Overview of HIV 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 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

AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) is related to HIV, but they are not one in the same. A person has AIDS only in the final stages of HIV, after the immune system becomes unable to defend itself against foreign bacteria, other viruses, and fungi, and allows for the development of certain cancers. The world first became aware of AIDS in the early 1980s. Growing numbers of gay men in New York and California were developing rare types of pneumonia and cancer, and a wasting disease was spreading in Uganda. Doctors reported AIDS symptoms under different names, including “gay-related immune deficiency” and “slim,” but by 1985, they reported them all over the world.

As a disease, HIV, or the Human Immunodeficiency Virus is a blood-borne virus that is transmitted from person to person via sexual intercourse, mother to child, or intravenous drug paraphernalia. The virus itself causes, usually over a period of time, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, or AIDS. AIDS actually targets the immune system and causes an immunosuppression which makes people who have the virus more susceptible to cancers and infections. This is the most unique feature of the HIV/AIDS virus and is the most deadly since its implications are destructive if not properly treated (Moore 51). The significance of this disease is one that began in the 1980’s and initially was thought to be a virus only found within homosexual communities and was even originally called Gay-Related Immunodeficiency Virus. However, in 1981, it was found that the virus was spreading beyond the gay community when Blacks accounted for 25% of the HIV/AIDs population and a trend began where Blacks continued to contract HIV significantly more than

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.

However, AIDS is not a disease; it is a symptom that derives from being infected by a virus called HIV, human immunodeficiency virus. While AIDS and HIV are two different sickness, HIV is the leading cause of AIDS, killing millions. HIV was first discovered in the late 1970s in the United States and AIDS was soon later on termed in 1982 as a term that describes the symptom of HIV (“Where did HIV come from?”). AIDS/HIV existed before, but scientists and doctors never noticed it until 1981 when large lymph nodes emerged and intrigued researchers such as Dr. Mathilde Krim (“Thirty Years of HIV/AIDS”). The disease afflicted many other people before its discovery, but it is only first record in the late 1970s. Soon, the number of AIDS cases and deaths increased drastically, going from 159 to 2,807 cases per year in two years (“Thirty Years of HIV/AIDS”). The term AIDS and HIV are used interchangeably as AIDS is only a name of the symptom that HIV causes. The advancement of technology and understanding of the sickness allowed doctors to understand the cause of AIDS/HIV and uncover more cases each year. With the technology in the world today, testing for AIDS/HIV requires only a blood sample and analysis; there is no confusion on whether the symptoms are of a different disease. However, even though technology advanced greatly over the years, AIDS, like the Plague is incurable during

The human immune system disorder now known as AIDS was first identified in the United States in

Before beginning to analyze the accuracy of the portrayal of the AIDS epidemic throughout Angels in America, the virus must first be looked at in its actual historical context. Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome is a collection of symptoms and complications due to a deficient immune system that is the result of HIV, Human Immunodeficiency Virus. The AIDS epidemic made its presence in the United States known on June 5, 1981 when five men were diagnosed with a rare lung infection, Pneumocystis Carinii Pneumonia, amongst other infections. The previously healthy, gay men were on the decline due to a compromised immune system. These cases were

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”.

The disease AIDS is an acronym for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. The first known case of the AIDS virus was found in 1970’s. The AIDS disease was made aware in hospitals among male patients who had same-sex relationships. The two main areas of this disease at that time was in New York and Los Angeles. “In 1982 the AIDS disease was enhancing Kaposi 's sarcoma and Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia” (Scavnicky, 2011). In order for a person to be diagnosed with AIDS is due to having the HIV virus. The first HIV virus was detected around 1950. It was considered to have originated from monkey’s or chimps. It later had been spread to humans. The AIDS name had surfaced after the latter stages of HIV have

“Sometime between December 1980 and March 1981, a doctor by the name of Dr. Michael Gattlieb from the University of California Los Angeles was called to investigate three patients with a dieses that nobody in the United Stated had seen before.”(Check 19)”Sure enough, when Dr. Gottlieb drew a vital of blood from each patient and measured a special kind of immune cell called a T-Helper Lymphcyte, all three patients’ test gave the same startling result. It was clear that they had profound deficient immune systems.”(Check 20) It later became known as AIDS.

HIV and AIDS have affected millions of people throughout the world. Since 1981, there have been 25 million deaths due to AIDS involving men, women, and children. Presently there are 40 million people living with HIV and AIDS around the world and two million die each year from AIDS related illnesses. The Center for Disease Control estimates that one-third of the one million Americans living with HIV are not aware that they have it. The earliest known case of HIV was in 1959. It was discovered in a blood sample from a man in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Looking further into the genetics of this blood sample researchers suggested that it had originated from a virus going back to the late 1940’s or early 1950’s. In 1999,

Before the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome could be identified however it appeared in several other immunodeficiency conditions such as Kaposi’s Sarcoma or KS and the strain of Pneumonia known as the pneumocystis carinii pneumonia or PSP. When the epidemics of HIV hit major cities all across the United States it was largely confined to four major groups. The press dubbed these groups the 4-H club. One of the groups were hemophiliacs who received infected blood during a transfusion. Another group was heroin users or people who used drugs by means of injection. The third group were those of Haitian origin given the high number of cases reported in Haiti during that time. The final group was Homosexual men who reported higher incidences of the disease then any other group. When scientist started digging into the disease they learned that females could gain HIV through sex. They also found out

The emergence of drug-resistant strains of human immunodeficiency virus( HIV) and treatment failure can result from non-adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART). (Michel Morin;2000)