Aids/Hiv Essay 10

Antivirals are the treatment for HIV and presently there is no known cure. Treatment most often involves combinations of different drugs to avoid creating strains of the virus that are immune to single drug treatments (Mayo Clinic, 2013). The number of CD4 or T cells monitors treatment response. The viral load should be undetectable while undergoing antiviral therapy. The count is checked when treatment starts and usually monitored every 3-6 months. Even if someone has an undetectable viral load, the spreading of HIV is still a possibility.

The term Human Immunodeficiency Virus is commonly known as (HIV), which is a virus that attacks the immune system of humans by destroying the amount of CD4 cells in their bodies. Without CD4 the human body is unable to fight against diseases, which can lead to Acquired Immune deficiency syndrome known as AIDS for short. The first case of the HIV/AIDS virus in the U.S. occurred in the early 1980’s. The first spark of the virus was found in San Francisco with couple of homosexual Caucasian American males. Today African Americans account for the largest proportion of HIV and AIDS in this country, represent approximately 13% of the U.S. population, but accounted for an estimated 44% of new HIV infections in 2010(the last year a study was

This history of HIV/AIDS as a blurry timeline before the 1980’s since that was around the time reports came in which eventually become an HIV report. The origin of HIV can be traced back to the early part of the century. Some believe that in the 1920’s chimpanzees from the Congo came into contact with humans (Avert, 2016). Though reports were not identified as HIV until the 1980’s, the belief that HIV was already scattered throughout four other continents may have been incident (Avert, 2016). Even though for the past 30 years the world has been diligently working to find a cure and pushing prevention, we are still struggling each year with increasing diagnosis. The beginning of HIV did end with lots of death, but now with our improved antiviral medication there is hope for many.

According to a report published in the February 1998 edition of “Nature”, scientists identified what they believe is the earliest case of AIDs in a man from the Congo in 1959. (Lerner and Hombs 39) By the end of the year 1980, 80 men would have been diagnosed with at least of the opportunistic infections that are a characteristic of AIDs. (Lerner and Hombs 40) AIDs cases in the 1980s increased dramatically not only around the world but in the United States, primarily in larger cities like Los Angeles, New York City and San Francisco. The numbers of AIDs diagnoses and deaths spiraled out of control throughout the 1980s and towards the end of 1989 there were 117,500 cases of AIDS reported and 89,000 related deaths.(Lerner and Hombs 54) In the

In the 1980s, a mysterious disease began to take the lives of Americans. With the cause unknown, a fear grew among Americans. An unusually high rate of people was becoming sick with strange and rare diseases. When experimental treatments failed to work, people died. This mysterious disease is what we now know as HIV–Human Immunodeficiency Virus. In the past thirty-five years, the HIV has taken many turns in history. Although we do not hear about HIV and AIDS now, it is still a prevalent issue in the United States and in the world.

Moreover, HIV affects everyone across the globe. Today in the community HIV is known as the fear disease. In today society, everyone fears of catching the viruses although they are more dangerous disease out there still the norms about HIV are high. In the early 20s when the virus was first detected, treatments were poor, and the prognosis was death. However, in today society HIV made progress. The once known the death sentence virus turn tables to a manageable disease so how this disease continue to affect the community? First of all, the numbers of new HIV cases continue to increase according to the national Institute of Allergy and infectious Diseases (NIAID). Also according to NIAID more than 1.1 million people in the U.S population are infected and more than 20 percent are unaware of the fact they are infected. Also an average of 50,000 new cases reported each year not even mentions the ones unaware of their

Hilleman collected blood from Gay men and drug users, people who would be at risk for hbv infections. Every known virus was killed so HIlleman was confident with his work and that it was safe. Hillemans vaccine was falsely blamed for igniting the AIDS epidemics. The process had destroyed all viruses. The vaccine in was approved in 1981.

Primary HIV infection is the first stage and only lasts for a few weeks. Flu-like illnesses may be present during this stage. The second stage is known as clinically asymptomatic stage and typically lasts for an average of ten years. Although major symptoms might not exist during this stage, the HIV-positive person may experience swollen glands. Symptomatic HIV infection is the third stage. As the immune system continues to fail, symptoms surface and become miniscule at first then later leading to more prevalent symptoms. This third stage is generally caused by illnesses, involving cancers and infections, which the immune system would normally fight off but is not able to because the immune system is too weak. Finally, AIDS, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, develops and is the final stage of HIV. A person is diagnosed with AIDS when they show the symptom called an opportunistic infection. This is when infections take advantage of the weakened immune system. HIV leads into life threatening AIDS and causes the infected individual to feel escalating amounts of pain such as neurotic pain, tremendous headaches, gastrointestinal pain, chest pain, and even emotional pain such as depression. This pain can be intense enough to cease the individual from living a productively normal life. HIV and AIDS can strike anyone at any point in their life and should be taken seriously.

According to the authors of Chapter 5, the single factor that explains the sharp drop in mortality in the U.S. was the introduction of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) in 1996. HAART, medications including at least two different classes/kinds of ARVs, was found to suppress the virus and restore patients’ immune systems for sustained periods.

Acute (Primary) HIV infection. “Acute HIV occurs 1-4 weeks after transmission and is accompanied by a burst of viral replication with a decline in CD4 cell count. Most patients manifest a symptomatic mononucleosis-like syndrome which is often overlooked. Acute HIV infection is confirmed by demonstrating a high HIV RNA with either a negative HIV antibody test or a reactive ELISA with negative or indeterminate Western blot” (Sax, 2013, p.3).

The median survival time of 19.8 months from the estimated date of CD4+ lymphocyte count at 50 x 106/L to death was somewhat longer than that reported by Elizabeth G. (16 months, >25% at 2 years)(12). Robert Yarchoan showed that the median survival time of HIV infected persons with CD4+ lymphocyte count less than 50 x 106/L was 12.1 months (95% confidence interval: 7.2 -19.4 months) (13). According to the previous report that AIDS-defining diseases occurred at CD4+ lymphocyte count of 50 x 106/L for diagnoses, we compared our result of survival time from CD4+ lymphocyte count at 50 x 106/L to death with other AIDS survival studies. Ninety-seven percentages of AIDS patients survived at 6 months and 86% of them at 12 months in France (14). The

This is when the patient may be classified as having Acquired Immunode-ficiency Syndrome. An infected individual may also be diagnosed with AIDS when his or her CD4+T cell count is below two-hundred, which is normally five-hundred to fifteen-hundred per cubic millimeter of blood. However, an individual may have fall into a remission and have the diagnoses of having Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome revered when either the cell count rises or the opportunistic infection clears up after medications, but the diagnoses of having Human Immunodeficiency Virus will never be taken away.(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

HIV is the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS. A member of a group of viruses called retroviruses, HIV infects human cells and uses the energy and nutrients provided by those cells to grow and reproduce. AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) is a disease in which the body's immune system breaks down and is unable to fight off certain infections, known as "opportunistic infections," and other illnesses that take advantage of a weakened immune system. When a person is infected with HIV, the virus enters the body and lives and multiplies primarily in the white blood cells. These are the immune cells that normally protect us from disease.

be identified in the GI tract by stool examination at some point in the course of AIDS.[419]

There can be one or more mutations that might block the working of the ARVS making them less effected or even completely ineffective. i.e. the virus will become resistant to any of the drugs and multiply. (Jen Gorgan and Ruth Suter;2009)