Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (aids)

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)

Acquire Immune Deficiency Syndrome, or AIDS, is a recently recognized disease. It is caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, which attacks selected cells in the immune system and produces defects in function. These defects may not be apparent for years; however, they may lead to a severe suppression of the immune system's ability to resist harmful organisms. This leaves the body open to invasion by various infections, which are therefore called opportunistic diseases, and to the development of unusual cancers. The virus also tends to reach certain brain cells. This leads to so-called neuropsychiatry abnormalities, or psychological disturbances caused by physical damage to nerve cells.

Since the first AIDS cases were reported in 1981, through the mid-1993s more than 315, 000 AIDS cases and more than 194, 000 deaths have been reported in the United States alone. This is only the tip of the iceberg of HIV infection, however it is estimated that between one to one point five million Americans had been infected with the virus through the early 1990s but had not yet developed clinical symptoms. In addition, although the vast majorities of documented cases have occurred in the United States, AIDS cases have also been reported in 208 countries worldwide. Sub-Saharan Africa in particular appears to suffer a heavy burden of this illness.

No cure of vaccine now exists for AIDS. Many of those infected with HIV may not even be aware that they carry and can spread the contagion. Combating it is a major challenge to biomedical scientists and health-care providers. HIV infection and AIDS represent among the most pressing public policy and public health problems worldwide.

Historical Background

AIDS was first formally described in 1981. AIDS was observed predominantly to be affecting homosexual and bisexual men. They found out that sexual partners with people that carry AIDS could contract the disease. More study on people who had AIDS revealed marked depletion of certain white blood cells called T4 lymphocytes. These cells played a crucial role in coordinating the body's immune defenses against invading organisms. It was assumed that the defect in people who had AIDS was acquired in a common manner. In 1983, Robert Gallo at the United States National Institutes of Health and Luc Montagnier at France's Pasteur Institute separately discovered a virus that attacks T4 cells. The virus at first had a lot of names such as human lymphotropic virus (HTLV), lymphadenopathy-associated virus (LAV), and AIDS-associated retrovirus (ARV). It is now officially called human immunodeficiency virus which everyone knows it as HIV, and considerable evidence demonstrates that it is indeed the causative agent for AIDS.

Cost

The United States Public Health Service estimates that in 1993, the lifetime cost of treating a person with AIDS from infection to death is approximately $119, 000. The Public Health Service's budget for AIDS research was $1.26 billion in 1992. Persons exposed to HIV are having difficulties in obtaining adequate health insurance coverage. Yearly AZT expenses, for example, can average approximately $6,000, although in 1989 the drug's maker did offer to distribute AZT freely to HIV-infected children. The yearly expense for DDI is somewhat less