Basics and Social Context of the AIDS Epidemic
What is AIDS?
AIDS, otherwise known as Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome, is the final stage of HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). HIV is a sexually transmitted infection that your body cannot fight off. Your white blood cells help to fight off infection and intruders to your body, but HIV destroys these white blood cells (also called T-cells or CD4 cells), shown to the left[1], eventually resulting in a low CD4 count (average is 500-1,200 cells/mm^3)[2] that determines the stage of an infection that a patient is currently in. Without these white blood cells, the body cannot fight off infection and overall health begins to deteriorate.
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How do you acquire AIDS?
Since AIDS is the final stage in HIV, a person does not acquire AIDS until they have had HIV for quite some time. HIV can be spread through bodily fluids in many fashions. During sexual contact, semen and vaginal fluids are the main source of HIV. Sharing needles and other drug paraphernalia with someone who is HIV positive can also transmit the disease by the needles being directly injected into the blood stream. Likewise, blood transfusions and organ transplants are causes of HIV, but are very uncommon because of the amount of testing that is done on donated specimens before they are given to another person. Transmission from mother to baby and needle sticks are also much less common. In order to contract the infection, these fluids must come into contact with a mucous membrane located outside of the openings of the body, or they must be directly injected into the blood stream as in drug use and needle sticks in hospitals[3]. If HIV is left untreated, CD4 levels can fall and AIDS can develop. However, because of modern research and the development of medications, it is possible to live a long life with HIV that does not develop into AIDS.
What are the Signs and Symptoms of HIV and AIDS?
While it is entirely possible to experience no symptoms after HIV exposure, most people experience flu-like symptoms such as fever, headache, fatigue, swollen glands, and sore throat. [4] If a person has AIDS and are not taking medication, other symptoms such as rapid weight loss, neurologic disorders, and long-lasting diarrhea may occur. The only way to know for sure if a person is a carrier of HIV is to get tested.
How can AIDS be Prevented?
There are many choices that a person can make to help lower his or her chances of getting HIV. Reducing the amount of people that a person has sex with reduces the possibility of exposure to HIV. In the United States, one in six people who are carriers of HIV do not know that they have it, so the more people that a person comes into sexual contact with, the more likely they are to be exposed to HIV. Certain behaviors such as anal sex are more likely to lead to HIV than other types of sexual intercourse. Being educated and understanding risks is a necessity before engaging in potentially life-altering sexual behavior. When engaging in sexual intercourse, using a condom every time and using it correctly greatly reduces chances of developing HIV. If you or someone that you know thinks that he or she may have been exposed to HIV, the person should contact his or her doctor within three days to discuss medical steps necessary to reduce the chance of developing the infection yourself [5].
How can AIDS be Prevented?
There are many choices that a person can make to help lower his or her chances of getting HIV. Reducing the amount of people that a person has sex with reduces the possibility of exposure to HIV. In the United States, one in six people who are carriers of HIV do not know that they have it, so the more people that a person comes into sexual contact with, the more likely they are to be exposed to HIV. Certain behaviors such as anal sex are more likely to lead to HIV than other types of sexual intercourse. Being educated and understanding risks is a necessity before engaging in potentially life-altering sexual behavior. When engaging in sexual intercourse, using a condom every time and using it correctly greatly reduces chances of developing HIV. If you or someone that you know thinks that he or she may have been exposed to HIV, the person should contact his or her doctor within three days to discuss medical steps necessary to reduce the chance of developing the infection yourself [5].
History and Social Context of the AIDS Epidemic
The AIDS virus began to spread rapidly through the gay-male population in the 1980s. This was a historically conservative time in the United States, so the AIDS outbreak was not given much thought in the beginning because it was associated with the homosexual population. The virus appeared somewhat differently in every case, so there was no definitive cause of the symptoms in these men for quite some time. Once the reason behind the symptoms was determined, there was a common belief that HIV and AIDS were considered a divine punishment for sin, so only gays (particularly gay men) could contract the disease. This belief was held so deep in some people that a study conducted in 1988 showed that 60% of those polled felt no sympathy for AIDS victims. Ronald Reagan was in office during the first 6 years of the AIDS crisis, and he never spoke one word about the emerging epidemic to the public [6]. This is probably due to the fact that if the government and news talked about AIDS, then normal families would know what was going on in the world and that homosexual sex did exist, which conservative, religious families at the time did not want to know about. This went against what the majority of people felt was right, so the tendency at the time was to pretend that it wasn't happening until heterosexuals began contracting the infection [7].
This lack of response to AIDS was deeply rooted in other historical epidemics. Since the medieval ages, disease has been much more common in groups of lower socioeconomic status. These people were often in close quarters and lived in much worse conditions than the well-off. The people of the medieval ages were very religious, so it was a common belief that these people were poor because of sins that the committed [8]. This notion followed into other epidemics of disease and AIDS, which explains why there was not much urgency to find treatments and cures until later in history.
Around the 1980s and 1990s when AIDS became a more popular and better understood topic, medical professionals finally began taking steps to understand the disease. The problem with AIDS is that patients were not dying because of AIDS; they were dying from infections and other medical ailments that came along because of the lack of white blood cells caused by HIV and AIDS. Since researchers had no idea what all of these seemingly unrelated deaths meant, they began to wonder if there was a connection, and if so, what exactly caused it. Once they figured out that HIV was the root of these deaths, researchers began to formulate ideas about medicine, vaccines, and if the disease had a genetic basis.
For information on medicinal history and research, please see Medicine and Research.
For information on the possible genetic basis for the disease, please see Gay Gene.
This lack of response to AIDS was deeply rooted in other historical epidemics. Since the medieval ages, disease has been much more common in groups of lower socioeconomic status. These people were often in close quarters and lived in much worse conditions than the well-off. The people of the medieval ages were very religious, so it was a common belief that these people were poor because of sins that the committed [8]. This notion followed into other epidemics of disease and AIDS, which explains why there was not much urgency to find treatments and cures until later in history.
Around the 1980s and 1990s when AIDS became a more popular and better understood topic, medical professionals finally began taking steps to understand the disease. The problem with AIDS is that patients were not dying because of AIDS; they were dying from infections and other medical ailments that came along because of the lack of white blood cells caused by HIV and AIDS. Since researchers had no idea what all of these seemingly unrelated deaths meant, they began to wonder if there was a connection, and if so, what exactly caused it. Once they figured out that HIV was the root of these deaths, researchers began to formulate ideas about medicine, vaccines, and if the disease had a genetic basis.
For information on medicinal history and research, please see Medicine and Research.
For information on the possible genetic basis for the disease, please see Gay Gene.
References
[1]"T Cell." Wikipedia. November 30, 2014. Accessed December 1, 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T_cell.
[2] "CD4 Count." CD4 Count. Accessed December 1, 2014. http://aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/just-diagnosed-with-hiv-aids/understand-your-test-results/cd4-count.
[3] "How Do You Get HIV or AIDS?" How Do You Get HIV or AIDS? Accessed December 1, 2014. http://aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/hiv-aids-101/how-you-get-hiv-aids/index.html.
[4] "Signs & Symptoms." Signs & Symptoms. Accessed December 1, 2014. http://aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/hiv-aids-101/signs-and-symptoms/index.html.
[5] "Lower Your Sexual Risk of HIV." Lower Your Sexual Risk of HIV. December 3, 2014. Accessed December 10, 2014. http://www.aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/prevention/reduce-your-risk/sexual-risk-factors/.
[6] Allen, Peter L. The Wages of Sin: Sex and Disease, past and Present. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000.
[7] Waller, John. The HIV/AIDS Crisis.
[8] IBID
[2] "CD4 Count." CD4 Count. Accessed December 1, 2014. http://aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/just-diagnosed-with-hiv-aids/understand-your-test-results/cd4-count.
[3] "How Do You Get HIV or AIDS?" How Do You Get HIV or AIDS? Accessed December 1, 2014. http://aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/hiv-aids-101/how-you-get-hiv-aids/index.html.
[4] "Signs & Symptoms." Signs & Symptoms. Accessed December 1, 2014. http://aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/hiv-aids-101/signs-and-symptoms/index.html.
[5] "Lower Your Sexual Risk of HIV." Lower Your Sexual Risk of HIV. December 3, 2014. Accessed December 10, 2014. http://www.aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/prevention/reduce-your-risk/sexual-risk-factors/.
[6] Allen, Peter L. The Wages of Sin: Sex and Disease, past and Present. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000.
[7] Waller, John. The HIV/AIDS Crisis.
[8] IBID