HIV And AIDS

8 Pages 2099 Words

developing effective education and prevention programs. It is now generally accepted throughout the medical industry that HIV is a descendant of simian (monkey) immunodeficiency virus (SIV) ("Aspects", Internet, 1,2002).
When this disease first appeared in America it seemed to be very confined to only a few small groups of the population in very large cities. Now, HIV/AIDS is growing faster than ever. It has spread through countries all over the world. When the disease first appeared, it took physicians great lengths to figure out that a single new disease was involved. Some patients were seriously ill with a rare type of pneumonia or an even rarer type of cancer. Some people suffered from fungus growths that caked inside of the mouth and throat, which made it very difficult to speak. What they all had in common was that something was interfering with the process that normally protected oneself with invading germs (Silverstine and Silverstine, 6).
Many people's ideas about contracting HIV/AIDS are wrong. Scientific studies have shown that there is no risk of transmitting HIV/AIDS by sharing bathrooms, sharing eating utensils, coming in contact with insects, animals, donating blood, coughing or sneezing ("Q&A's", uiuc, Internet, 2002, 1-2).
When people contract the HIV/AIDS virus it basically worms its way into the immune system. After the virus has wormed its way in, it starts to gradually erode the ability to fight off bacteria, other viruses, funguses and other diseases the most healthy bodies would otherwise be capable of fighting off. From the time that an individual initially contracts the HIV/AIDS virus, one may not have any signs or symptoms for as long as eight to ten years.
The government has not yet approved the drug called Tipranavir and thus may not appear on pharmacy shelves for two or more years. Physicians c...