HIV
HIV is one of the most common diseases throughout the world. It was discovered in 1983 and by 1985 tests to detect the virus was available. The credit for discovering the HIV/AIDS virus is jointly shared by Dr. Robert Gallo, a researcher at the National Cancer Institute, and Luc Montagnier of the Pasteur Institute, France. One in four people who have HIV don’t even know they are infected. There is an average of two million deaths per year due to HIV.
What is HIV you might ask? HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is a virus that destroys the immune system very gradually. It does this by entering the body and attacking the immune system. The human body produces T-cells which are meant to fight infection and viruses, but this is one virus that can’t be fought. HIV invades the T-cells and makes copies of itself inside the cells. The T-cells then travel through the blood and attack/invade any other T-cells that cross its path. Eventually the amount of T-cells in the body gets to low and the body can no longer fight off infection or sickness. This then allows the body to contact sickness much easier than before. If this virus is left untreated for too long it then turns into AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). A person is diagnosed with AIDS when their CD4 cell count (number of key immune cells in a cubic millimeter of blood) drops below 200, and/or has an opportunistic infection, or HIV-related cancer. The speed in which HIV turns to AIDS depends on the person. If the person has a genetically more vulnerable immune system or they have done drugs such as meth the speed may be increased. As HIV progresses, the immune system becomes less able to defend the body against common bacteria and viruses. People with HIV/AIDS are more likely to develop certain illnesses such as rare forms of pneumonia, fungal infections and some cancers. These infections are called “opportunistic” because they take advantage of the weakened immune system. The cancer that most...