HIV Explained

HIV or human immunodeficiency virus is a very deadly and well known virus that attacks the immune system in humans. While the direct causes are still very much unknown, it is believed that it evolved from chimps in the Cameroon region of Africa. The deadliness of the virus is what becomes most important because there is no cure or well known and effective treatment for the HIV at this time.

The world is still waiting for the day when HIV will be eradicated completely from this planet but that day is not near. According to the World Health Organization more than twenty-five million people have died as a result of HIV since it was first diagnosed in 1981. They believe that the number of HIV deaths is actually much higher because the disease may have been present in the human population for as long as fifty years before it was recognized. Overall the effects of HIV have been devastating to the population of nearly every major country in the world.

One of the most common misconceptions about HIV is that you must be homosexual to contract it. That is not true as there is more than one way for HIV to spread. In most cases the HIV virus is spread through sexual contact including anal and vaginal penetration. It is the contact with the bodily fluids that causing the infection. Blood, semen, pre-seminal fluid and even breast milk can carry the HIV virus. For this reason, HIV has reached a state known as pandemic and continues to spread throughout the world.

Sadly there are more children being infected on a daily basis. Many times the children are born with the HIV virus because the mother is a carrier as well. This is most common in areas like Africa where the HIV virus spread is great and entire cities are sometimes wiped out by the disease. According to the United Nations, more than ninety million people in Africa will be infected over the next two years, which accounts for about ten percent of the population. Efforts are being made to help control the spread of HIV in this area but it is very difficult to say the least. The over population and increased birth rate make it nearly impossible for containment.

Symptoms

Testing
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