AIDS & HIV  

     AIDS means acquired immune deficiency syndrome. It is a series of syndromes and infections caused by HIV. AIDS cause tumors and viruses that attack weakened immune systems. No one knew that AIDS existed until the 1970's. Nobody knew that AIDS was caused by HIV until 1980. There is no known cure for AIDS. AIDS can lead to other diseases like cancers in the immune system and certain other cancers. HIV means human immunodeficiency syndrome. There are two types of HIV. HIV-1 is more common and more contagious. HIV-2 is less contagious and contained in Africa. HIV is transferred through any liquid containing the virus into the body (including sex) and by making contact with used needles of infected patients. If HIV kills enough cells to stop cellular immunity, then you have AIDS. A way to prevent AIDS are to avoid contact with liquids of infected people. I'm not sure if HIV is genetic, but breast feeding can spread HIV.

     In 1995, a study showed that 82.5% of people infected with AIDS (AIDS, not HIV) was male, while only 17.5% are female. About 30.6 to 36.1 million people with HIV. There are about 14000 people newly diagnosed with HIV every day. About 565,927 people in the U.S have died of AIDS so far. 5,369 of these people are under 13 years old.

                                 Treatment & Symptoms 

     There are ways to treat HIV. This will not cure HIV, only reduce its effects. A very common treatment is highly active antiretroviral therapy, or HAART. HAART can improve a patient's quality of life. Many patients who have been treated with HAART have improved health quality. However, HAART may cause many symptoms, including insulin resistance, cardiovascular risks, and birth defects. A safer way to prevent HIV and AIDS is to get vaccinated for hepatitis A and B. If medicine and treatment is done correctly, it would be like you never had HIV.

     There is a possible way to cure HIV before it kills too many cells. This must be done almost immediately after the virus is contracted. In this procedure, a stem cell is removed from the body, cured, injected with enzymes, and injected back into the body. The stem cells find and destroy the virus.

     People get different symptoms for HIV. Some people get symptoms for the flu. Some people get no symptoms. HIV might not be detected by the immune system for a few weeks or months. When the body DOES respond, it'll make antibodies. This'll make you HIV positive. If you take a HIV test before the body produces antibodies, the test will be HIV negative. People usually take tests three months after they are infected because that is usually when the body starts to make antibodies. Some people who are HIV positive might stay healthy for 10 years. The only way for people to know if they have AIDS or HIV is to take a test. While you stay "healthy", the HIV virus is actually killing your cells. In sub-Saharan Africa, about 1 in 5 adults are infected with HIV.

                                                Stages of HIV

  Infection

The first stage is infection. When you get infected, HIV enters the bloodstream.

Acute Infection

          This is when the HIV establishes itself in the body. This is before the body produces antibodies. About 70% of infected patients experience flu symptoms during this time. The virus takes two or three days to go to the lymph nodes. When it gets there, the virus will start to replicate for about two months.

Seroconversion

          This is when the body responds and starts to produce antibodies. This takes three to six months after infection. This is when people can test HIV-positive.

Asymptomatic

          After a few years, people will enter this stage. The only sign of HIV is a swollen lymph node. During this time, infected people can spread HIV to others. For some people, their immune system gets damaged over the years. Other people might not get damaged until some time.

Late-Stage HIV

          This is when the damage in the immune system gets so bad you get AIDS. People can now contract many diseases.

  History of AIDS

     HIV originated in primates in the sub-Saharan African region and was transferred to humans in the 20th century. HIV-1, the less deadly of the two, came from chimpanzees. HIV-2 came from an old world monkey called Cercocebus atys. No one knows how it spread to humans, and no theories are unanimously accepted. HIV was probably spread when a hunter contracted SIV from a chimpanzee. When SIV entered the hunter, it mutated to HIV. After that, the hunter spread the disease to many people. AIDS was said to have come to the US from  Haiti in the late 60's or early 70's. It started out to only be in big cities, but now there are most AIDS in rural areas.

     Recent studies show that HIV is related to an ancient virus called lentivirus which existed in gray mouse lemurs (which are only in Madagascar). This was common 14 million years ago. it spread to the mainland 14 million years ago when Madagascar was connected to Africa. RcecentER studies lead people to think that HIV was developed by the government and was tested on people. They also say that the government is currently trying to cover up their accidental release of AIDS. I am currently confused on what ACTUALLY happened.

                                    Documented Reports

      The earliest documented reports were found in the blood sample of a Congolese man (1959) and the lymph node of a Congolese woman (1960) from Leopoldville, Belgian Congo. In 1969, a medicine man named Robert R. died in the St. Louis City Hospital from Kaposi's sarcoma. People think that is was an opportunist disease caused by AIDS. Opportunist diseases are diseases that attack someone because of their weak immune system. In 1976, a sailor named Arvid Noe, his wife, and his daughter  died of AIDS. He was spending time in Africa eight years ago when he started experiencing symptoms. In 1988, they tested Arvid and his wife's tissue samples, which was HIV-positive. In 2008, Dr. Gero Hütter cured an infected patient by transplanted a bone marrow from a person who had a mutation which resisted the virus. After 600 days without treatment, the person was tested and was found without any trace of the virus!

The Chart

     Since it is a virus, it has no kingdom. It is NOT bacteria.                        

                                                                                     The picture below show symptoms for AIDS.

I doodled this on Paint. Zoom in because it's hard to read. 

________________________________________Bibliography_____________________________________

    "AIDS Infonet" www.aids.org/factSheets/101-what-is-aids.html :1/21/09 provided by the AIDS infonet

    "AIDS" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIDS 1/16/09 : my first source of information and the picture

   "HIV"  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV 1/29/09 : information on HIV        

  "HIV and AIDS" http://www.avert.org/aids-epidemic.htm   by Rob Noble 1/22/09: more information on HIV

   "AIDS Origin"  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIDS_origin  1/30/09 : information on the origins of AIDS and HIV

 "The Stages of HIV" www.thebody.com/content/whatis/art2506.html  2/2/09: tells about the stages of HIV