preview

Hiv And Human Immunodeficiency Virus

Good Essays

What is HIV? HIV is a fatal disease which stands for “Human Immunodeficiency Virus” it is a failure to the immune system to protect the body from any infections. This virus causes a condition called acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. When HIV is left untreated it leads to another disease called “AIDS”. It can occur in any age, race, sex or sexual orientation. The highest risk of contracting HIV is having unprotected sex and sharing needles with others. Another factor are people that have STI’s and men that are uncircumcised have a greater chance of obtaining the disease. “It is believed that the Chimpanzee version of Human Immunodeficiency virus most likely was transmitted to humans and mutated into HIV. When humans hunted these Chimpanzees for meat and came into contact with their infected blood.” [Make sure you cite the person here]
One of the major harms HIV can do to the body is destroy CD4 lymphocyte cells. The lymphocytes are an important function for the bodies immune system. It helps attack infection and protect from other harmful diseases. HIV destroys your lymphocytes in your immune system and it becomes weak because HIV attaches to these CD4 cells and becomes hard to fight off any infections. Certain stages of HIV are considered AIDS. If a person has a low number of CD4 cells doctors treat it as AIDS. Having HIV gives you a greater risk of having serious infections like tuberculosis, brain problems like meningitis and encephalitis [Define what those two words

Get Access