Hiv / Aids Paper : Human Immunodeficiency Virus Essay

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.

HIV is a sexually transmitted disease that attacks the body’s immune system by diminishing CD4 cells that help prevent and fight illnesses. HIV is a virus, more specifically a retrovirus that transcribes its RNA into the host cell’s DNA, and is spread by a transfer in bodily fluids namely drug injection and condomless sex. As the disease progresses into acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), the virus continues eliminating CD4 cells until the immune system becomes virtually ineffective [5]. Scientists first identified HIV in 1985 in response to the AIDS crisis plaguing the United States [6]. With no cure yet available, those affected with HIV must rely on antiretroviral drug therapy to decrease their chances of developing AIDS [7].

What is HIV? It is a virus that attacks the body’s immune system that can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or AIDS if not treated. The Kaiser Family Foundation (2008), states that HIV attacks the body’s immune system, specifically the CD4 cells (T cells), which help the immune system fight off infections. If left untreated, it reduces the number of T-Cells in the body, making the person more likely to get other infections. Also noted is the fact that HIV destroys so many of these cells that it renders the body helpless in fighting off the infections, while it takes advantage of the weaker immune system. This occurrence is part of the

There are two kinds of HIV, HIV 1 and HIV 2. HIV 1 is the most common in the world and HIV 2 is typically found only in West Africa. HIV 1 is responsible for stain M in its gene and is mostly responsible for the spread of the virus making it an epidemic. Today, there is an estimated of 32 million people with HIV. HIV is treated with a combination of three different drugs called antiretroviral. This helps to keep the amount of HIV in your body low and from getting sick alot.

Scientists believe that HIV emerged in Africa in the late 1950s due to contact with the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV), found in the blood of nonhuman primates that were hunted for food. The primates were slaughtered and then prepared for cooking, a process that often caused humans to come in contact with the effected blood. The illness that plagues the world is largely believed to have come from these occurrences (Beck-Sagué 28). In 1959, in the central African city of Leopoldville, a seemingly healthy man walked into a hospital clinic to give blood for a study conducted of blood diseases. Doctors analyzed his sample and froze it, forgetting about it for nearly a quarter-century. In the mid- 1980s, researchers studying the growing AIDS epidemic took a second look at the blood sample and discovered that it contained HIV. The Leopoldville sample is the oldest specimen of the AIDS virus ever isolated. Through close examination of the frozen blood, much of today’s knowledge on AIDS was found (Gorman 64).

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus has two types, (type 1 and type 2), followed by nine different subtypes based on the simian location from which each strand originated (Sharp & Hahn, 2008). According to Sharp and Hahn (2008), Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 is the most common cause of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome worldwide and originates from the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus found in sub-Saharan African chimpanzees and gorillas. Specifically, group M represents the most common strand of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (Sharp & Hahn 2008). The original contraction of SIV-1 in humans followed the consumption of bush meat collected from hunting HIV infected chimpanzees and gorillas (Sharp & Hahn, 2008). Once in the human body, the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus became the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (Sharp & Hahn, 2008). Although originally acquired through the consumption of infected simian blood, the most predominant contracting factor in today’s society is through unprotected sexual intercourse, whether oral, anal, or vaginal, and the exchange of infected blood (Fraser et al., 2008).

HIV, also known as human immunodeficiency virus, is a lentivirus that targets the body’s immune system. Specifically, HIV targets white blood cells which are used by the body to defend against infection. The HIV virus destroys T helper cells and uses them to replicate itself inside of them. Without the proper treatment, HIV will eventually reduce the number of T cells in the body, making it more susceptible to infections and some forms of cancer. If enough T cells are destroyed, the body will be unable to properly defend against infection and disease. HIV is unique in that the disease itself does not kill the infected individual if left untreated, but instead opportunistic infections and diseases take advantage of the weakened immune system.

AIDS is the disease caused by human immunodeficiency virus type 1, or HIV-1 (referred to as HIV). HIV belongs to the retrovirus family, a group of viruses that have the ability to use cell 's ' machinery to replicate. HIV attacks the immune system by damaging or killing a specific type of white blood cell in the body called a T-lymphocyte, also called a CD4+ or T-helper cell. T-lymphocytes help the immune system perform its important task of fighting diseases in the body caused by invading germs. As a result of HIV infection, the immune system becomes weakened and the body has trouble battling certain infections caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi. Many of these infections are highly unusual in people with healthy immune systems. They are called opportunistic infections because they take advantage of a weakened immune system. People with HIV disease not only are more likely to contract these infections, they are more likely to have them repeatedly and to become much more sick from them.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus, more commonly known as HIV, started as a serious illness and eventually led to death rapidly. About thirty years ago HIV was discovered as a transition from chimpanzees to humans in West Africa. The researchers believed that the chimpanzee version of the immunodeficiency virus most likely was transmitted to humans and mutated when humans hunted these chimpanzees for food, coming into contact with their infected blood. Over the years, the virus slowly spread across Africa and later into other parts of the world, such as the United States (“Where did HIV come from” all). In the U.S, 4,000 people are diagnosed with HIV every year (“HIV/AIDS at A Glance”). Instead having any symptoms or signs of this epidemic illness, the rate of victims grew greatly (“What is HIV”). As a result, HIV is not completely curable, but there are ways to control it. Testing positive for HIV now provides updates of additional information not known about including causes, signs, treatment, and prevention. The lack of knowledge on sexually transmitted diseases aren’t fulfilled as they should be.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus, HIV was first clinically observed in the United States in June 1981 in healthy young gay men, originating in Los Angeles, California. On June 5th 1981, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), quite quietly, published an article describing five cases of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) in gay men in this region with two of the five already dead. This Morbidity and Morality Weekly Report (MMWR) issued by the CDC is the first reporting of the AIDS outbreak that was soon to follow. Once the report was issued, the CDC received 26b reports of similar cases of this pneumonia along with Kaposi’s Sarcoma (KS), a rare skin cancer, among the same demographic in New York and California. Because the disease was limited to the gay male population, and little was known about it besides the fact that it targeted the immune system, it was called GRID among the media standing for Gay- Related Immune Deficiency. By years end, 270 cases of severe immune deficiency in gay males were reported with 121 already reported dead. In 1982, the term AIDS, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome was first used by the CDC along with reporting a case definition to medical professionals and the public.a In the few years to follow, the CDC determined the other routes of HIV infection and transmission following discovery in infants and women and the World Heath Organization (WHO) got involved in the epidemic. By 1985, at least one case of HIV virus had been

HIV is an epidemic throughout all corners of the Earth, an estimated 35 million people were living with HIV globally at the end of 2013 according UNAIDS, and approximately 1.7 million People die of AIDS annually. There are so many reported cases of HIV/AIDS around the world, because it is so easily transmitted between individuals; HIV is transmitted through the mixing of body fluids via sexual intercourse, use of un sanitized medical equipment, during birth and while breast feeding. HIV attacks the immune system by destroying CD4 cells, which is a specific type of white blood cell that plays a major role in helping your body fight disease. Your immune system weakens as more CD4 cells are killed. You can have an HIV infection for years before it progresses to AIDS (4). HIV also uses the CD4 cell to multiply, as shown on figure

Along with HIV being present within the human population, it is more prevalent within specific populations of humans in specific environments across the world. Along with looking at the evolution of HIV this paper will look at the biogeography of the virus and how it is affected by the changes in the genetic makeup of the virus. This paper will be looking at the biogeography of the HIV virus. Biogeography is a field of study that looks to answer why organisms are located where they are. Why is it located more prominently in one part of the as opposed to others?

Human Immunodeficiency Virus or HIV is a single stranded positive sense RNA retrovirus that infects CD4+ T-Cells, Macrophages, and Dendritic Cells. (Viral Zone) Information concerning HIV’s routes of transmission, and epidemiology, as well as the course of the disease can be found below.

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.

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