The History Of Hiv And Aids Essay - 2469 Words

The History of HIV and AIDS In the 1980s, a mysterious disease began to take the lives of Americans. With the cause unknown, a fear grew among Americans. An unusually high rate of people was becoming sick with strange and rare diseases. When experimental treatments failed to work, people died. This mysterious disease is what we now know as HIV–Human Immunodeficiency Virus. In the past thirty-five years, the HIV has taken many turns in history. Although we do not hear about HIV and AIDS now, it is still a prevalent issue in the United States and in the world. In 1981, mysterious cases of opportunistic infections began appearing in clusters (â€Å"Timeline†). An opportunistic infection is an unusual infection that appears in people with a weakened immune system (Ojikutu). One disease, pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, surfaced in five gay men living in Los Angeles. Another disease, a rare cancer called Kaposi’s sarcoma appeared in patients in both New York and Los An geles. When doctors at the time realized this, they noticed obvious similarities. The patients were separated geographically, they were only located in two cities. They were also all gay men, that were previously healthy (Ojikutu). Doctors were also finding that whatever they’re patients had was highly fatal. This mysterious disease was first called GRID, Gay-Related Immune Deficiency. Symptoms began lethargy, diarrhea, weight loss, sweats, rash, and swollen lymph nodes. Initial stages resembled the common fluShow MoreRelatedThe History of AIDS and HIV690 Words   |  3 PagesBoston area and a South African province in which 1 and 5 people are infected with the a virus that causes aids. She discuses the microscopic realm of the virus and virus infected cells to AIDS therapies. Dr. Ojiktu treats people with HIV and other infectious diseases. She enjoys linking what is happening here and overseas. She also works on a team to develop programs and do research concerning aids. In 1980 a strange new disease was growing, starting in Los Angeles. This disease presented vague symptomsRead MoreShould The Hiv / Aids Epidemic?918 Words   |  4 PagesShould the HIV/AIDs epidemic in Africa be described as a feminist issue? With higher transmission rates concentrated among African women, and the vast majority of new mother-child transmissions occurring within African countries, HIV seemingly fits into the scope of feminist concerns. As described in Oppong and Kalipeni’s contribution to Kalipeni, et.al.’s HIV AIDS in African: Beyond Epidemiology, the consistent classifying of the HIV/AIDS epidemic as being the direct result of distinct AfricanRead MoreHiv / Aids : Hiv And Aids892 Words   |  4 PagesHIV/AIDS is a virus that has been going around for many years. Most people do not really know what HIV stands for. HIV is a Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). HIV attacks the part of your body that fights disease better known as the immune system. Th e virus makes the immune system shut down and stop working. The immune system shutting down is the worst part about HIV not having any signs or symptoms to notify you of the virus is the worst part. Most people that have HIV looks health and only knewRead MoreThe Origins Of Hiv ( Immunodeficiency Syndrome )1031 Words   |  5 Pages 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 amongRead MoreThe Human Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Essay770 Words   |  4 Pagesimmune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a retrovirus that is found in two forms HIV-1 and HIV-2. The AIDS virus is a relatively new virus receiving attention in the 1980’s. As quickly as it swept through the world, was as quickly it went to epidemic proportions. Acquired immune deficiency syndrome is a virus that enters and infects the body through sexual activity with an infected party . AIDS is a very infectious and dangerous virus that causes the death of many humans. AIDS is characterized by two singleRead MoreHiv And Aids Epidemic. In The 21St Century, Everyone Has1439 Words   |  6 PagesHIV and AIDS Epidemic In the 21st century, everyone has heard of the frightening HIV and AIDS virus. The disease we first discovered in 1983 in Arica, when it killed millions of people, especially poor people and travelers. In the developing countries, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) are considered a death sentence, the world over, it is a frightening virus that has killed many people. The research provided me with the information the developingRead MoreThe Fight Against Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection Immunodeficiency Syndrome ( Hiv / Aids )1714 Words   |  7 Pagessyndrome (HIV/AIDS) in Africa and it became one of the earliest success stories (USAID 2004). However, the HIV-AIDS prevalence rates have been rising again drastically since 2011. Uganda now seeks for â€Å"Preventive Measures† lessons from other countries that had used it before as â€Å"a learning and reference point† (Monitor Uganda, May 8, 2013). Therefore, the question of interest in this paper is why are the rates of HIV-AIDS suddenly increasing in Uganda? According to the 2011 AIDS IndicatorRead MoreOn-Going Fear of AIDS Essay1550 Words   |  7 PagesAIDS isn’t a disease people have known about since the 1800s. In fact, it wasn’t even known as AIDS until a couple years after its discovery in the 1980s. Before, it was called Gay Related Immunodeficiency Disease, or GRID (â€Å"Natural History of HIV/AIDS†). And because of the fact it wasn’t discovered until the 1980s, people feared the disease and still do to this day. It’s been thirty years and many are still not properly educated about AIDS (Hawkins 16). The fear, stigmatization, and discriminationRead MoreHistory Of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome1272 Words   |  6 PagesThe history of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome in the United States starts in 1981, the year it became recognized by country as an official new strang e disease. By 1982 it was recognized as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). It started in San Francisco, with five young homosexual men, they were presented with Pneumonia (PCP). As the year went on there were more reports of homosexual men presenting PCP and some of them were diagnosed with PCP and Kaposi ´s Sarcoma (KS). Others reportsRead MoreInternational Aids Vaccine Initiative ( Iavi )900 Words   |  4 PagesInternational AIDS Vaccine Initiative According to International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) (2016) in 1983, scientists and researchers discovered that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) directly causes the immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Unfortunately, over 40 million of people worldwide have died due to AIDS and other complications relating to AIDS (IAVI, 2016). HIV and AIDS have spread over the world in drastic speed and caused one of the most destructive pandemics ever recorded throughout