History of AIDs
A Close Look at the HIV Virus and AIDS

Education is the key to controlling the outbreak of HIV and AIDS in the world.  While it is impossible to know exactly how many new HIV infections occur everday, education can help lower this number. An indepth look at the History of AIDs will show just how far AIDs research has come, and also show us how far it has to go. 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. 

The History of AIDs begins around 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.  

Did You Know? 

The signs of symptoms of AIDS or HIV are different depending on what stage the infection is in. When a person is first infected they may have flu-like symptoms and swollen lymph nodes but recover quickly. This flu-like sickness may occur two to six weeks after being infected and is not always associated with the possibility of HIV infection. Even if you do not have any of these symptoms until years later, you can still infect other people with the virus. Once your body is invaded with the HIV or AIDS virus, your immune system is under attack. Even though you may not be having any symptoms, you can still pass the disease on to another person. Meanwhile, even if you are symptom free, your cells that coordinate your immune system are slowly being destroyed. You can remain this way for as many as ten years but during that time you will begin it experience more frequent infections as your immune cells are destroyed. You may experience chronic symptoms such as diarrhea, weight loss, shortness of breath, cough, fever, and unexplained weight loss.

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. 

Remember it is impossible to know how many new hiv infection everyday, but with educating those at risk we can reduce the number of how many new hiv infection everyday significantly. The History of AIDs can teach us many lessons, if we will only learn what to do when the next infection of this type comes along by the careful study of the history of AIDs.

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Important Information in AIDS and HIV Issues