The purpose of this paper will be too show how AIDS is a serious disease

in the world today. AIDS, (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is a

complicated illness, caused by a virus that is passed from person to person.

"The disease was first recognized in 1980 among homosexual men and

injection drug users in New York and California." Several years after it was

recognized, AIDS has become a worldwide epidemic. "By 1995, 477,900

Americans had developed the disease, of whom 295,500 had died, and worldwide

more than 14 million people were believed to be infected."

American researchers initially named the virus that causes AIDS the human

T-lymphotropic virus, type III-or HTLV-III ("A.I.D.S."). After researchers

discovered in the late 1980's that there were several forms of the AIDS virus, the

original virus was renamed the human immunodeficiency virus type 1, or HIV-1

("A.I.D.S").

The virus enters the bloodstream and destroys certain white blood cells.

The virus can infect other types of cells in the body, including the immune-system

cells.

AIDS is transmitted intimate contact between people or through blood

transfer. The virus is spread through sexual intercourse, the sharing of needles and

syringes, or transfusion of blood products. Transfusion of blood from an HIV-

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person is certain to cause in infection of the recipient. "Needle sharing involves

transfusion of smaller amounts of blood but is still a means of spreading the virus;

in areas where HIV is prevalent, such as in metropolitan areas of the eastern

United States, active intravenous drug use in associated with HIV infections rates

of around 50 percent." "Sexual transmission, by semen or vaginal fluids either

through vaginal or anal intercourse, to male or female partners, is probably less

efficient than direct blood transfusion." Other forms of sexual activity can also

transmit the disease from person to person, but kissing on the lips appears to carry

little risk of spreading HIV. There is still that slight risk of kissing, so you

shouldn't think you couldn't get it. The AIDS virus can be spread during

pregnancy from mother to fetus, or to the newborn infant at the time of birth, or by

breast-feeding. "About a fifth to a third of newborns of HIV-infected mothers in

the United States acquire the virus from their mothers."

When HIV first infects someone, there can be an acute onset of fever, rash,

and meningitis ("A.I.D.S."). Later during the incubation period of AIDS, swollen

lymph nodes commonly develop, reflecting activity of HIV in those tissues of the

immune system ("A.I.D.S").

At this moment, there is no cure for this disease. There are several antiviral

drugs that delay the spreading of the disease throughout the body. When you are

HIV positive these drugs delay the process of the disease. Some of the drugs

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improve your survival risk. "In response to the worldwide epidemic a major

research effort has been undertaken to find therapies to inhibit and eventually

eradicate AIDS."

"At present, efforts to prevent further spread of AIDS focus on the

dissemination of knowledge as to how the virus is spread and on convincing

people to avoid exposure." Some communities have made programs to stop the

sharing of needles for drug abuse. "The screening of donor blood for HIV-1 and

other viruses since 1985 has virtually eliminated blood transfusion as a source of

HIV infection in developed countries." Scientists have been working on a

vaccine, but still haven't come up with one yet. Schools teach children about

AIDS. They teach them about safe sex . Condoms are useful from not only

getting AIDS but other diseases as well.

The purpose of this paper shows you how AIDS is a serious disease in the

world today. It is spreading around the world. There is no vaccine yet and a lot of

people are dying from AIDS. If you have sex you should at least use a condom.

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