AIDS

AIDS is an acronym for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome and is defined as a collection of symptoms and infections resulting from the depletion of the immune system caused by infection with HIV. Although treatments for both AIDS and HIV exist, there is no known cure. The rate of clinical disease progression varies widely between individuals and has been shown to be affected by many factors such as host susceptibility, immune function, health care, the presence of co-infections and peculiarities of the viral strain.

Research

Origin

The official date for the beginning of the AIDS epidemic is marked as June 18, 1981, when the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported a cluster of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (now classified as Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia) in five gay men in Los Angeles in the early 1980s. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/june_5.htm Originally dubbed GRID, or Gay Related Immune Difficiency, health authorities soon realized that nearly half of the people identified with the syndrome were not gay. Reporter Randy Shilts discovered the name of an extremely sexually active man, Gaetan Dugas, who epidemiologists at the time suspected to be the first carrier of what was first called "gay-plague", but later research failed to track the epidemic to any individual carrier. http://www.uic.edu/classes/osci/osci590/4_3Human%20Immunodeficiency%20Virus%20AIDS.htm In 1982, the CDC introduced the term AIDS to describe the newly recognized syndrome.

Related Topics:
June 18 - 1981 - ''Pneumocystis carinii'' pneumonia - Los Angeles - 1980s

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Three of the earliest known instances of HIV infection are as follows:

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• A plasma sample taken in 1959 from an adult male living in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo.
• HIV found in tissue samples from an American teenager who died in St. Louis in 1969.
• HIV found in tissue samples from a Norwegian sailor who died around 1976.

Two species of HIV infect humans: HIV-1 and HIV-2. HIV-1 is more virulent and more easily transmitted. HIV-1 is the source of the majority of HIV infections throughout the world, while HIV-2 is less easily transmitted and is largely confined to West Africa. http://www.socgenmicrobiol.org.uk/JGVDirect/18253/18253ft.htm Both HIV-1 and HIV-2 are of primate origin. The origin of HIV-2 has been established to be the sooty mangabey (Cercocebus atys), an Old World monkey of Guinea Bissau, Gabon, and Cameroon. The origin of HIV-1 is a chimpanzee subspecies: Pan troglodytes troglodytes.

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Circumcision

Current research is clarifying the relationship between male circumcision and HIV in differing social and cultural contexts. UNAIDS believes that it is premature to recommend male circumcsion services as part of HIV prevention programmes. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2005/pr32/en/

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South African medical experts are concerned that the repeated use of unsterilised blades in the ritual circumcision of adolescent boys may be spreading HIV. http://allafrica.com/stories/200507070803.html

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Vaccine research

As there is no known cure for AIDS, the search for a vaccine against the etiological agent, HIV, has become part of the struggle against the disease. Only a vaccine will be able to halt the pandemic. This would possibly cost less, thus being affordable for developing countries, and would not require daily treatments. However, after over 20 years of research, HIV remains a difficult target for a vaccine and there is still no vaccine available; a June 2005 study estimates that $682 million is spent on AIDS vaccine research annually http://www.iavi.org/viewfile.cfm?fid=30892.

Related Topics:
AIDS - Vaccine - Etiological - HIV

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Alternative theories

A minority of scientists and activists question the connection between HIV and AIDS, or the existence of HIV, or the validity of current testing methods. These claims are met with resistance by, and often evoke frustration and hostility from, most of the scientific community, who accuse the dissidents of ignoring evidence in favor of HIV's role in AIDS, and irresponsibly posing a dangerous threat to public health by their continued activities. Dissidents assert that the current mainstream approach to AIDS, based on HIV causation, has resulted in inaccurate diagnoses, psychological terror, toxic treatments, and a squandering of public funds. The debate and controversy regarding this issue from the early 1980s to the present has provoked heated emotions and passions from both sides.

Related Topics:
Public health - 1980s

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