Aids is caused by infection with a virus (HIV) that destroys the immune system leaving the body vulnerable to a variety of opportunistic infections and cancer. It now appears likely that HIV originated early in the 20th century by means of cross species transmissions from a subspecies of African Chimpanzee to humans. The virus then spread worldwide much later when Africa became less isolated. Even thought the overall incidence of new HIV infections in the United States had remained relatively stable in recent years the number of new cases among teen’s women and racial and ethnic minorities continues to rise. There is an incidence of new HIV infections of a recent escalation which promoted the incidence of new HIV infections occurring among both heterosexuals and men who have sex with men. Although most AIDS cases that have occurred in the United States since the beginning of the epidemic have involved msm( men having sex with men and injection drug users cases attributable to heterosexual transmission have raised steadily. Even though the prevalence of HIV infection in the united states and the rest of the western world remains highest among msm’s, the proportion of reported aids cases among msm declined sharply and then leveled off in the period eaxtending from the mid 1980s to the late 1990 s in the recent years the incidence of HIV infections among msm has been increasing.
In the United States aids cases attributable to heterosexual transmission are accelerating and heterosexual transmission are accelerating and heterosexual contact has always been the primary form of HIV transmission worldwide.
HIV has been found in semen blood vaginal secretion, saliva tears, urine, breast milk, and any other bodily fluids that can contain blood.
Blood semen and vaginal fluids are the major vehicles for transmitting HIV which appears to be passed primarily through sexual contact and through needle sharing among injection drug users. HIV can also be passed prenatally from an infected woman to her fetus or infant before or during birth or after birth by breast feeding.
HIV can be transmitted to the receptive partner during oral sex when HIV comes into contact with mucous membrane tissues in the mouth.
When a virus (hiv) can work so well in conjunction with other diseases why can’t we? High risk behaviors that increase ones chances of becoming infected with the HIV virus include engaging in unprotected sex having multiple sexual partners having sexual contact with people known to be at high risk and sharing injection equipment for drug us. HIV is easily transmitted from women to men as it is from men to women. HIV often causes a brief flu like symptom within a few weeks of initial infection. The initial illness tends to fade fairly rapidly. However as the virus continues to deplete the immune system other symptoms occur. Most people develop antibodies to HIV within month of being infected but some silent infection can go infected for 3 years or more. HIV infection can be detected by standard blood tests for blood serum antibodies to HIV. The incubation time for aids defined as the time between infection with HIV and the onset of one or more sever debilitating diseases is estimated to range between 8 to 11 years. The symptoms of HIV aids disease are many and varied depending on the degree to which the immune system is compromised and the particular type of cancer or opportunistic infection that afflicts an infected person. A significant decline in the rate o of aids deaths began in 1996 this reversal in death trends was Due to improvement in combination drug therapies. There is still no cure for HIV aids however when properly used a combination of three or more antiretroviral therapy hart can dramatically reduce viral load improve immune function and delay progression of the disease. Haart involves a complex protocol of drug dosing that is difficult to adhere to furthermore drug toxicity can result in adverse side effects that induce low compliance with HAART protocol. Haart does not eradicate HIV from latent or silent reservoirs in various bodily tissues or organs. ( Del Rio, 2011). The availability of hart has apparently influenced some people to increases their involvement in risky sex.
The administration of the rt inhibitors drifts aidovudine to newborns significantly reduces the incidence of mother to child transmission of HIV.
Although progress has been made in developing HIV vaccines many health officials believe that we may be years away from having an effective vaccine available
The best hope for curtailing the HIV aids epidemic is through education and behavioral change
A person can significantly reduce their risk of becoming infected with HIV by following safer sex strategies which include among other things using condoms and avoiding sex with multiple partners or with individuals who are at risk for infection.
The present possibility of being infected with HIV by means of transfusion of contaminated blood is remote. Furthermore there is no danger of being infected as a result of donating blood.