HIV: Then and Now - Essay Example

Running Head: HIV THEN AND HIV NOW HIV Then and HIV Now s HIV Then and HIV Now Introduction HIV is the virus that leads to AIDS. HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency virus. (http://www.avert.org/virus.htm) HIV badly impairs the disease fighting immune system of a person. Two viruses have been found to cause AIDS. Both these viruses are from ad the retroviruses group. The first kind of virus that may lead to AIDS is HIV-1. French researchers isolated this virus in 1983 and one year after that in 1984 in the United States. The second virus which leads to Aids was identified in 1985, by scientists ironically this one like HIV -I was also isolated in France. This virus is closely associated to HIV-1. It is known as HIV-2. HIV-2 is mostly present in Africa however HIV-1 is present all over the world. This infection consists of three stages. In the first stage severe retroviral syndrome along with asymptomatic period occurs. This is the exactly like influenza or like mononucleosis that a good number people get in six to twelve weeks after acquiring the infection. It generally finishes without any treatment at all. It is at this point that a patients' blood test for HIV comes out positive. Symptomatic HIV infection is known as the second stage of AIDS. In this stage symptoms start to become prominent. This stage can be as long as a few months or even a few years. AIDS is the last stage. In this stage the immune system gets badly damaged and other opportunistic diseases infect the patient. This collapse of the immune system leads the patient top his death in just a few years. HIV causes a decline in the health and most of time even death. The virus is an extremely dangerously severely infects both the brain and the nervous system. It could cause dementia; dementia is an illness which is related sensory, thinking, or memory disorder. Brain infection might result in problems related to movement or coordination. HIV may have infected the diesel for two to twelve years without exhibiting any symptoms. This virus is transferable to other person symptoms regardless of the symptoms. As soon as HIV catches speed, a lot of symptoms begin to show up. The symptoms consists of mysterious fever, exhaustion, diarrhea, serve loss of weight, enlargement of the lymph glands, loss of hunger mouth and vagina's yeast infections, night sweats which may last more than a number of weeks, problems in breathing , dry cough, bad throat due to the swelling of glands, chills, and shivering. Other symptoms include flat or raised spots or bumps of Pink or purple, color which occur under the skin, in the oral cavity, nose, eyelids or rectum. They look like bruises, however they don't fade away. The skin around the bruises is not as hard as the bruises themselves. Another symptom is Spots or odd blemishes which are White in color start to occur in the mouth. HIV can be transmitted via 3 ways. One very common way is by means of unprotected sex (oral, virginal or anal). The most dangerous kind of sex which transmits this virus is anal sex as the anus does not stretch. The second way this virus can be transmitted is through direct contact with blood that is already infected with the virus. There are a number of ways of in which the virus can be transmitted via direct contact with blood that is already infected with HIV. The third way in which this virus is transited is when pregnant women is infected by this virus and transmits it to her fetus. Development After 6 years in 1987 a new treatment came into being this is known as the first big step in the direction of curing HIV and AIDS virus. The drug that was found was Retrovir (AZT, Zidovudine) and it was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and was immediately used to treat patients with HIV. In 1992, the first drug which was to be utilized with zidovudine was also approved by Food and Drug Administration. This combination of drugs was called Hivid; this was the start of HIV combination therapies. In the year 1996 other options for treatment took one bigger step, when the powerful HIV-fighting drugs were introduced, they were known as Protease Inhibitors. The usage of protease inhibitors was used with the combination of HIV drugs which were already available at that time turned out to be extremely successful in treating the virus. After more than fifteen years had passed, in 1998 the forecast there an AIDS vaccine might come out in two years time, and thus with this prediction in1998, the very first trials in humans of an AIDS vaccine started to take place in the United States. On August 19, 2002 Washington AIDS researchers reported they had a vaccine. The vaccine would protect people from getting infected by the virus. There are many different vaccines in development but this is the first truly protective vaccine. Dr. Robert Gallo who helped discover the AIDS virus said that there are many different types of the HIV viruses. There is HIV type A, B, C, D, and E. And these types are generally found in only certain people. Type B is found mostly in Europe, the Americas and Japan. While type A, C, D, and E are spreading all through Africa and Asia, so a vaccine in the United States may not work to protect Africans, who are hardest hit by AIDS. He also stated that the strategy designed here has worked in laboratory test systems and that he had no reason to believe that man should be an exception, but one doesn't make claims without data (A Promising Twist on AIDS Cure). In 2004 more importance to simpler therapies were given, with this the trouble regimen pill were extremely lessened. The simpler therapies consisted of the release of 2 new combination drugs these were called Truvada and Epzicom along with them even two new inhibitors of protease were released these were,Reyataz and Lexiva. Currently there is no treatment present for AIDS. And at the same time new drugs are assisting a number of people who are infected by HIV to live long and healthy life; there are a lot of problems related with these drugs. Drugs for the treatment of HIV are extremely toxic and may be the reason to severe side effects such as heart damage, failure of the kidney and even bone decay like osteoporosis. HIV changes rapidly almost half the patients treatment fails in two to three years time, this is due to the fact that this virus builds up resistance to the drugs that are already being used. NIAID-supported investigators are conducting an abundance of research on all areas of HIV infection, including developing and testing preventive HIV vaccines, prevention strategies, and new treatments for HIV infection and AIDS-associated opportunistic infections. Researchers also are investigating exactly how HIV damages the immune system. This research is identifying new and more effective targets for drugs and vaccines. NIAID-supported investigators also continue to trace how the disease progresses in different people (http://www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/hivinf.htm). In fact, almost ten to twenty percent of people who have recently been infected developing viral strains that might before hand be resistant to existing drugs. Since these treatments are horrid and complicated, a lot of patients do not take their doses of medication. If the patient does not take anti HIV drugs according to a prescribed timetable and a set dosage may cause the virus to have new drug resistant viral strains even when patients take their treatment seriously it does not finish off the virus. A comprehensive approach must be used to prevent the further spread of HIV and AIDS. Comprehensive HIV prevention strategies include monitoring the epidemic to target prevention and care activities, researching the effectiveness of prevention methods, diffusing proven effective interventions, funding the implementation and evaluation of prevention efforts in high-risk communities, encouraging early diagnosis of HIV infection, and fostering linkages between prevention and treatment programs (http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/25.htm). Regardless of continued serious research, researchers of this field predict that may take a couple of years to come up with a safe, successful, and inexpensive vaccine for HIV/AIDS. After the development of such vaccines, it will take a long time to come up with something by which many people in danger of HIV infection may be immunized. Till then prevention methods of HIV, like safe sex and sterilized syringes, will remain vital. Conclusion Our society has reason to believe that we are close to have a cure or vaccine to prevent and to kill the HIV and AIDS virus. We have come so far in the passed 20 years when the virus started to infect large numbers. Image in the next 20 years with all the technology we have and we will have a vaccine that will prevent and cure the AIDS and HIV virus. References http://www.avert.org/virus.htm Retrieved on 23rd March 2008. http://www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/hivinf.htm Retrieved on 23rd March 2008. http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/25.htm Retrieved on 23rd March 2008. Appendix: Fig 1: Read More