What is HIV/AIDS? Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a virus that your body can’t get rid of.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus is HIV that develops into AIDS, which is Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. This virus starts to break down white blood cells, as a result the immune system starts to deteriorate and our greatest shield cannot fight any longer (Mayo Clinic, 2016). The CDC (2015) states, that over 1.2 million people live with HIV in the United States and most who are infected are oblivious of their disease. Healthy people 2020 has declared HIV a public health crisis in the United States, and continues to sweep the nation with more than 500,000 new cases each year (HealthyPeople2020,2016).

HIV disproportionately effects those living at or below poverty level. For many, lack of employment or underemployment can also mean a lack of insurance and access to consistent medical

Researchers believe that this syndrome originally originated from chimpanzees as HIV and later turned to AIDS somewhere along western Africa. Humans contracted the syndrome when they hunted these animals and ate them. AIDS was first recognized in gay men from both New York and California around the 1980s. Researchers and doctors labeled this sickness going around as “gay-immune related deficiency” but by 1985 they labeled the sickness as AIDS and realized it was being found amongst both sexes and worldwide. By 1986, a successful treatment to control HIV was found. It was a failed cancer drug called AZT and was later used for AIDS as well. Doctors were giving AZT as well as a combination of other drugs to help control the disease, but it only helped those who had money and access to the treatment. Within later years, the treatment and control for both HIV and AIDS have widened but they now focus more on giving access to all victims of this sickness.

Primary HIV infection is the first stage and only lasts for a few weeks. Flu-like illnesses may be present during this stage. The second stage is known as clinically asymptomatic stage and typically lasts for an average of ten years. Although major symptoms might not exist during this stage, the HIV-positive person may experience swollen glands. Symptomatic HIV infection is the third stage. As the immune system continues to fail, symptoms surface and become miniscule at first then later leading to more prevalent symptoms. This third stage is generally caused by illnesses, involving cancers and infections, which the immune system would normally fight off but is not able to because the immune system is too weak. Finally, AIDS, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, develops and is the final stage of HIV. A person is diagnosed with AIDS when they show the symptom called an opportunistic infection. This is when infections take advantage of the weakened immune system. HIV leads into life threatening AIDS and causes the infected individual to feel escalating amounts of pain such as neurotic pain, tremendous headaches, gastrointestinal pain, chest pain, and even emotional pain such as depression. This pain can be intense enough to cease the individual from living a productively normal life. HIV and AIDS can strike anyone at any point in their life and should be taken seriously.

Although HIV is no longer the automatic death sentence it was in the 80’s, it remains a thorn even in our modern societies. For instance, HIV treatment is exponentially expensive, and can only be afforded by residents in developed countries. In fact, most third world nations are still in the 80’s as far as HIV treatment technology is concerned. Fatality rates particularly in Africa are astronomical to say the least (Rensburg 267). With prices, for

“Everyday the HIV/AIDS pandemic continues to kill three times as many people than died during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001” (Elbe 2006, p.119). The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) weakens the immune system by destroying the cells that fight disease and infection. In the final stages of the HIV infection, it can lead to the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Not all people who are diagnosed with HIV progress to acquiring AIDS, although once you have been diagnosed with the HIV infection, you have it for life. HIV/AIDS have claimed the lives of more than 39 million people globally since the discovery (World Health Organisation 2014) with a majority of these cases being in sub-Saharan Africa.

Even though HIV has impacted the developed world, it has specifically targeted our impoverished communities and has decreased life expectancy in these areas to be an average of 20 years old. In addition, this chapter presents critical historical information and statistics to identify the origins of these diseases and the genuine numbers associated with it. This paper will explore HIV and AIDS as a disease. The first chapter will discuss the history associated with HIV and AIDS. The second chapter will explain the process of HIV and AIDS which includes the stages, symptoms and contraction. The third chapter explains the misconceptions and stereotypes of HIV and AIDS. The fourth chapter explores women and children with HIV and AIDS. Finally, the fifth chapter discusses the medical interventions and future at risk

AIDS is a condition that develops when a person’s body has been weakened by HIV (the human immunodeficiency virus). HIV can spread through sexual contact or the sharing of needles. When someone has HIV, their immune system is weakened. When the immune system is weakened, an individual is susceptible to opportunistic infections. Kaposi’s Sarcoma, Candidiasis, Cryptococcus, Tuberculosis, Toxoplasmosis, Herpes Simplex, and a few of the opportunistic infections. The CD4 T-cell is slowly invaded. HIV uses the immune cell’s genetic material to reproduce itself and then kills the CD4 T-cell. An individual may not have any symptoms at this time. Once the CD4 T-cell count is below 200, the diagnosis is AIDS.

As AIDS continues to engulf the globe with disease, there are more and more people who are being affected by it. Here in the United States, there were over 56,300 new HIV infections in 2006 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Yet, the numbers of new infections are only the

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) are lentiviruses (a subgroup of retroviruses) that infect CD4 cells (commonly known as T-cells), macrophages and dendritic cells. The Virus can be transmitted through the rectum, the vagina, the mouth, and the opening of the penis. Only certain fluids contain the virus. They are blood, semen, pre-seminal fluids, rectal fluids, vaginal fluids and breast milk. The HIV virus infects a T-cell, multiplies and eventually the cell explodes. When that happens on a massive scale, your immunity is compromised. That makes it possible for infections, such as the common cold and pneumonia, to thrive. That is usually in the end stages of the disease.

AIDS is the disease caused by human immunodeficiency virus type 1, or HIV-1 (referred to as HIV). HIV belongs to the retrovirus family, a group of viruses that have the ability to use cell 's ' machinery to replicate. HIV attacks the immune system by damaging or killing a specific type of white blood cell in the body called a T-lymphocyte, also called a CD4+ or T-helper cell. T-lymphocytes help the immune system perform its important task of fighting diseases in the body caused by invading germs. As a result of HIV infection, the immune system becomes weakened and the body has trouble battling certain infections caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi. Many of these infections are highly unusual in people with healthy immune systems. They are called opportunistic infections because they take advantage of a weakened immune system. People with HIV disease not only are more likely to contract these infections, they are more likely to have them repeatedly and to become much more sick from them.

HIV and AIDS are often thought of as the same thing but in actuality, they are two different illnesses. HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. HIV weakens a person’s immune system by destroying important cells, mainly CD4 also known as T-cells, that fight disease and infection. If HIV is left untreated, it can lead to AIDS. AIDS or Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome is the ultimatum condition when HIV is left untreated and is the most dangerous and life-threatening disease derived from it. There are three stages of HIV: The early stage, The clinical latency stage, and the late stage which is AIDS. According to The Foundation for AIDS Research, “nearly 37 million people are now living with HIV and 1.2 million people died from AIDS in

Since its outbreak the Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) which goes on to develop in to Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) has been reported in over 119 countries with 78 million people being infected resulting in over 39 million deaths. As of 2013 an estimated 0.8% of the world’s population aged 15-49 are living with HIV, this varies dramatically for individual countries with it rising to 71% in sub-Saharan Africa [ ]. This has lead to a dramatic decrease in life expectancy as shown in figure 1[ ]; this intern reduces the working population causing economical impacts. Recent recovery in life expectancy is due as a result in our increased understanding of how HIV replicates, allowing for the development of drugs that interrupts its

Of all the people suffering and living today with the HIV/AIDs virus, two-thirds of them live in sub-Saharan Africa, while this is true, this region constrains little more than 10 percent of the world’s population. The AIDS virus has caused an extreme amount of suffering in the people of Africa. The virus is everywhere, and this is what makes this virus so hard to stop. It’s directly affecting households, schools, and workplaces and even destroying what little economy the Africans had. In 2009, it’s estimated that about one million three hundred thousand adults and children have died as a direct result of AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa (avert.org/aids-impact-africa.htm). Since the beginning of this epidemic, more than fifteen million Africans have lost their lives to AIDS. Currently, is there access to treatment of HIV and AIDS, but fewer than half of Africans affected by the virus are getting the treatment (avert.org/aids-impact-africa.htm). South Africa, without a doubt has one of the

Everyone has heard, read, or even experience HIV. Those letters stand for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. If left untreated, HIV can lead to the disease AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome). Unlike some other viruses, the human body cannot win the battle against HIV. Once someone contracts the virus, it will attack the body’s immune system, specifically the CD4 cells (T cells), which help the immune system to fight infections. Over time, HIV can destroy many of these cells, making the body vulnerable to opportunistic infections or cancers.