Aids Epidemic

Nearly 40 million people worldwide have contracted the HIV or AIDS virus. Frighteningly, it is estimated that more than half of those people are unaware that they have contracted the virus and are likely to pass it to another person. Considering the deadly implications of this behavior more education is needed worldwide to conquer this outbreak.

One reason why HIV is so deadly is its ability to compromise the human immune system. "T-helper cells" or CD4+ T cells are crucial to the immune response. They are responsible for signaling other cells in the immune system to come respond to infection. Without these cell functioning properly a person is subject to opportunistic infections and often die from them.

One mechanism that the HIV virus uses to destroy helper T-cells is Apoptosis. Normal cell function is disrupted by the virus in an infected cell and can trigger a process known as programmed cell death, or apoptosis. This is the body's attempt to rid itself of the infected cell.

Another mechanism that the HIV virus uses to destroy helper T-cells is direct cell killing. When an infected cell contains a large amount of the virus, the virus essentially "pops" the cell by attempting to bud through the cell membrane. Unfortunately, not only does the cells die, but it also releases more viruses into the body to infect other cells.

Lastly, HIV virus can also cause a helper T-cell to be unable to respond to immune system signals. This combination of apoptosis, direct cell killing, and anergy is devastating to the human immune system. By reducing the number of healthy helper T-cells, the body is unable to respond to the virus in a large enough capacity to disable it. Not only are there few helper T-cells, but the ones left may be unable to reproduce or signal other immune cells for help. The virus has effectively killed or disarmed all of our bodies defenses against pathogens, leaving the door open for opportunistic infections.

Not only do researchers study the mechanics of the disease, but also the origins of the virus. While no one explanation has been established as the origin, there are four commonly accepted theories.

The first theory is that an experimental oral polio vaccine widely distributed in Africa in the late 50's was tainted with a simian virus similar to AIDS. It was suggested that the chimpanzee or green monkey kidneys used to produce the vaccine could have been tainted with the SIV simian virus which then transmuted into the HIV virus. The evidence, though only circumstantial, is that two colonies of monkey that were infected were in close proximity of the Koprowski mission and could have been used to produce vaccine. Of the four theories, this the least scientific, having been suggested by journalist Tom Curtis and repeated later by other non-science oriented persons. Though proven unlikely, it has not been completely discredited.

The second theory is that perhaps a hunter got blood from an infected monkey into cut, and the simian virus transmuted into its current form. However, this theory is vague. In Africa, indigenous peoples have been hunting monkeys for centuries, across the continent. It does not account for the timing, nor the placement of the first known cases of AIDS and HIV. Therefore while it is a possibility, it does not have much