A Closer Look at the HIV Virus and AIDS

Education is the key to controlling the outbreak of HIV and AIDS in the world.  The human immunodeficiency virus weakens the body and destroys the cells that normally guard the body against attacks by various viruses.  The T-cell lymphocytes normally will protect the body against viruses, bacteria, and other germs that cause problems in the body.  These viruses and other germs may be thrown off by a healthy body but not in a patient whose T-cells are being destroyed.  This allows the body to be more vulnerable to infections that can invade the body while it is weak. 

Since 1981 when the HIV and Aids was first recognized as something new in the medical world, researchers and scientists have been working to learn as much about the new disease as possible.  So far they have determined the virus is spread by contact with another contaminated person’s body fluids.  This could be through contact with blood, semen, and vaginal fluids.  Once the body has the HIV virus it begins to produce more HIV particles and these begin attacking the T-cells.  The T-cells or CD4 cells burst and that allows the virus to enter the bloodstream and invade other cells.

When the number of normal CD4 cells drop below the level needed to defend the body against ordinary infections.  That is when the patient is determined to have AIDS.  When the disease was first discovered, scientists and researchers thought the HIV virus was dormant until AIDS developed in the body.  Now we know this is not true.  The virus is active in the body from the time it first enters by killing CD4 cells and multiplying itself during that whole time. 

Since the disease was first discovered in 1981, over 60 million people around the world have been infected with the HIV virus.  It has taken the lives of more than 20 million people, many who live in underdeveloped countries, especially in parts of Africa.  In that area more than half the deaths of adults are credited to AIDS.  This leaves many children orphaned and many of them also have HIV because the mother had the disease while they were pregnant and giving birth to the children.  What a sad statistic.  In the United States, children with AIDS are also a problem with over 5000 deaths reported being caused by AIDS. 

The AIDS epidemic is rising especially among the minority populations.  An African-American has a much higher chance of having the HIV virus.  Hispanics are also at risk for developing AIDS.  The rate is three times higher than white Caucasian patients. 

You may not experience any symptoms of HIV except for a mild flu-like illness within the first few weeks after infection.  You may have a sore throat, fever, rash, diarrhea, tiredness, and minor muscle and joint pain.  Most people who experience these early symptoms dismiss them as the flu or a cold.  The danger of this early stage is that some patients may get meningitis or other severe flu-like symptoms that may put them in the hospital. 

Important Information in AIDS and HIV Issues