AIDS

AIDS

AIDS (Acquired Immune-Deficiency Syndrome)

Introduction

The acquired immune-deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). HIV is transmitted by the exchange of bodily fluids through sexual activity, blood and plasma transfusions, injection drug use (IDU) and unsterile syringes, and mother-to-child transmission (MTCT). HIV/AIDS cannot be cured, but antiretroviral therapies (ARTs) can help prevent opportunistic infections that occur as a result of HIV's attack on the body's immune system. ARTs also helps prevent MTCT and significantly delay the onset of fatal complications related to AIDS. (Iliffe, 2006)

Figure 1

Discussion

Historical Perspective

The virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, was first identified by scientists in 1983. Since then, the geographic origins of the virus have been hotly debated in the scholarly and secular communities. Recent studies by genetic scientists have indicated that HIV-1, the virulent form of the virus that causes AIDS, can be traced to a closely related strain of virus, called simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) that infects subspecies of chimpanzees in Central Africa. It also happens that people in this region hunt chimpanzees for bush meat, leading scientists to believe that the virus may have passed from the blood of chimpanzees into humans through superficial wounds. Indeed, many believe that the virus has been prevalent among humans in remote, inaccessible jungle areas since the 1920s. However, in today's globalized and highly interconnected world, the virus somehow managed to escape from this region into the wider world. There are two forms of this virus, HIV-1 and HIV-2. HIV-2 is restricted to the Guinea Highlands of West Africa, while HIV-1 accounts for the majority of AIDS cases throughout the world. (Iliffe, 2006)

Figure 2

When the disease was first identified in North America and Europe, it was first thought to be a disease of homosexual men. In the early years, over 90% of cases were diagnosed in homosexual men. As a result, in the 1980s, HIV/AIDS was repeatedly described as “the gay plague.” As such, the early educational campaigns on safe sex targeted gay men. These have largely been successful in reducing the transmission rate among this population in North America and Europe. While the number of new infections of HIV/AIDS among homosexual individuals in North America is on the decline, the disease is now increasingly being spread through unprotected heterosexual sex. (Shannon, Pyle, Bashshur, 1991)

Impact of HIV/AIDS on Women and Children

AIDS was first identified in the United States in ...