Hiv / Aids Exploded Into The Public Conscience

For centuries, “AIDS has been spread through sexual contact and direct contact with bodily fluids such as blood, semean, and breast milk” (Disease background). Also, is spread through perinatal transmission which is when an AIDS-infected mother gives birth and passes the virus on to her child. The virus develops rapidly in the first few months affecting the immune system and preventing the body from fighting infections. The sex trade began to grow around the same time AIDS started to spread. Many say that, “most of the first AIDS cases were recorded in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1920, and by 1980 the disease was spreading in different parts of Africa” (Origin of HIV and AIDS).

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

The first cases of AIDS appeared shortly after the experiment began in Manhattan. In June 1981 the epidemic became official and quickly labeled the "gay ­related immune deficiency syndrome", later known as AIDS.

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.

In the Radio Lab the Authors illustrates how HIV is spreading in United States and how the starting point begins as Patient Zero. Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich along with Carl Zimmer and David Quammen discuss how in 1981 a mysterious syndrome it became in a pandemic among homosexual people in important cities such as Los Angeles Ney York and San Francisco. Young men were dying in inexplicable conditions that the CDC had to intervene with a several researches, surveys and studies about those cases. During the research noticed that one man were most related with more cases, this person was Gaetan Dugas, a Canadian young men, who travel to US. As he knew he was going to die, he stared to spread the disease for something he called a “gay cancer”.

AIDS Crisis in the 1980’s with Angels in America The first cases of acquired immune deficiency syndrome, also known as AIDS were reported in the United States in June 1981 (HIV and AIDS). Acquired immune deficiency syndrome became a terminal epidemic that was quickly stigmatized and feared by the American society. In his Pulitzer prize winning play Angels in America, Tony Kushner showed how AIDS affected people that were diagnosed with the disease, how it affected their relationships, and just how the people that were branded by society dealt with it when it was first discovered.

In the 1920's, HIV crossed from chimps to humans. There is evidence on how, when and where HIV first began to cause illness in humans. HIV is a type of lentivirus, which means it attacks the immune system. In a similar way, the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) attacks the immune systems of monkeys and apes. There is even a theory on hunters, in the Democratic Republic of Congo eating monkey and transfer the virus. These well-known diseases, travel from Africa, Kinshasa to the United States. Started off being called GRID also known as gay-related immune deficiency introduced to united state in 1981. This disease has taken 121 healthy gay man lives in the U.S. since the mid-1970s. Scientists began to notice clusters of Kaposi's sarcoma and

When it was first reported, scientists were unaware of the how many people were infected with HIV and how many developed AIDS. By the mid-1980 it was suggested that more than 100,000 men would have already been infected with the virus. In 1983, females were infected with this virus, and at that time, scientists believed it come from heterosexual sex. In the same year, children were infected with this virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that casual contact could transmit that virus. However, later that year, scientists said that HIV/AIDS could only pass to someone through sex, by sharing and injection syringe, though breastfeeding, and through contact with the blood of someone infected with the virus (History of HIV/AIDS Overview).

In 1920, HIV originated in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo when it crossed species from chimpanzees to humans. Up until the 1980s, researchers did not know how many people were infected with this disease. HIV was completely unknown and the transmission was not connected with the noticeable signs or symptoms. Also, HIV may have already spread to five continents of the world: North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Australia. In this period, between 100,000 and 300,000 people could have already been infected. In June 1982, a of cases among gay men in Southern California suggested that the cause of the Human immune deficiency or HIV was sexually transmitted. This disease was initially called gay-related immune deficiency or “GRID”.

During the time of the AIDS epidemic, the Reagan Era was in full effect. As of 1982, President Ronald Reagan had not used the term AIDS in public, while his press secretary made jokes of the deadly disease. It is not until 1985, that Reagan speaks of AIDS publically to which roughly approximately 6,000 people have died. However, it isn’t until 1987 and 20,000 deaths later that Reagan identifies the disease as “public enemy number one” (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, 2003). The political events sparked public controversy since the medical community had made very little advancements pending the increasing death toll. It was with the three documentaries The Age of AIDS, Reporter Zero, and the feature film And the Band Played On the medical struggle was revealed.

The first reported cases of AIDS in the U.S were in the early 1980's (Holland). A number of gay men in New York and California began

What exactly is AIDS and how is it different from HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus)? AIDS is a severe form of HIV in which someone’s immune system is completely destroyed; HIV is a virus that affects the immune system. In other words, you can have HIV without AIDS, but if you have AIDS, then you automatically have HIV. The origin of HIV is disputed between scientists; some have theorized that it was passed down from apes and somehow transferred between humans. HIV attacks the bloodstream and eliminates the body’s CD4 cells, which essential for countering diseases and infections. Without these cells, the human body is vulnerable to viruses and diseases. Once inside one’s body, the HIV virus first replicates and spreads itself using the CD4 cells; then the CD4 cells are destroyed. Once the CD4 have been destroyed, a person’s immune system has been greatly weakened that even a simple cold or fever can nearly kill them. Due to this, the human body cannot counter diseases and illnesses due to the destruction of the CD4 cells and the weakened state of the immune system.

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.

The first cases of AIDS that were reported in the United States began in the early 1980s. Today, more than 1.1 million people are living with HIV. In response to this HIV epidemic, at least 35 states have implemented HIV-specific criminal laws that penalize HIV-positive people for exposing others to the virus. These laws impose criminal penalties to HIV positive people that knowingly and potentially expose others to the virus. The Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act, also known as the CARE Act, provides states with funds for AIDS treatment and care. In 1990, the CARE Act required every state to certify that its “criminal laws were adequate to prosecute any HIV-infected individual who knowingly exposed another person to HIV.” Criminal laws regarding potential HIV exposure vary largely from state to state. Some federal legislation addresses the criminal penalties for intentional exposure such as through blood donation. CDC and Department of Justice researches found that, “ by 2011, a total of 67 laws explicitly focused on persons living with HIV had been enacted in 33 states… In 24 states, laws require persons who are aware that they have HIV disclose their status to sexual partners and 14 states require disclosure to needle-sharing partners.” The criminal laws vary as to what behaviors are criminalized or result in additional penalties. The criminal statutes regarding intentional exposure to AIDS for Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama ,Georgia, and

HIV, or the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, is a virus which damages and kills cells of the immune system. It attacks the T-cells, key cells of the immune system, and uses them to make copies of itself. After being infected with the virus it progressively interferes and eventually destroys the immune system's ability to fight the anti-genes. HIV may develop into the syndrome AIDS, the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. HIV is an STD - a sexually transmitted disease - and therefore most commonly it is spread through sexual contact, and the virus mainly enters the body through the penis, mouth, lining of the vagina or vulva during sexual activity. HIV can also be spread through sharing syringes or needles with someone who is infected with the