HIV Essay -- Health, Diseases, AIDS

The HIV virus is a complex mix of various epidemics within several countries and regions of the world. It is unquestionably the most crucial public-health crisis of our time. Research has extended our understanding of how the virus reproduces, controls, and hides in a contaminated person. Even though our perception of pathogenesis and transmission of the virus has become more refined and prevention options have lengthened, a cure or protective vaccine remains intangible. In 1981, The New York Times published a detailed article about an outbreak of an unusual form of cancer among gay men in New York and California. It was primarily referred to as the â€Å"gay cancer†, but medically known as Kaposi Sarcoma. Around the same time, emergency rooms in New York City began to receive a large number of apparently healthy young men who presented with fevers, flu like symptoms, and a pneumonia called Pneumocystis. About a year later, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) linked the i llness to blood and gave it the term Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). In that first year over 1,600 cases were diagnosed with close to 700 deaths (3). HIV is a lentivirus, and like all viruses of this kind, it attacks the immune system. Lentiviruses are in turn part of a bigger group of viruses known as retroviruses. The name 'lentivirus' literally means 'slow virus' because they take such a long time to create any unfavorable effects in the body. They have been found in plenty of different animals, including cats, sheep, horses and cattle. However, the most appealing lentivirus in terms of the investigation into the origins of HIV is the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) that affects monkeys, which is believed to be at least 32,000 years old(7). Sc... ...ments from the national level down to the community level to put into action immediate prevention programs based upon education, behavioral modification, and treatment of those infected with HIV. No vaccine has proved successful in preventing HIV. So the epidemic continues to spread, mainly among underprivileged and marginalized populations: the poor, people of color, people in prison, injection drug users, and men who have sex with men. Many do not understand they are infected and innocently transmit the virus to others. Unawareness, prejudice, and lack of access to healthcare is fueling the outbreak. Therefore, health professionals have a critical role in screening, testing, and educating patients, families, and communities. Health professionals can also teach by example, through offering nonjudgmental, sympathetic care to those affected by this deadly virus.