World Without Aids Essay Example For Students

World Without Aids Essay Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Today, despite the continuing production of better antibiotics since the discovery of penicillin, we are facing an infectious disease against which all these drugs are virtually powerless. This disease is spreading inexorably, killing more people and more people each year. AIDS does not know no national boundaries and does not discriminate by race or sex. It is rampaging not only throughout the United States, but also through Africa, India, China, Russia, Europe, South America, and the Caribbean countries. Even infants and children are at risk. AIDS is similar to the bubonic plague or the BLACK DEATH that killed perhaps one-third in Europe in the 14th century. Yet, the difference from the Black Death and AIDS is that it is in slow motion because the infectious agent that causes AIDS can remain dormant in a persons body for several years before it causes illness, and because death from AIDS can be slow and drawn out once symptoms appear. AIDS is essentially a disease of the immune system. The bodys defenses are destroyed and the patient becomes prey to the infections and cancers that would normally be fought off without any trouble. In 1984 it was proved that AIDS is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). A virus is a minute infectious particle that enters and kills the immune cells, or lymphocytes. Because it destroys the very mechanism humans rely on for protection, prior to 1996 contracting Aids was considered a death sentence. For many years, 85 to 90 percent of all AIDS patients died within three years. They might have recovered from one infection only to succumb to another a few months later. Between infections they remain weak, emaciated and unable to work or carry on normal activities. In late 1996, almost 15 years after the first reported AIDS cases, researchers made the discovery that a certain combination of newly developed drugs could substantially prolong life in some AIDS patients. But AIDS i s a fiendish virus. When researchers cleared it out of a patients bloodstream, it hid in the lymph nodes. Scientists, figured out how to banish it from the lymph nodes, they found the virus lurking in the brain. Although, there is hope for a cure because they have done some experiments isolating a gene and it has had good results in some people infected with AIDS. The area that many people are concerned is with Southeast Asia-particularly India. At 900 million, Indias population is almost double that sub-Saharan Africa, which, with 13.3 million HIV-positive adults, accounts for 60 percent of the worlds total adult infections. The major reasons for such spread in India and following Africa is the high rate of their population, poverty rate, and other risk factors all point to a likely explosion. The number of HIV infections worldwide doubled between 1991 and 1996-and that number is expected to double again by the year 2000. By the turn of the century, about 44 million people will hav e fallen victim to the virus that causes AIDS. The signs of hope do not stop by the reason of Prevention Programs which they have succeeded in reducing HIV-infection rates dramatically among young men in Thailand and young women in Uganda-two of the countries hit hardest by the3 disease. The rate of new infections have also dropped sharply among gay men in the United States, Australia, Canada, and western Europe. However, many ingredients of the AIDS epidemic are still mystery. The cause of AIDS remained uncertain for several years after its discovery. Even now, there are questions about how efficiently the AIDS virus spreads, whether it will kill everyone who gets it, and why the virus is do devastating to the immune system. Its initial spread was in the United States was among groups that are frowned upon by society-homosexuals and intravenous(drug users)- AIDS has a stigma associated with it. This makes the disease difficult to confront rationally. However, people are terrified even by the word of AIDS. The virus does not get transmitted by any body contact neither through the air. However, the disease does not pass from one person to another through the air, by sneezing, on eating utensils, by shaking hands, or through body contact in sports. There are only four ways it can be spread: through injection with a needle contaminated with HIV, which it can happen when drug addicts share needle s; by receiving a transfusion of contaminated blood; or-in the case of infant with an HIV-positive mother-having the virus transmitted through the placenta before birth, or the mothers milk after birth. For years, some people to refused to admit AIDS was a problem. Although, the disease first received national attention in 1982, when the Centers of Disease Control (CDC) noticed an alarming rate of rare cancer (Kaposis sarcoma) in otherwise healthy gay men. SOUNDING THE FIRST ALARMThree patients examined by Dr.Gottlieb were very ill. Interestingly, they had several striking features in common. All had unusual infections such as thrush, which is the growth in the throat of a fungus called Candida; or a rare type of pneumonia caused by a parasite called Pneumocystis. Also, they had been infected by less-common viruses, such as Epstein-Barr virus, which causes mononucleosis, or by cytomegalovirus (CMV). Taken together, the infections pointed to a serious defect in the patients immune systems. Sure enough, when Dr. Gottlieb drew a vial blood from each patient and measured special kind of immune cell called a T-helper lymphocyte, all three patients tests gave the same startling result. They were virtually devoid of T-helper cells, Dr. Gottlieb found. It was clear that they had seriously deficient immune systems. The three men had something else in common: they were all homosexuals. At that time it was not clear that the patients homosexuality was related to the illness; a patients sexual preference had never before been considered the determining factor of a medical disorder. That situation was about to change radically. SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF AIDSEarly symptoms of HIV, lasting between one and four weeks, can mimic that of mononucleosis, with symptoms such as swellings of the lymph nodes, headache, fever, loss of appetite, weight loss, sweating and sore throat. Often of these symptoms are mistaken for the flu or another viral-type infection, so people may not even be aware that they have been infected with HIV. Even if the patient has seen a doctor, the physician may dismiss the symptoms as a viral infection. In nearly all the cases, this stage dissipates due to the healthy immune systems ability to fight the initial infection. Early symptoms may include:*Herpes zoster (shingles), a skin rash that appear on the chest, abdomen, and/or back. *Herpes simplex, a common sexually transmits disease that affects the rectal, genital, esophageal regions of the body. Painful lesions can erupt into ulcerations of the area. In HIV/AIDS patients, this may become a chronic condition. *Thrush, a white coating on the walls of the mouth, gums, and on the tongue, that is caused by a fungus called Candida Albicans. *Excessive bruising and bleeding that occurs when a person develops antibodies which attack the bodys platelets-cells which help blood to clot. This condition can go unnoticed, and is often not detected until a routine blood test is performed. *Chronic or intermittent diarrhea, found both in early and late stages of HIV infection. As the immune system becomes increasingly compromised, the body is not able to fight off more serious infections that a normal intact immune system could suppress. Some of these life threatening infection include:*Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP), caused by parasite called pneumoncytis carinii. Symptoms include fever and respiratory complications that often lead to death. *Kaposis sarcoma, a condition in which tumors of the blood vessels develop on the skin, in the gastrointestinal tract, mouth, lungs, groin, brain liver, and lymph glands. The mall, nonpainful lesions usually are a red, brown, or purple color. *Tuberculosis (TB), which can occur in both early and late stages of HIV. Symptoms include night sweats, fever, cough, and weight loss. One of the major problems with this aspect of the disease is the development of TB strains resistant to drugs, making it harder and harder to treat. *Mycobacterium avium complex, which produces fatigue, chills, night sweats, fever, weight loss, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. *HIV related lymphoma, swollen lymph glands in the neck, groin region, or under the arms. This requires radiation and chemotherapy treatment. *Toxoplasmosis encephalitis, caused by a parasite, which produces an infection in the brain leading to neuro logical impairment and seizures. Symptoms include headaches, fever, lethargy, confusion, and loss of balance or coordination. Wal-Mart Tire and Lube Observation Evaluation EssayBut with the regard of the two ways that AIDS is transmitted, blood and sex, it is clear the illness does not select particular groups to afflict. It does not matter if you whether you are a man or women, or what type of lifestyle you practice. If you are injected or transfused with contagious blood or take into your body other contagious bodily fluids, such as vaginal secretions or semen, you run a high risk of getting AIDS. Minute amounts of these fluids pose very little threat to transmitting the virus, and most nongenital fluids, such as saliva, are currently thought to pose no risk whatsoever of transmitting it. There is, however, a theoretical risk involved when any fluid is passed from an infected person, though the relative risk is extremely small. Research is still being done to prove these conjecture. 80 percent of babies HIV positive did not develop AIDS although, their mother had AIDS. HEMOPHILIACSThere are several diseases in which the blood does not clot properly. Those born with these conditions lack one of the many elements in the blood that are essential to stop bleeding. Hemophilia A is an inherited clotting disorder that afflicts men almost exclusively. In a person with severe hemophilia A, internal bleeding or bleeding into joints can lead to serious complication, possibly even death. Even small cuts clot slowly. It was persons with severe hemophilia A who were at highest risk to get AIDS. To control their bleeding tendency, hemophiliacs inject themselves with a concentrated preparation made from the blood of persons with normal clotting ability. This preparation, called Factor VIII, is credited with increasing the life expectancy of hemophiliacs in the last two decades from 35 to 55 years old. Some hemophiliacs have a mild disorder and use Factor VIII only when they actually have a bleeding episode. But all hemophiliacs depend on it at some point. Factor V III, which was life saving for hemophiliacs, suddenly turned to be an instrument of death. The preparation is made by pooling blood collected from 2,000 to 5,000donors, then concentrating it, quick-drying it, and putting it in vials. Because so many peoples blood was represented in each vial of Factor VIII, the possibility existed that at least one donor had AIDS or was harboring the AIDS organism-especially because drug users (until concerns were raised about infected donors) often sold their blood for cash. And because each hemophiliac uses 20, 30, or 40 vials of Factor VIIII each year, there was a good chance that he would encounter a contaminated vial sooner or later. IDENTIFYING THE VIRUSIn particular, no known infectious agent was capable of producing the specific destruction of the immune system that AIDS causes. Underlying all the symptoms of AIDS is one primary defect: loss of a pivotal type of white blood cells called the T4 helper lymphocyte(The role of T4 lymphocytes is to help other types of immune cells become active and do their job. Without the T4 helper cells, the immune system virtually shuts down. And in some AIDS patients there was an almost complete loss of T4 helper cells. Viruses are the most minute form of life. Some people would not even call viruses living organisms. They are many times smaller than bacteria, the other cause of human infectious disease. Whereas bacteria are independent, able to grow and reproduce outside cells of the organism they infect, viruses are parasites. In order to make more of their kind, viruses must enter the cells of the creature they infect and take over the cellular machinery. They subvert its p roductive power by making more of their own kind. The cell dies, but the virus thrives. The virus is an intracellular parasite because its structure, unlike that of a bacterium, is too rudimentary to sustain itself-it must live within another cell (Bacteria are internally complex, containing all the equipment necessary for life). Viruses contain only the genetic material necessary to propagate themselves and a tightly wrapped protective coat of proteins. These differences lead to a crucial medical distinction between bacteria and viruses. Twentieth-century medical science has developed many antibiotics drugs, such as penicillin, to combat bacterial infections. But viruses are more difficult to kill. Because they reproduce inside of our own cells, it is difficult to find a drug to stop the virus from reproducing without harming the host cell. Progress against diseases caused by viruses-such as small pox, mumps, measles, and polio-has come through vaccines, which prevent infections. Latency, means that the infection stays in a persons body for a while before it causes clinical illness. Because viruses can lie dormant inside cells, they can have long latency periods. The latency periods for AIDS-the time between exposure to the infection and the first symptoms-may be as long as eight years, but it is usually three to five years. In children the latency is much shorter, and in women it may be shorter than in men. Persistence refers to how long the infectious agent remains after it starts the disease. With AIDS it is most likely that the agent stays for the persons remaining lifetime. Despite treatment of each opportunistic infection, the immune system remains impaired. As fast as new immune cells are made they are destroyed. One tentative conclusion is that a viral ancestor of HIV evolved in Africa millions of years ago and affected monkeys. Gradually it changed to the form of HIV we see today. But this still does not explain why the virus suddenly started causing human disease in the last quarter of the 20th century. THE OFFICIAL U.S. DEFINITION OF AIDSThere are two factors which determine the category: T-cell count and history of disease of symptoms. The T-cell (officially called CD4+T-lymphocyte) is the vulnerable immune system cell the HIV virus attacks, then uses as a breeding ground. Eventually, the T-cells killed by the virus. As a persons T-cell count decreases, the risk of severe disease, or opportunistic illness, increases. The three official levels of T-cell counts are:Level 1: a T-cell count greater than 500cells/mlLevel 2: a T-cell count between 200-499 cells/mlLevel 3: a T-cell count less than 200 cells/mlThese categories are based on the lowest T-cell count registered by a person. For example, someone who once tested at 180 but later received a boost in T-cells from a new protease inhibitor would still be considered level 3. To determine the three official government classifications, symptoms are also a factor. For example, a patient is in AIDS category 1 if he or she is asynmptomat ic (no symptoms) and has a level 1 T-cell count. An AIDS category 2 patient has a level 2 T-cell count and at least one of the early stage illness but has not developed a later-stage disease, such as pneumonia or Kaposis sarcoma. In category 3-full-blown AIDS-the T-cell count has dropped below 200 and the patient has developed a later-stage disease. TREATMENT BREAKTHROUGHSThere have been so many attempts to find a solution to end with AIDS but its too complex and we know little of it, therefore its difficult to find a solution. Although, many experiments have been made for example the cocktail. Its a treatment of vaccines that combine with an AZT. However, this vaccines does work for some but for others it does not do anything. Yet, the newest discovery is that some people are born with a certain type of gene that does not develop AIDS but has the virus. So this person may pass on the Virus and have it himself but it will not affect him at all. TABLE OF CONTENTS1-INTRODUCTION2-WHAT IS AIDS?3-WHAT ARE THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF AIDS4-KAPOSIS SARCOMA5-WHY HOMOSEXUALS?6-PUZZLING SYMPTOMS7-INTRAVENOUS DRUG USERS8-HEMOPHILIACS9-IDENTIFYING THE VIRUS10-THE OFFICIAL U.S. DEFINITION OF AIDS11-TREATMENT BREAKTHROUGHSBIBLIOGRAPHY Check, William. The Encyclopedia of Health AIDS. Chelsea House Publishers; Philadelphia: 1999 Encarta Encyclopedia 97AIDS Microsoft Windows. Center For AIDS Prevention Studies:www.caps.ucsf.edu(March 1, 2000) JAMA HIV/AIDS Information center:www.ama.assn.org/special/hivhome.htm(March 1,2000) International Association Of Physicians in AIDS Care:www.iapac.org/ (March 1,2000)Science Essays