Human Immunodeficiency Virus, in short, called HIV is a virus that attacks and weakens your immune system, which can later lead to the fatal stage known as Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Many people are uninformed of exactly how HIV is transmitted, but the most common route of transmission is through unprotected sexual intercourse. This is because body fluids such as semen that are infected with the HIV virus can enter another person’s body thus spreading the virus. Other routes of transmission include: infected mother to baby and sharing needles with an infected person (Centers for Disease control, 2001). Once the virus enters your body, it looks for it’s favorite cell, the T-cell, attaches its CD4 receptor to the CD4 cell (T-cell) and begins infecting the cell. In order for viruses to replicate they will have to hijack the T-cells, make viral cells, and then infect the rest of the cells in your body. After the virus has entered the T-cell, the T-cell will read it and order the cell to make more virus genes. Next, the cell begins to make virus capsids and genes; this is where all viral parts of the virus cells are made. The cell then begins to assemble the virus and after that the cell bursts open releasing the virus cells to start infecting the other cells (Phelan, 2010). It is a complete shock to discover that in fact there are people who are naturally immune to the HIV virus. This genetic mutation is rare and only about 1 percent of people are known to have this mutation. In order to be immune to HIV, a person must receive a pair of mutated genes but they must be inherited from both parents in order for the person to be immune to the virus (Pernicone, 2009). If the person only obtained the gene mutation from one... ... middle of paper ... ... sum dollars for a test that is probably not that accurate. According to the article, “This at-Home HIV Test Looks Simple, but Is It Accurate?” suggests that there may be some who end up resulting in a false negative. A trial of 5,000 people who could possible carry the HIV virus were tested and out of these people only 8 received a false negative (Shattner, 2012). Yes this is a small possibility but still those are 8 people who are carrying HIV and mindlessly going about their lives spreading the virus. Imagine being HIV positive and you take Oraquick to test for HIV and you get a false negative and you feel this burden lifting off your shoulder when in reality your living with HIV, your infecting others, and your not getting treatment. This can be very dangerous and may even cause more spread of the virus since some with get that false negative from time to time.
To begin with, one of the biggest issues with prior attempts of HIV/AIDS programs is that once a person was told that they had been infected, they were rejected treatment, as stated in Epstein’s piece. Luckily today, it is common for schools to have free HIV testing. This, however, does not solve the issue. Instead of having free HIV testing more commonly available in schools rather than at-your-fingertips, governments should fund worldwide clinics that provide free HIV testing and protection available to all genders. Said clinics could then pair with multiple insurance companies to make treatment as affordable as possible, because if one tests positively, they most likely cannot afford the medication. Treatment can cost from anywhere between $500-$2,700 for one prescription, which can reach
Human immunodeficiency virus infection / acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a disease of the human immune system transmitted between people by the mixing of bodily fluids. It is an extremely deadly disease that has killed over thirty-six mi...
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.
Infection with HIV does not necessarily mean that a person has AIDS, although people who are HIV-positive are often mistakenly said to have AIDS. In fact, a person can remain HIV-positive for more than ten years without developing any of the clinical illnesses that define and constitute a diagnosis of AIDS. In 1997 an estimated 30.6 million people worldwide were living with HIV or AIDS—29.5 million adults and 1.1 million children. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that between 1981, when the first AIDS cases were reported, and the end of 1997...
HIV, also known as Human Immunodeficiency Virus, is a virus that attacks the body’s immune system. If left untreated, HIV reduces the number of CD4 cells in the body, which makes a person more likely to get infections or infection-related cancers. HIV can also lead to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), if it is not being treated (aids.gov). There is no effective cure for HIV, however with proper treatment and medical care, HIV can be controlled. In
However, it is a free choice for anyone to engage in risky sexual activity, and the NHS which is giving drugs that can help prevent HIV and AIDS is not actually doing the right thing by providing the drug to people because they are encouraging people be involved risky sexual activity (Clark 1). The drugs that the NHS are providing are do not work 100% of the time (Clark 2). Another suggested option to help against the spread of HIV, is to test everyone for HIV, which could inform people if they have HIV even if they did not hot they had HIV. This sounds like a great idea, but, testing everyone for HIV would be unethical as not everyone would want to be tested as they may feel there privacy is being invaded, and HIV tests can be pretty costly, averaging about 50.00$ per test (Meursing
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retro virus that causes AIDS. HIV is a virus that can only be contracted between human to human. HIV weakens your immune system because this virus is destroying cells that fight diseases and infection in your body. A virus can only produce itself by taking over a cell in the body of its h...
As stated before, HIV-1 and HIV-2 is a virus that destroys one’s immune system. HIV (a Lentivirus transmitted by a single strand RNA) like other viruses enter the cells in the body and through a series of complicated metabolic processes, the virus becomes incorporated into cells DNA via reverse transcriptase (2 p177). Once the cell begins to divide, the DNA becomes part of the CD4+ T cells (lymphocyte) (2 p.367). As an end result, there is an idiopathic decline of CD4+ T cells values (3). CD4+ T cells play a crucial role in the immune system by producing antibodies and controlling the activity of CD8+ T cells (suppressor/killer) (4). The CD4+ T cells also play a role in secretion of interleukins or cytokines, which are responsible for the activation of the natural killer cells and macrophages (4). As the HIV progresses, the CD4+ T cell levels become lower leaving the body unable to fight infections, virus, or bacteria. “CD28
HIV is the human immunodeficiency virus; this virus can lead to acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS. Accoring to Avert, 2.6 million people became infected with HIV in 2009, there are now an estimated 33.3 million people around the world who are living with HIV. HIV is transmitted by the exchange of bodily fluids via sharing contaminated syringes, from infected mother to the child, and sexual contact. Contact with blood, semen, vaginal secretions, breast milk, or saliva that is contaminated with HIV, puts an individual at higher risk for contracting HIV. However, HIV cannot be transmitted by touch, coughing, or by bits from insect vectors.
According to amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, “more than 35 million people live with HIV/AIDS worldwide, 3.3 million of them are under the age of 15. In 2012 an estimated 2.3 million people were newly infected with HIV, 260,000 were under the age of 15. Every day nearly 6,300 people contract HIV - nearly 262 every hour. In 2012, 1.6 million people died from AIDS, 210,000 of them were under the age of 15. Since the beginning of the epidemic, more than 75 million people have contracted HIV and nearly 36 million have died of HIV-related causes”. This disease is transferred from one person to another by blood, semen & pre-seminal fluid, vaginal secretions, breast milk, hypodermic needles and from mother to unborn child through the placenta.
A person who is HIV-infected carries the virus in certain body fluids, including blood, semen, vaginal secretions, and breast milk. The virus can be transmitted only if such HIV-infected fluids enter the bloodstream of another person. This kind of direct entry can occur (1) through the linings of the vagina, rectum, mouth, and the opening at the tip of the penis; (2) through intravenous injection with a syringe; or (3) through a break in the skin, such as a cut or sore. Usually, HIV is transmitted through:
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).
For almost all types of Albinism both parents or mates must carry an albinism gene in order for their child to have albinism. Because the body has two sets of genes, a person may have normal pigmentation but carry the albinism gene. If a person has one normal gene and one albinism gene that is still enough to pass the disease on to their children. Even if both parents have the albinism gene it does not mean they have the sickness. The baby will have a one out of four chance of getting the disease. This is inherited by autosomal recessive inheritance.
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.