The Human Immunodeficiency Virus ( Hiv )

Mr. B has confided that he has been diagnosed with the HIV/AIDS virus. His diagnosis has caused both his physical and mental health to suffer. Mr. B has been engaging in sexual activity with several partners who were all unaware of his diagnosis, he has intentionally kept this from them and has no plans to inform them. He has chosen not to tell his partners about his HIV/AIDS status which means he is purposefully putting others at risk for contracting this disease. His reasons for not informing his sexual partners include the fact that he does not want to be treated differently by his family and friends, Mr. B 's concerns are understandable that he would want to keep his health information private however, Mr.

Dan McClain is a sheriff in Scott County Indiana who opposed needle exchange programs until there was a surge in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) outbreaks that were directly influenced by the drug Opana. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) linking a HIV outbreak to Opana usage within Scott County in Indiana causes the need for extreme attention to this prescription pill. In March of 2011 Scott County experienced eight new HIV cases, and just two months later that number had increased to 81 new cases, causing a significant concern for Dan McClain. He is sheriff within Scott County and wanted to know how he could quickly intercept the worst HIV outbreak Indiana had ever experienced. The untimely involvement of Opana’s in

A major epidemic across the world is the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Accredited with 10% of the HIV cases annually is injection drug use (AIDS.gov, 2014). A study done in 2010 showed that injection drug use affected nearly 47,500 new HIV infections in the United States. With 625 being males and 38% being female. Breaking it down even further, African Americans made up 50% of the newly affecting using injection drugs, Whites 26%, and Latinos/ Hispanics with 21% (CDC.gov, 2015). Injection drug use can spread the HIV virus by any of the following acts: using blood-contaminated syringes to prepare drugs, reusing water, reusing bottle caps, spoons, or other containers ("cookers") to

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus, also known as HIV, was discovered by Dr. Robert Gallo and Dr. Luc Montagnier. HIV had its first known case in a human in the year 1959. Though, its first known case in the United States was in 1981 when the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, known as the CDC, reported five homosexual men in Los Angeles, California with Pneumocystis Carinii Pneumonia, a rare form of pneumonia. These findings were published in CDC 'S Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, or MMWR, which is read by physicians around the world. Soon after, The New York Times reported that 41 homosexual men had been diagnosed with a rare cancer called Kaposi 's Sarcoma. Since this disease was only spreading amongst gay men at the time,

Over the last three decades, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immunodeficiency Disease (AIDS) epidemic has been a public health concern in the United States (US) and globally. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], (2015d) estimates that in the US, over 1.2 million people are living with HIV, of which 12.8% are unaware of their diagnosis. Due to exceptional medical advances in treatment and prevention strategies, a healthier quality of life and longevity can now be achieved with persons diagnosed with HIV (Irvine et al., 2014; CDC 2015a; Sayles, Wong, Kinsler, Martins, & Cunningham, 2009). However, despite the advance from a deathly diagnosis to a chronic disease, the continuum of care in treatment is still threatened.

HIV infects cells from the immune system by binding to CD4 receptors on the host cells’ surface. CD4 positive cells release cytokines to activate the production of antibodies and cytotoxic T cells [1]. After CD4 cells enter the host cell, HIV-infected and non-infected cells can die in a number of ways [6]. If CD4 cells die, then the

Since the beginning of time, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has been plaguing African American communities at an alarmingly higher rate than any other. The initial stereotype was that only homosexual, Caucasian men had this disease (which also helped contribute to the disease even further because blacks did not think that they had the possibility of contracting HIV). Poverty plays a huge role as well because those are the blacks most affected and since they are financially unable to afford proper, necessary treatment, they fall victim to this disease. Even though they may seem or look fine at one point in time, the virus can clearly take over their body once their CD4 cell count diminishes to less than 200 cells. This weakens the immune system and opportunistic infections now have the chance to invade the body and eventually kill the HIV (now AIDS) infected individual.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus, better known as the acronym HIV is a virus that destroys the immune system and can evolve into an infection. HIV is known a as pandemic because the immune system can fight off the infection but can never clear the HIV out of the body. “HIV is spread through contact with the blood, semen, pre-seminal fluid, rectal fluids, vaginal fluids, or breast milk of a person infected with HIV.” [AIDS] According to AIDS.info, in the United States, the virus is usually contracted through vaginal sex, anal sex, and the sharing of injection required drug equipment with a person that is already infected with HIV.

The final outcome of the HIV infection is the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) (Dennis H Osmond; Susan Buchbinder; Amber Cheng; Allison Graves) (2002). There are two subtypes of the virus, HIV-1 and HIV-2. They both originate from the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) which was found in Africa. The source of the HIV-1 virus was in chimpanzees coming from central Africa. The source of HIV-2 virus was from west Africa derived from Soot Mangabey Monkeys (Rambout et al., 2001). HIV belongs to a family of viruses known as lentiviruses. Paul M. Sharp and Beatrice H. Hahn (2011) explain in their article that lentiviruses are viruses that slowly act over a long period of

HIV, a lentivirus causes AIDS through interaction of the different cells in the body mainly the cluster of differentiation 4 (CD4) molecules on cells and other cellular receptors (Levy, 1993) particularly responsible for the host’s immune system. Once HIV entry has occurred, the virus starts to destroy the host’s CD4 cells and replicates using an enzyme called reverse transcriptase and converting its ribonucleic acid (RNA) into a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) (Heymann, 2015). In addition, the ability for the HIV to break the long chains of protein that form the virus using an enzyme protease promote viral replication in the same manner as the body’s own immune system.

HIV is a sexually transmitted infection that can spread by contact with infected blood, or from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth, or breast-feeding. Sometimes, individuals with HIV infection will develop AIDS3. AIDS is a chronic, potentially life-threatening condition caused by HIV that weakens the immune system, making the body susceptible and incapable of recovering from other opportunistic diseases, which eventually lead to death through secondary infections4. HIV is different from other viruses in that HIV can incubate in the cells over a long period of time before attacking the body’s immune system, specifically, the bodies T-cells or CD4 cells used for defending the body from infections and diseases5.

HIV first binds to CD4+ helper T-cell with the gp120 protein on the HIV virus and the chemokine receptor, CCR5, on the CD4+ helper T-cell. (6) The viral core then enters the cell and the virion’s protein membrane fuses with the cell membrane. The virus then injects its RNA into the cytoplasm where reverse transcription occurs so synthesize HIV DNA, also called provirus. The provirus is then transferred into the nucleus were it is integrated into the host genome. The infected cell then transcribes and translates the provirus. The viral proteins and some of the viral RNA gather at the edge of the cell membrane and bud off from the infected cell. The newly formed HIV virus goes on to infect other CD4+ helper T-cells, while the infected cell dies. (6) The virus can evolve to use the

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

According Canadian public health agency (2010), Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a virus that affects the human immune system, leading to a chronic, progressive sickness that leaves people susceptible to opportunistic infections. When the body no longer can fight or resist infections, the condition is at this point referred to as AIDS, which means Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. Averagely, it has been found to take more than ten years to develop from initial infection of HIV to AIDS. Though simple in description, HIV and AIDS is a dangerous disease that has by now killed more than 20 million people across the world. Basing on the report released by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS, no cure for AIDS has been established to date, and currently there is no vaccine against HIV and AIDS infection. This paper therefore discusses the biology of HIV and AIDS, Back ground, modes of infection, clinical consequences, current research, preventive and modes of transmission, and diagnostic procedures specifically in N.America.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is the cause of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) (Lamptey et al 2002). The transmission of this virus occurs through contact with blood, semen, vaginal secretions and breast milk (Lamptey et al 2002). Sexual intercourse with a HIV infected partner is the most common cause of transmission. HIV can also spread through contact with contaminated syringes or needles and also be passed from mother to child through pregnancy, birth and breast feeding (Lamptey et al 2002). There is a general consensus that the HIV/AIDS epidemic may by the most destructive health crisis that we have faced (Lamptey et al 2006). Furthermore there is evidence that this epidemic has and will continue to cause havoc in relation to global health. This is especially true for countries in the developing world (Vii. Impact On The Health Sector). This article will the discuss the major health implications caused by the spread of HIV/AIDS focusing mainly on sub-Saharan Africa , while touching on a few other locations. Furthermore this paper aims to explore the actions taken towards the treatment and prevention of this disease. Finally future outcomes for HIV sufferers will be evaluated.