The HIV epidemic is quite new in the eyes of many scientists, as the disease was only discovered in humans in the 1980s. This abbreviation stands for Human immunodeficiency virus, and it is known as such a dangerous disease because it attacks one's immune system and shuts down the cells that help defend against infections. This infection is spread through bodily fluids, and is most commonly spread by means of drug injection or sexual activity. When this infection was first discovered, it was labeled as the "gay disease," as many people believed that gay men were the only ones to contract HIV. However, once this infection became known in some women, people began to realize that it was not just gay men who were at risk of contracting HIV, rather it was everybody in the world. Many people were unaware that they were infected with HIV, as the symptoms are very similar to those of the flu. A few weeks after a person becomes infected, they will often develop a fever and chills and believe that they are sick with a common cold. However, this infection will continue to multiply for many years and can advance into AIDS if left untreated. Many people use the terms HIV and AIDs interchangeably, however, AIDS is the final stage of HIV. While many people could live with HIV for years without knowing it, this infection can eventually turn into AIDS which is the most fatal stage of HIV. This stage is seen as the worst because it is where the immune system is the most damaged and the person has about 8 times less immune cells to battle infection in comparison to a healthy person.
While there is a form of treatment called Antiretroviral therapy, (ART) this therapy does not cure HIV entirely. This prevents HIV from multiplying and reduces the infected cells in the body. By having less HIV in one's body, the chances of suffering further immune system damage lessens tremendously. While ART is not a cure for HIV, it has the potential to help HIV+ people live healthier lives. Hopefully as the world of science continues to progress, a cure for this infection will come up, and less lives will be lost to HIV.
HIV was has been taken much more seriously by the government since the 1980s and people have actually began doing some research to help people with HIV. Along with these efforts to try to help people that already have the disease, people also worked to try to stop the disease before it infects people in the first place. I believe that there is a good chance that we may be able to stop HIV entirely some day not too far from now.
ReplyDeleteA few years ago, when there was a small Ebola outbreak in the United States, the country went berserk. Very few people were affected and very few Americans were killed by Ebola, for which we do not have a cure. So, I can only imagine how panicked Americans were when HIV came around. Nobody knew a lot about the disease, and thousands were dying across the country. The panic that they felt must have been much more intense than what we felt during the Ebola crisis.
ReplyDeleteI think the information that you provided is very important. When people are faced with a disease that even doctors and scientists cannot solve, people need to work together to solve the issue. In the HIV epidemic, because the prejudice of the homosexual population, people initially assumed that the disease can only can spread between gay men. Due to this assumption, many people died and the disease spread very quickly across United States leading to 774,467 deaths (as of 2000). This is a good lesson from history that we need to drop the prejudice and assumptions when it comes to a unknown epidemic facing all humanity. It is only through working together, the situation can be turned around.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to your provided information about how the ART therapy doesn't treat HIV completely and how it only helps to reduce the symptoms experienced by the person, this concept also applies to all other medications and diseases as well. The bacteria that we get infected and cause us to get sick are viruses, which we take antibiotic for. But the thing is that us taking the antibiotic, is partly a placebo effect. The medication only helps to lessen the symptoms and doesn't cure the illness. It's your own immune system ultimately, with the help of medication to lessen the symptoms, that overcomes the virus and develops immune responses further to it.
ReplyDeleteHIV mainly affected the gay community because of how it is transmitted. I think that the public really used this as a lead in to a lot of homophobia believing that they deserved of because they were not following the Bible. I know a family friend who has been living with HIV and his story of how he was ridiculed is heart breaking.
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