The Presidents Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus, also known as HIV, is a virus that attacks and destroys a person’s CD4 cells which are cells used to help fight

On June 5, 1981 the Center for Disease control and Prevention announced the first warning of a new virus called Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), otherwise known as Pneumocystis Jirovecii. The PCP virus was first detected in a small group of homosexual males, all in which were located in Los Angeles. Prior to their most recent health evaluations, all of the males were reported as being healthy. However, during their health evaluations the virus PCP was discovered and was common among all of the men because they were immunocompromised. This disease attacked the host through a form of a lung disease which cause inflammation and fluid buildup. The virus Pneumocystis Jirovecii is was renamed in 1982 to what we now know as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) & Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (Aids). HIV is the precursor to Aids. HIV attacks CD4+ T Cells. T Cells are the white blood cells that assist the body with fighting off cold and infections. A severe loss of those essential CD4+T Cells weaken the body’s immune system resulting in AIDS, which frequently results in death. A person can contract the HIV virus through unprotected sexual intercourse via bodily fluids such as blood, semen, and breast milk. Statistics show that right now 36.9 million people right now are living with HIV/AIDs worldwide, however, most cases are localized in middle and low income countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. The statistics also show that approximately 2.6 million Congenital HIV cases in the

HIV is one of the most feared diseases around the globe since its “discovery” in 1981. HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus and is caused by Lentivirus, which is a subgroup of Retroviridae (Douek et al. 2009). HIV is one of the more dangerous diseases known because there is currently no known cure and will infect roughly 50,000 people in the United States alone each year (CDC 2016). HIV is a terrible disease that has taken the world by storm. While originally only known as a homosexual disease, that false perception has been shattered as the disease continued to spread. The origin of HIV is not entirely known, though there is strong evidence to support the idea that it originated in a chimpanzee in West Africa. They

Although HIV/AIDS wasn’t noticed in the United States until the 1980s and didn’t have an identified cause until 1983, the virus and

HIV (Human immunodeficiency virus) is a lentivirus that results in AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). HIV attacks and destroys CD4 helper lymphocyte cells - a specific type of immune system cell. As a result, the body has a harder time fighting off other infections, making minor illnesses more severe. The virus will go further to use those CD4 cells to create more of the virus. Once so many CD4 cells have been destroyed, HIV will become AIDS.

Thirty-five years on June 5, 1981, what began with five cases of a rare lung infection (Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia) among five otherwise healthy gay men eventually emerged as global health crisis, which in 1982, was formally identified as acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Another two years would pass before scientists were able to isolate the retrovirus that causes AIDS, which in 1984 was termed human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV). Although a successful discovery, in the absence of a proven treatment, HIV and AIDS had free rein in which to leave in its wake a global path of fear, illness, and death. To understand the totality of HIV/AIDS, consider the following. Since the onset of the pandemic more than 70 million people have been infected with HIV, 35 million people have died of AIDS-related illnesses, and globally, at the end of 2015, an estimated 39.8 people were living with HIV (World Health Organization, 2016). Notwithstanding the global significance of HIV/AIDS, this paper, aside from a historical overview of HIV/AIDS, will focus solely on the continuing public health threat of HIV/AIDS in the United States.

HIV is an epidemic throughout all corners of the Earth, an estimated 35 million people were living with HIV globally at the end of 2013 according UNAIDS, and approximately 1.7 million People die of AIDS annually. There are so many reported cases of HIV/AIDS around the world, because it is so easily transmitted between individuals; HIV is transmitted through the mixing of body fluids via sexual intercourse, use of un sanitized medical equipment, during birth and while breast feeding. HIV attacks the immune system by destroying CD4 cells, which is a specific type of white blood cell that plays a major role in helping your body fight disease. Your immune system weakens as more CD4 cells are killed. You can have an HIV infection for years before it progresses to AIDS (4). HIV also uses the CD4 cell to multiply, as shown on figure

AIDS, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, have been a worldwide issue for years. There have been countless controversies about AIDS but not many know the real truth behind this disease. AIDS epidemic have crucially changed American medicine procedures and greatly induced economic and social changes in the United States of America.

The first case of HIV infection in the United States can be dated back to the 1970s, and AIDS was reported in New York and California in the 1980s. By 1983, approximately 3000 AIDS patients had been reported and 1000 patients had died (Berkson, 1990). Over 33 million

A healthy individual’s immune system is able to combat pathogens, bacteria, infections and viruses that he or she may encounter on a daily basis. This becomes much harder for the individual once he or she is infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2015) defines HIV as a virus that attacks the immune system. The immune system is the body’s natural ability to protect itself against infections and diseases (CDC, 2015). When the immune system is damaged, the human body loses the ability to fight off disease and infections (CDC, 2015). The HIV virus is different from other viruses due to the fact that once the HIV virus enters the human body; the immune system could

Beginning in the early 20th century in Africa, a retrovirus known as the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) presented itself; characterized by an attack on the hosts’ immune system

First reported incidences of HIV were established in rural geographic areas prior to 1955 (Lemey et al., 2003). The virus then managed to quickly spread amongst larger populations resulting in a shift from an uncommon infection to a highly prevalent disease throughout 1955 to 1970. After the original outbreak, in 1994, further information regarding the infection was mandated to be reported to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from 25 different states using a structured confidentiality report system (Prejean et al., 2011). With this provided system, the Global Programme on AIDS and the World Health Organization (1995) later concluded a total of 10,000 new cases develop each day.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus has left a deep imprint on citizens affected today. The first recognition of AIDS occurred in the 1980’s and informed Americans to be more careful of their sexually activity. Some symptoms were similar to the common cold but were taken seriously after it lead to deaths. People assumed that HIV was spread by sitting on toilet seats or even hugging. The truth was that HIV couldn’t be spread as easily as everyone thought. HIV could only be transmitted through sexual contact, or needle use from an infected individual. This virus gradually became a scare especially when the common antibiotics failed. Later on scientists slowly realized that when a person is

The origins of HIV (Human immunodeficiency virus) and the disease it causes AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). The virus might have sprung up as early as the 1940’s, yet it was not recognized as a new pathogen until the early 1980s. Physicians who study patterns of illness began to take not when immune-deficiency conditions such as oral candida thrush, herpes, Pneumocystis Jiroveci pneumonia, and Kaposi’s sarcoma, a rare type of cancer, began to show up in the United States, primarily among urban populations of men who have sex with men. In 1986, HIV-1 and HIV-2 were isolated as the viruses that cause AIDS. Men who have sex with men were just the first to be affected. Infection was soon seen in their populations. HIV falls into a

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in 1983, was an early report of a new disease discovered by both French virologist Luc Antoine Montagnier of the Pasteur Institute of Paris and Dr. Robert Gallo of the National Cancer Institute in Washington. The virus was at first named HTLV-III/LAV which is (human T-cell lymphotropic virus-type III/lymphadenopathy-associated virus) by an international scientific committee. The name was later changed to HIV Human immunodeficiency virus. Since the early 1980s, Human immunodeficiency virus was identified as a retrovirus as the cause of AIDS.1