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Hiv Epidemiology

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HIV Epidemiology

HIV Epidemiology
For the epidemiology paper I chose to write about HIV. HIV is growing concern in the community and too many people are uneducated about the seriousness of this disease. HIV is terminal illness; it will eventually consume your life at some point. There are treatment options out there but being compliant with the medication regimen is crucial to the maintenance and management of this disease.
HIV also known as the Human Immunodeficiency Virus; with HIV the virus replicates and attacks our immune system causing it to go haywire. With the suppression of our immune systems it puts people with HIV at a bigger risk for infection and other common illnesses. People with HIV the common cold can be very
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When we are caring for HIV patients in the community we as the nurse need to be able to identify the mode of transmission of the disease. The agent would be what causes the infection of HIV. HIV is a virus so therefore the virus itself would be the agent. A virus may have a spiny outside layer, called the envelope. Viruses have a core of genetic material, but no way to reproduce it on their own. Viruses infect cells and take over their reproductive machinery to reproduce (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2012). The host would be the person who became infected with the disease. These patients have come into contact with someone who was infected with disease already. This could have been due to cross contamination of blood, sharing needles during drug use, vaginally delivery of a baby, or it could have even been through a blood transfusion; which is very, very rare. Environmental factors would include the surroundings or conditions outside of the host that cause or allow the disease to be spread. This would be any household that participates in the use of illicit drugs such as heroin. Anyone who is in this type of environment is at risk due to old needles laying around, actually partaking in the use of the drugs, or sharing needles with other people. Also an environment that would put someone at risk would be a hospital setting. It is very possible for nurses especially to accidentally stick themselves
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