Human Immunodeficiency Virus: Historical Relevance of HIV/AIDS (Essay Sample)

Human Immunodeficiency Virus
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Human Immunodeficiency Virus
Historical Relevance of HIV/AIDS
Human Immunodeficiency Virus, abbreviated as (HIV), attacks the immune system of the body which is a network of cells that protect and defend the body against harmful and infectious microorganisms. HIV disease is a scale of progressive harm to the immune system from the time of infection to the appearance of relentless immunologic damage by opportunistic diseases that are defined as AIDS. The virus remains in the bodies of the people infected for the rest of their life. Currently, there is no treatment for HIV and no vaccine recognized to prevent people from becoming infected. HIV causes the syndrome AIDS (Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome). HIV condition is a chronic progressive process that begins with an infection. The first case of this disease was reported in the United States in 1981. In 1983, the virus that causes AIDS had been secluded and was clearly established. Since the first diagnosis of this disease, the world has ideally struggled to cope with the extraordinary dimensions of this virus. The gay and bisexual men were the largest groups of early cases of this infection. It’s now clear that the virus has spread widely unnoticed to most countries across the globe where most evidence shows that the disease has its roots in the Sub-Saharan Africa containing around 70% of people living with HIV/AIDS.
The early efforts to mount an effective and efficient response towards reducing the spread of the disease were piecemeal, fragmented as well as vastly under-resourced. Most of the African countries contain many concurrent HIV epidemics that are developing in diverse populations and at different rates. It is evident that HIV epidemically is varied and various factors account for the high burden of the disease urban areas of major cities across the globe. The disease has become one of the greatest threats to human health as well as development given the fact that throughout the duration of the pandemic, more than 21 million people have already died from AIDS. For instance, 2 million people in 2007 alone succumbed to the illness due to inadequate access to HIV treatment and prevention services.
Epidemiology
HIV epidemic has spread so fast across the globe whereby the prevalence varies in different countries and regions. Approximately 36.9 million people as of 2014 were living with HIV globally. In the past 30 years, the epidemiology of human immunodeficiency virus illness in the United States has changed considerably. The study of the HIV epidemiology helps to recognize the inclination of the syndrome. Currently, the disease is of greater demographic diversity since its affecting all ages, sexes as well as races. The disease involves multiple transmission risk behaviors. There are large variations in infection levels between diverse areas with some countries more affected than others. In the most parts of the world, the number of people infected with HIV continues to rise. Sub-Saharan Africa remains the hardest hit region globally by HIV infections. An estimated 68% of all HIV cases that represent (22.9 million) show that 66% of all deaths occurred in this region. According to the UNAIDS Epidemiological update, people living with HIV globally are 33 million. This issue requires global and national solutions because the high rate of infected people is worrying and it is important for countries to develop as well as implement effective HIV prevention and treatment strategies which are suitable according to the needs of the region. Therefore, the prevalence rates based on each region for both adult and children with HIV includes;
Source: Retrieved from UNAIDS 2007 Epidemic Update
Etiology
Most of the countries in East Africa have shown signs of stabilizing HIV infection due to increased access to antiretroviral therapy and access to treatment that has led to the decline in deaths due to AIDS. For instance, the implementation as well as sustained prevention programs in Asia and Thailand has also decreased national prevalence rates (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2013, p76). However, available research shows that HIV infections are occurring in men and urban areas. Unprotected sex between men is ideally a key factor towards the spread of this epidemic. Additionally, exposure to contaminated drug injecting equipment is another common factor that facilitates the transmission of HIV notably in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Afghanistan, Morocco just to name but a few. HIV is such a serious disease that aggressively attacks the immune system and destroys cells of the immune system.
People infected with HIV can live a normal life for many years with no visible signs of illness, but the virus continues to damage the immune system until the time when the immune system is too weak to deal with infections that will lead to individuals succumb to AIDS. HIV-infected persons are infectious for life, and that is why HIV testing is critical and must be encouraged as well as readily available to stymie its progress among populations. The timeline for individuals to be infected by HIV and develop AIDS varies from region to region due to multiple factors such as poverty resulting in poor nutrition, exposure to diseases such as tuberculosis and lack of access to health care to treat pre-existing infections. People living with advanced HIV infections experience opportunistic infections of the skin, eyes, lungs and other organs. Individuals diagnosed with AIDS commonly experience opportunistic illness parasitic and viral infections. Long before HIV, Malaria and tuberculosis were causes of significant morbidity and death. Many strategies were implemented, and Malaria was eradicated in most countries in the globe. As such, World Health Organization (WHO) has simultaneously addressed some of the strategies of reducing the spread of the virus. Increasing the number along with skills of health care workers, building on and strengthening the existing health infrastructure and coordinating services are some of the strategies that have enabled robust reduction of the spread of the virus. The graph below shows a substantial decline in AIDS-related fatalities and increases in the number of people living with AIDS in Estonia, Russian Federation, Latvia, Moldova, Republic of Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan.
Source: Retrieved from UNAIDS 2003 Epidemic Update
The knowledge base about the human immunodeficiency virus has expanded thanks to the worldwide collaborative effort among governments, health care providers and academia exponentially. The expansion of the current AIDS epidemic is driven by the sexual transmission of human immunodeficiency virus. Sexual practices amongst homosexual males are still a major part of the multiply of the disease. Sexual transmission is a dominant mode of spread among heterosexuals. Sources suggest that homosexual men are at the utmost risk of HIV illness and that risk is ideally robustly related to the number of male sexual partners. In many poor-resource countries, 80% of the infections are acquired through heterosexually. In South Africa and South East Asia, heterosexual contacts as well as injection of drugs are the core modes of HIV transmission. Additionally, unprotected virginal intercourse also transmits HIV to both male and female, but available studies suggest that the risk is high to the female partner. This method is standard globally, and it’s the second mode of sexual HIV transmission after the anal intercourse. Presumably, in the United States, sex is the most widespread route of HIV multiply. This activity is a risk for the reason that it permits the exchange of the body fluids. HIV can be transmitted through virginal secretions, semen and blood. What is more, sexual practices are associated with a higher risk of HIV transmission than others. Therefore, the graph shows the classification of modes of HIV transmission among adults and adolescents.
Pathology and Pathophysiology
HIV disease is acquired from an infected person through sexual practices, transmission via blood and blood clotting factors, sharing of sharp pieces of equipment such as syringes, needles with someone who is infected with the virus. Babies born to HIV-positive women can also acquire the virus before or during birth or during breastfeeding after birth. HIV differs from a number of viruses in that it has a high genetic variability. This variability is compounded when more strains of HIV simultaneously infect a single cell. The scenario leads to the generation of many variants of HIV. Genes are important determinants of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). Susceptibility, disease progression and mother-to-child transmission are the genetic mediators that appear to play a vital role in viral infectivity as well as pathogenesis. Genes significantly modify susceptibility and response to HIV-1 infection. The dependence of immune system varies and can alter the effect of genetic variants. Factors such as drug use and co-infections are important determinants of susceptibility along with pathogenesis of infectious diseases in children and adults. Genetic variants influence the response to HIV-1and provides insights into approaches to predict disease progression resulting in new immunologic targets for vaccine development. Host and microbial genetics are ideally important determinants of infection and disease outcome. Chemokine receptor demonstrates how host genetics has the perspective to offer additional information about an individual’s risk for disease progression and related impediments.
The immune system in the body helps to fight off diseases since it comprises of two main types of cells which include; B cells and T cells. The two cells almost play the same role given the fact that B cells generate an...