39.5 million people are living with HIV and Aids, 4.3 million of them newly infected in the last year
and it is one of the fastest growing diseases.
Today it has finally received the global leadership and funding that it warrants
Aids thrives where there is poverty, gender inequity, and a continuing blanket of denial,untested blood, sharing of needle's, sexual contact, and is reported to be one of the biggest factor's in the gay community.
A.I.D.S. = acquired immune deficiency syndrome. A term used to describe the presence of specific infections that indicate end stage immune system breakdown. The onset of AIDS is manifested by the appearance of 2 major opportunistic infections.
More than a decade into the AIDS epidemic, efforts to change sex and drug using behaviors to reduce transmission of HIV have met with limited success.Theoretical models (primarily psychological) that dominate studies of HIV risk behavior fall into two major groups: those that predict risk behavior and those that predict behavior change. Efficacy beliefs include outcome (or response) efficacy, which is the belief that a given behavior will result in a given outcome a belief that wearing a condom will prevent HIV transmission.
This amalgamated theory tends to assume that individuals who formulate an intention to behave in a particular way and have the skills and self-efficacy beliefs to do so are likely to carry out the intended behavior.
Social science perspectives have only recently been applied broadly to AIDS research (Adam, 1992), but their potential for productively refocusing the investigation of AIDS is evidenced in some of the more recently completed ethnographies, social network analyses, and community outreach interventions and evaluations
A number of factors have contributed to the focus on the individual as the unit of analysis in AIDS research. First, some have argued, prevailing public perceptions of the AIDS epidemic as just punishment for the immoral and dangerous behaviors practiced among devalued and stigmatized groups.
AIDS is thus a disease inextricably bound up with moral judgments. Unfortunately, such judgments and lack of interest in trying to fully understand the disease and its victims are not confined to the lay public. Patient reports of hostile and dismissive treatment by medical personnel are further corroborated by studies that show physicians' lack of sympathy for AIDS patients
There is no way of knowing with certainty whether a sexual partner is infected unless he or she has been repeatedly tested for the virus or has not engaged in any risky behavior because many people infected with HIV have no symptoms.Many AIDS experts believe that infection with HIV alone will usually not result in a diagnosis of AIDS. Other factors including poor health, excessive smoking or concurrent illness may also need to be present for a seropositive person to go on and develop AIDS or HIV disease. A seropositive person is one who is antibody positive and presumably carries HIV as well. These other factors that lead to the onset of AIDS are called co-factors
HIV viral load testing is a powerful new technology that is revolutionizing the medical management of HIV disease and the conduct of AIDS clinical research. These sensitive assays branched chain DNA and RT-PCR -- accurately measure the amount of HIV in the bloodstream of HIV-positive individuals, and thus provide information about the patient's disease stage and predict relative risk for progression to AIDS and death. Viral load test results guide decisions about therapy and clinical resear. Given the new understanding of the prognostic value
the beneficial effects on surrogate markers will likely translate into decreased HIV disease progression, increased survival and, possibly, a prolonged period of years to decades free from HIV disease.
Systoms of A.I.D.S.
The immune system is essentially composed of three branches, each of which has a specific role in defending the body against bacterial and viral attack: the non-specific branch (e.g. ear wax, gastric acid, saliva); the cell-mediated branch (using various types of ‘T’ cells to attack organisms that enter cells); the humoral branch (based on the action of antibodies).
HIV is a retrovirus - that is, information the virus holds about itself is stored in the form of RNA
HIV takes on the DNA configuration of the host, and is then replicated within the cell, and also whenever the body demands more CD4 cells
All effected CD4 cells are inactivated once invaded, and the person becomes more open to infections
there will be a short period of feeling unwell and experiencing ‘flu like symptoms. There may be a slight rash, and swelling of the lymph nodes in the groin, armpits and neck.
Some people develop frequent and severe herpes infections that cause mouth, genital or anal sores, or a painful nerve disease known as shingles. Children may have delayed development or failure to thrive.
HIV vaccines
Vaccination is the simplest, safest and most effective way to prevent many diseases. Vaccines for many viral diseases are routinely given to children and adults in all countries of the world. These vaccines, including smallpox, polio and measles vaccine are both cheap and effective.
Drug companies have backed away from HIV vaccine research for the last several years for a number of reasons. The failure of envelope glycoprotein (gp) 120 subunit vaccines to neutralize primary isolates of the virus strains of HIV taken from the blood of infected individuals,Primary concerns regarding the development of a vaccine intended for wide use in developing countries are low cost and ease of administration. Also of concern is the huge variability of HIV both in infected individuals .
Much depends on public support for the development of an effective HIV vaccine. The current lack of interest in HIV vaccine research at pharmaceutical companies advances the field of vaccine research too slowly. With more investigators, the chance of a new or unusual idea changing the landscape of vaccine research increases, but the means to develop an effective HIV vaccine may already be in hand.It is clear that not enough research is being devoted to this critically important area of AIDS research and that fundamental changes in funding, research and development, coupled with community involvement, will help.
