermund, 2006).
HIV and AIDS have affected millions of people throughout the world. Since 1981, there have been 25 million deaths due to AIDS involving men, women, and children. Presently there are 40 million people living with HIV and AIDS around the world and two million die each year from AIDS related illnesses. The Center for Disease Control estimates that one-third of the one million Americans living with HIV are not aware that they have it. The earliest known case of HIV was in 1959. It was discovered in a blood sample from a man in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Looking further into the genetics of this blood sample researchers suggested that it had originated from a virus going back to the late 1940’s or early 1950’s. In 1999, researchers had discovered that HIV is derived from chimpanzees native to west equatorial Africa. This epidemic is spreading throughout countries and infecting 14 thousand victims every day. Learning about HIV includes knowing how to contract the virus, understanding most of the people it affects, how to prevent the spread of it, and knowing what treatments are available.
HIV/STD is a prevalent pandemic that affects thousands of people in Europe, Africa, and United States. More than 15 million sexually transmitted disease occur in the United States (CITE CDC). Doctors and various health professionals have sought after the prevention of HIV/STD, but health professionals have come to a conclusion stating that health promotion is the best way to beat the pandemic with the help of patients. “Rates of curable STDs in the United States, the highest in the developed world, are higher than in some developing countries. “(CDC) “STDs account for 87% of th...
For over thirty years HIV and AIDS have presented historic challenges to the human nature, especially to our planet’s public health, scientific and medical communities. It is estimated that just in the United States between 900.000 and 950.000 persons are living with HIV and about one forth of those infected have not yet been diagnosed and are unaware of their infection. The number of people with AIDS is increasing as effective new drug therapies keep HIV-infected persons healthy longer and dramatically reduce the death rates. However in spite of extremely beneficial advances in the field of HIV-AIDS treatment in recent years the epidemic is far from being over. The Center for Disease Control in the United States has estimated that about 40.000 people become infected every year and most of these are young persons under the age of 25. The epidemic of HIV is severely impacting the communities of color, particularly young men and women. Roughly about sixty percent of new infections continue to be among men having a sexual intercourse with another man. The National HIV Prevention Committee suggests that there has been resurgence in unsafe behaviors among some communities of gay men. With all the research and evidence available from various government and non-profit organizations dealing with HIV and AIDS prevention far too many Americans believe that the epidemic is over in the United States. Among minorities, women, and the poor the worst may yet to be come. African Americans represent 12 percent of the American population, which is about 35.000.000 people, but about 50 percent of the new HIV cases (www.statehealthfacts.org). In the United States some 80 percent of all women infected are women of color. In addition African-American women are becoming infected at younger age compared to their white peers primarily through heterosexual contact. Hispanics present about 14 percent of the US population, about 40.322.930 people, and 20 percent of HIV-AIDS cases. The HIV infection rate among Native Americans is approximately one and a half time that of whites and they die from AIDS much faster than the whites due to late diagnosis.
HIV is an epidemic that still currently has no cure, however knowledge of the disease is much more extensive than what was known thirty years ago. Today there is much more knowledge with regard to prevention, diagnosis, and medical management. Nearly 50000 cases are newly diagnose every year, and this number has been stable for the past decade. In 1986 a study was conducted on 375 gay men in San Francisco by Dr. Sol Silverman and the clinical findings were recorded. Due to the wealth of knowledge about the disease that was not known back then there are a number of difference in the epidemiology of the disease. The proportion of gay men and women represent a far smaller number than they did when the study was initially conducted. However, the disease still disproportionately attacks nonwhites and Hispanics, who represent 62% of men and 82% of women. A key reason for the high transmission of HIV is due to the fact that most people do not know they are carrying the disease. In fact, nearly half of HIV transmission are due to these people (Abel et al, 2013).
AIDS, or the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome has been one of the most threatening diseases of the 20th century. Ever since it has been discovered in 1981, it has been constantly infecting men, women, adults, newly born children, homosexuals and heterosexuals. In definition AIDS is an extremely serious disorder that results from severe damage to the body’s defense against disease. Even though AIDS was born in an era of sophisticated medical and surgical developments, it still remains incurable. The ways through which the HIV, Human Immunodeficiency Virus, can be transmitted are: blood transfusion, contaminated needles used in drug addiction, from an infected husband to his wife through sexual intercourse, or from an infected mother to her new born baby during pregnancy. Because it is that much spread and so far incurable, AIDS has aroused a lot hysterical fears and a number of controversies and ethical questions related to the patient’s rights, doctor’s rights and the right of the public at large. While some people think that AIDS patients should be isolated in quarantines, alienated from the rest of the world, others find no reason in this harsh form of separation and discrimination against the infected patients. The patients must also have the right to lead a normal life that must be respected by all the public, and government too. Although AIDS is not more contagious than any other disease, its patients are suffering both social and medical discrimination, and that is not only unethical but could also cause an increase in the spread of the disease. The fact that AIDS is no more contagious than any other disease, makes the reasons behind the people’s fear of AIDS totally illogical. All people are thinking of is that it’s a deadly virus, but there is a lot more to know about AIDS than this. People must be more educated about this virus and how it may be transmitted in order to protect themselves and avoid their constant paranoia about AIDS patients. AIDS, unlike many diseases, is not transmitted by shaking hands, or through coughs, or by swimming in the same pool with an HIV positive. It has also been proven that even the exposure to body fluids such as saliva through deep kissing wouldn’t transmit the virus. This is because the HIV is found to be very weak in open air; it can easily be killed by ordinary household disinfectants (Kelly 33-34).
HIV/AIDS is one of the deadliest diseases in the world today. HIV is a virus that weakens the immune system, making us prone to many infections. It can be transmitted in various ways; for example, by coming in contact with bodily fluids by unprotected sex, reusing needles when doing drugs or getting tattooed, being born to an HIV infected mother, etc. Millions of people are getting infected by HIV around the world. According to World Health Organization, “[. . .] In 2014, 1.2 [1.0–1.5] million people died from HIV-related causes globally [and] there were approximately 36.9 [34.3–41.4] million people living with HIV at the end of 2014 with 2.0 [1.9–2.2] million people becoming newly infected with HIV in 2014 globally.” These numbers show how
Since the early 1980’s, HIV has been an enigma in the United States and around the world. Although first a total mystery to all, it now seems to perplex scientists more than the general public. I argue that this is simply due to a lack of information. The average citizen does not realize the complexity of the virus, which can make public service announcements and campaigns difficult to create. This also makes it extremely challenging to persuade those most at risk for the disease to seek preventative measures, rather than waiting until they have contracted it. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that, although rate of infection is declining, over 37,000 people were newly infected in 2014, with an estimated 1,122,900 people living with the infection at the end of 2015 (1). Most people are astonished that a vaccine has not been created, yet don’t bother to educate themselves on why. Even with billions of dollars poured into the creation of a vaccine, only one has made it to Phase III, where it then failed to be an effective
...that continued training is needed to frontline healthcare professionals, public health officials, and educators. Our AIDS training professionals needs to continued workshops, national conferences, and institutes on many HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention topics to community leaders, Latino immigrants, and people living with AIDS. The AIDS crisis can only be resolved with awareness through organizing communities and at every level of society to have access to unlimited healthcare.
HIV and AIDS are viruses that are very common in today’s society and an issue that has been very popular since the 1980’s. Millions of lives could be saved if the proper steps are taken to educate the less fortunate so they can learn about how to prevent these viruses from being transmitted to one another. It is also important to educate the youth of our society so they know the risks and consequences that could occur if they are not safe while preforming acts that are not part of the norm. When the proper steps are taken to educate, and treat those with HIV and AIDS it can prevent millions of people from dying from these horrible diseases.
There are four letters, that when put together can spell out a lifetime of agony, despair, prejudice and constant indignation; AIDS. Over the years the disease has been called GRID, Gay Cancer and finally came the name that is commonly accepted today, AIDS. Multiple theories are present as to the origin of this deadly virus, all of them are unique but no matter what the origin or name, AIDS is a terrible epidemic that needs to come to an end. People have suffered long enough, and too many people have been discriminated against something that’s not entirely their fault. The medicine for AIDS only prolongs the inevitable, and suffering of the poor people cursed with the disease. AIDS as of now is a death sentence and it currently has no cure; it targets people of every race, age, and gender from all walks of life but despite AIDS only being been around for less than a century, it has managed to leave an immense impact on American history, individuals, society and culture.
The emergence of HIV/AIDS is viewed globally as one of the most serious health and developmental challenges our society faces today. Being a lentivirus, HIV slowly replicates over time, attacking and wearing down the human immune system subsequently leading to AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) at which point the affected individual is exposed to life threatening illnesses and eventual death. Despite the fact that a few instances of this disease have been accounted for in all parts of the world, a high rate of the aforementioned living with HIV are situated in either low or medium wage procuring nations. The Sub-Saharan region Africa is recognized as the geographic region most afflicted by the pandemic. In previous years, people living with HIV or at risk of getting infected did not have enough access to prevention, care and treatment neither were they properly sensitized about the disease. These days, awareness and accessibility to all the mentioned (preventive methods, care etc.) has risen dramatically due to several global responses to the epidemic. An estimated half of newly infected people are among those under age 25(The Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic). It hits hard as it has no visible symptoms and can go a long time without being diagnosed until one is tested or before it is too late to manage.