Human Immunodeficiency Virus

HIV/AIDS

Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is one of the most devastating diseases to touch the human race. Understanding its nature, transmission, and prevention is important for everyone, and it is only through education and skills that people can practice prevention!

HIV, the virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), was first found in Africa, South America, and the Caribbean (Packer). It was related to STLV-I, which is a virus found in monkeys (Packer). Researchers believe that both viruses came from a common ancestor in Africa. Reports of an AIDS-like illness in central Africa dates to the early 1970s, but researches never found out how the virus got into humans. One theory was that people were bitten by infected monkeys, but it was never proved to be true. Researched believed that people infected with the virus left Africa and went to the Caribbean nation of Haiti. The virus then spread to the United States and the rest of the world.

The first case of AIDS in the United States was reported in 1981(Ward). The first cases were reported in homosexual men with many partners. The disease was, therefore, first known as gay cancer and then as gay related immune disorder (Ward). In cities all across the United States, homosexuals felt the impact of AIDS. They and their families watched as friends and loved ones got sick and dies.

By late 1981, AIDS had been reported in intravenous drug users who had shared needles to inject drugs (Rathus). Then in mid-1982, the first AIDS case was noted in hemophiliacs and people who had received blood transfusions (Rathus). Cases were then found in sexual partners of infected individuals. It continued to rise, and by the end of 1982, they had been reported in 15 states, the District of Columbia, and two more countries (Rathus). The scientist still did not know what the disease was and had little information on it. By December 1983, a total of 3,000 cases had been reported in 42 states and 20 other countries (Packer). By the end of 1985, the number of reported cases increased to a total of 16,000 and continued to rise at a uncontrolled rate (Packer).

In 1986, Robert Gallo named the virus HIV (Ward). With no cure in site, he agreed that the only hope was prevention education. The primary dilemma for American culture was how to discuss prevention without talking about sex. Most schools had little or no comprehensive sec education.

As of mid-1993, more than 14 million people worldwide were believed to have been infected with the virus (Kaslow). It is truly pandemic, meaning it is a disease epidemic that has spread around the world. Data from around the world show similarities and differences regarding the spread of the disease (Kaslow). In Africa and the Caribbean, HIV infection spread mainly through heterosexual contact (Kaslow). Then bisexual individuals spread it to the homosexual population. In North and South America, Europe, and Australia, the disease is believed to have started with homosexual men (Kaslow). It then spread to bisexual men and then to intravenous drug users who have shared needles to injest drugs. It was finally spread to heterosexual individuals from the bisexual men and heterosexual drug users. Now the disease is being spread from one heterosexual person to another!

In the early years when the disease was first discovered, people were only thinking about the illness AIDS. More correctly, the disease of concern is HIV infection. AIDS is the end stage of HIV infection. A person can be HIV positive without having AIDS. HIV infection is a chronic, progressive disease. It destroys the immune system and produces a wide range of symptoms. The symptoms can be different from patient to patient. The progress of the disease, however, tend to progress to distinct stages. The first stage is the initial exposure. About three to six weeks after exposure, many individuals develop a flulike illness. This is the early HIV infection stage. These flulike symptoms can range from mild to severe, and last from 3 to 14 days and sometimes