1
Running Head: HIV AND AIDS
HIV and Aids
Tara Heinicka
July 18,2018
HIV and AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was first recognized in June of 1981, when five homosexual men in Los Angeles, California, became sick with uncommon lung infections, indicating that these five patients were experiencing a suppressed Immune system. The Evidence That HIV Causes AIDS. (2000, November 29). On June 5th, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published an article in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. This article was the first official report of the illness that eventually became the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic. HIV in the United States: At A Glance (2016, December 2). At the end of 1981, there were a total of 270 reported cases of severe suppressed immune systems in the male homosexual population. One Hundred and Twenty-one of those individuals died by the end of 1981. The Evidence That HIV Causes AIDS. (2000, November 29). On September 24, 1982, the CDC, for the first time used the acronym AIDS; and released the first definition of the mystery disease AIDS: “A disease at least moderately predictive of a defect in cell-mediated immunity, occurring in a person with no known case for diminished resistance to that disease.” HIV in the United States: At A Glance (2016, December 2). With the recognition of this mystery illness, panic and hysteria began to spread through America. In the early 1980’s, HIV was only known to be “viral, deadly, and highly contagious via unknown means”. HIV in the United States: At A Glance (2016, December 2). Great prejudice was shown towards populations that were perceived to be at the highest risk for infection. Namely, homosexuals and drug users, but even hemophiliac children were shunned from their schools and communities.
HIV is a virus that attacks the immune system, and if not treated, it can lead to AIDS. AIDS itself is not a virus, but the symptoms that come from HIV being left untreated. The diagnosis of AIDS comes when your body can no longer fight HIV. This stage is also sometimes “referred to as advanced HIV infection or late-stage HIV”. HIV in the United States: At A Glance (2016, December 2). It is in this stage, that the body becomes vulnerable to “opportunistic infections”. In 2015, it was estimated that 36.7 million people worldwide were living with HIV/AIDS, and of those, 1.8 million were children. An estimated 2.1 million individuals worldwide became newly infected with HIV in 2015. HIV in the United States: At A Glance (2016, December 2). Twenty-five million individuals have already died from HIV/AIDS. HIV is found in blood, semen, vaginal and anal fluids, and breast milk; but it cannot be transmitted through sweat, saliva or urine. The populations most affected are homosexual and bisexual men, Africans, African Americans, Hispanics, Latinos and drug users. The Evidence That HIV Causes AIDS. (2000, November 29).
Normal Anatomy of the Immune System
The imm...
