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Bryant Barfield
History of disease
Ms. Lau
5/5 /2014
Since the first uprising of HIV/AIDS doctors are able to understand it more; how its
spread, where it came from, how to prevent it and also what it does to the body because they
began to understand the virus more. What happen with the HIV/AIDS virus next?
It was said that it was first only said it was only found in homosexual men and only a
little bit in heterosexual couples. But it was more seen in the homosexual in New York and
California; this was around the 1980s. Doctors and researchers didnt understand this new
virus but they knew it gave people pneumonia and cancer. Doctors looked at it as a gay disease
that was spreading at an enormous rate. Since people look at it as the gay disease it was hard
to get funding. And since people didnt know about the disease or how it spread they treat
people with the disease wrong. They kicked them out of school, evicted them from their house
and didnt want to be around them. But now we can shake somebodys hand and not know if
they have the disease and do not care. Today we know more about the disease. We understand
one can be around, live with, eat with, and be in contact with one that has the disease and be
fine. Doctors say the common strain came from the chimpanzees. As of today there is still no
care for the AIDS disease in adults; there is only treatment that is said to make you live longer.
But in latest news there were two babies cursed of the disease.
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Scientists dont know when the AIDS made it first appearance to the world, it was
unknown and they didnt know how it was transmitted. But doctors had some kind of idea
about when it started to make its first uprising and started to spread. While rare, sporadic
case reports of AIDS and sero-archaeological studies have documented human infections with
HIV prior to 1970, available data suggest that the current pandemic started in the mid- to late
1970s. (avert) Like for many diseases no one is able to trace the exact origin of the virus but
doctors can pin point the area best known, and how the outbreak first started. In 1981 doctors
started to see a rise in a cancer seen mostly in older people in the younger generation, Kaposi's
Sarcoma, and also Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. The doctors did know why this was
happening but did know there was a new disease arising. They were unsure of the cause or how
it spread. Some thought of it as the gay disease and quoted, "Dr. Curran said there was no
apparent danger to non-homosexuals from contagion. 'The best evidence against contagion', he
said, 'is that no cases have been reported to date outside the homosexual community or in
women" (avert). I think this was a wrong quote to say if one did not have a lot of research on
the disease. Also this is probably the reason they didnt get a lot of funding at first. The first
couple of people that they did research on were homosexual men and according to the cdc
two of the 5 reported having frequent homosexual contacts with various partners (CDC). This
was almost the same with all the patients. But as time went on the cancer appeared in females
too. It was not until a year after the appearance of aids did doctors relies it may be sexual
transmitted and give the disease the name we know AIDS. Doctors knew one way the virus
was spread was through male sperm according to the cdc, these findings suggest not only that
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virus shedding may be more readily detected in seminal fluid than in urine, but also that
seminal fluid may be an important vehicle of CMV transmission (CDC). Once a baby got AIDS
through a blood donation that open doctors eye up to new and developing evidence about the
virus. That gave them a second way the virus was transmitted. But they still didnt know if that
was the only way the virus spread. So in certain places they took various precautions when
dealing with the public. This was a plaque of their time people were scared and didnt know
what to do. As the years went on the number of aids cases grew and more information was
gained. In 1984 the CDC released information about a test that would be able to detect if the
virus was in ones blood.

HIV antibodies are in a number of a humans beings bodily fluids but the virus can only
be transmitted through blood, sperm, breast milk or vaginal fluids. One good thing is that it
cannot survive long outside the body; the virus it is not air borne. The highest risk of getting it is
from anal sex, and the second is vaginal. Which some may not believe, but having oral sex is
one of the unlikely ways one might get the virus. Doctors believe that there is something in
salvia that kills or renders the infection. So it seems the safes sex without a condom would be
oral sex. But one should always have protection unless it is your life long partner. Aids is
transmitted through blood in most cases by people using the same needle, mostly drug addicts.
One gets if from sperm or vaginal fluid through unprotected sex and in a small amount of cases
oral sex if the person has mouth ulcers, bleeding gums, genital sores. But getting it through oral
sex is not common. If a woman is not sure if she has HIV and she is breast feeding she will give
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it to her baby. Having a number of sex partners put you at very high risk, and just having one
does to. Condoms help to prevent the spreading of stds but is not one hundred percent
guaranteed. At any giving moment they can pop and one can be exposed to the virus. But just
because one is exposed to the virus doesnt mean one will get it. Someone can have sex with a
person that is HIV positive and not get the disease . But one should always be pessimistic when
thinking about HIV. And always think that, that one time is it.
In a lot of cases HIV positive people do not know they are HIV positive. The virus can
hide for ten year, and one may not get any signs until it if full blown aids. If you were to ask
someone you have just met, are you HIV positive? They will say no in most cases because they
are unsure and dont care. But a lot of time they are not sure. I would say that is just natural
inclination in the United States well at least Maryland in my opinion. The only way to be sure is
to get tested. From the percent of people I know I would say more females than males get
tested. From my understanding I think the males I know are at fear to know there status. And it
is because the sleep around so much they are unsure. The safes way to be is not to have sex.
Educating yourself first is very important. Know how one could catch the virus and how to avoid
getting it. Knowing how the disease is or isnt transmitted is a big step. One should know about
your own health and sex partners health. But if one is going to have sex have protect sex with
one person. In when the times comes went you figure condoms are pointless get tested first.
But not only get tested once but go back every six months. Even if your partner says that they
are faithful one should still go. It better to know than dont. But if one does think that he/she
was exposed to the virus one should seek medical attention as soon as possible.
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For right now HIV is a virus that once one get the virus it is no getting rid of it. It will be
in one body until one dies. There is not a curse yet for adults. There are only cocktails that will
help you to manage the virus in your body. The virus enters the body and kills some of your
important cells in your immune system. One of the cells they target are t-cell which help to
identify invaders cells and gives orders. Once in a cell it takes over and turn the cell into another
kind and over time it will explode and enter back into the blood stream. Once the virus has
done this enough it will weaken the immune system an d live it vonable to other infection.
Once the immune system is week and doesnt have the cells it need to fight off infection,
something simple as the common cold can kill someone. But the cocktails help to keep the
immune system strong and the antibodies count down.
In my opinion I believe that soon there will be a working cure for the HIV virus. The way
technology is advancing there is no way that doctors will not be able to come up with a cure.
The more people getting the virus the more research they do and they better they understand
it. They have the money the need for the funding. In the upcoming year they plan to have over
20 billion to spend for aids research, In 2011 there was a funding gap of 30 percent between
the US$16.8 billion spent, and the 2015 target of US$22-24 million (avert). I think if they can
cure it in babies that soon they will be able to cure it and anybody.



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