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The Health Problem Of Aids

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Getting to Know HIV

Alberto Macias
ID#: 58522456
PH 1- Dr. Bic
November 8, 2015
Public Health Problem

HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. It attacks the t-cells in the human body and when it destroys so many, it leads to a disease called AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), the final stage of the HIV infection. HIV is one of the few viruses that is yet to be curable, so once you contract it, you have it for life. It affects the cells of the immune system that fight off diseases or infections from the human body. This leads to a greater vulnerability to get deadly infections. Not many who have HIV advance to the final stage, AIDS because there is a medical procedure that can control it (CDC 2013). This medical procedure is called ART (antiretroviral therapy). HIV exists in our society and is spread mainly by having unprotected sex, sex without a condom with someone that has the disease. About 50,000 people get infected every year and if left untreated, it can lead to AIDS and be fatal. It is also spread through the sharing of syringes and needles with HIV+ patients for drug use. HIV does not survive for a prolong period of time outside the body, so the majority of documented cases occur when certain fluids-semen, blood, rectal and vaginal fluids from an HIV infected patient can transmit the virus. Studies show that the virus started in West Africa and was likely trans mitted from an infected chimpanzee to a human

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