The Origins of an Epidemic: Turning Hiv Against Itself

The Origins of an Epidemic: Turning HIV against Itself

Natalie Simmons

Axia College of University of Phoenix

Utilizing Information in College Writing

Jon Peterson

August 26, 2007

The Origins of an Epidemic: Turning HIV against Itself

In July 1981, The Center for Disease Control and Prevention, along with New York Times reported an abnormally large number of reports of a rare form of cancer, among gay men. The disease at that time was identified as Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) and Pneumocystis Carnii Pneumonia (PCP). Kaposi's sarcoma is to be known as a rare cancer that affected mainly older men of Mediterranean descent, was becoming increasingly high in many of the patients. The cancer appears as painless reddish-blue to brown skin lesions, soft or firm, most often on the legs, it may further spread into internal organs, especially the lungs and gastrointestinal tract over a period. Pneumocystis Carnii Pneumonia (PCP) is a microorganism that causes a disproportionate large percentage of all opportunistic infection in AIDS. PCP symptoms: fever, progressive shortness of breath, and a dry cough. KS and PCP also severely effect the immune system destroying white blood cells (CD4) level. KS and PCP leads to death in many of the patients and are neither curable nor preventable. This was the beginning of what has become the biggest healthcare concern in modern history. 25 years later society is still plague by HIV/AIDS.

What is the origin of HIV/AIDS? In 1959, our first HIV case arrived; a man died of a mysterious illness located in West Africa. The illness was unknown into recent years, when some plasma samples was taken from the man and examine; therefore; confirming that he did, in fact, die from complications related to a HIV infection, leading scientists to believe that the first case of HIV had arrived around 1930 in West Africa. One hypothesis is that a retrovirus related to HIV called simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). SIV causes an AIDS-like illness in monkeys. It is possible that a retrovirus such as SIV was transmitted to humans but the disease did not produce itself in humans but later evolved into the pathogen HIV. This theory is supported by the existence of HIV-2, a virus similar to HIV that causes AIDS in western Africa. HIV-2 appears to be an intermediate form between HIV and SIV; it readily infects both humans, monkeys, and causes a less severe disease than HIV and SIV in their respective natural hosts. It may be that a strain of SIV entered humans from monkeys where it then evolved into HIV-2 and finally into HIV. HIV is properly named HIV-1 to distinguish it from HIV-2; however, it is usually called simply HIV because HIV-2 is rarely found outside of western Africa. One can imagine many different ways in which humans might contact non-humans primates to allow transmission of a virus: eating, hunting and trapping. Some observers have raised the possibility that polio vaccines produced nearly 20 years ago for use in Africa were contaminated with monkey retroviruses. They propose that the mass inoculation of this vaccine into humans introduced a virus able to reproduce in man and evolved into HIV. Proponents of this theory place the origin of HIV infection somewhere in central Africa.

How is the virus transmitted? Before scientists could clearly understand the transmission of the virus many people were, confused about the ways HIV could and could not be transmitted and conflicting reports from doctors made many sectors of the public somewhat distrustful of the medical professor. While the CDC maintained that HIV could be transferred only through bodily fluids such as blood and semen, some doctors openly express the belief that the virus could be transmitted through contact as casual as "sharing a bologna sandwich," in the word's of one observer. Another report stated that HIV could be excreted in tears. According to Dr. Anthony Faui, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infections Diseases, "somehow that sprang a fear that it [HIV] must be all over the place." (Bardhan-Quallen, 2003)

Parents kept their children out of school because they were afraid that their children would catch the disease even if those so-called, quote-unquote experts say it is impossible. There was discussing about quarantining HIV-infected individuals, or at least making it illegal for them, to engage in sexual activities. Scientists, who understood that many of the public's fears were based in misconceptions, now struggled to find ways to prove that the fears were mostly unfounded. Some of the most important information to be gained after HIV was discovered was a better understanding of the ways in which the virus could be transmitted. The transmission chart: How HIV Is Spread, will explain the common methods of transmission.

How HIV Is Spread

What is HIV? In 1985, scientists discovered the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). HIV is a virus transmitted from person to person through the exchange of body fluids such as blood, semen, and vaginal secretions. The virus is most commonly spread through sexual contact, but also it can be transmitted by sharing needles when injecting drugs, or during childbirth and breastfeeding. HIV is known as a member of a group called retroviruses. As with all viruses, retroviruses are simple organisms that are dependent on a host for reproduction. They lack an independent metabolism and cannot grow without energy and nutrients supplied by a host cell. Once inside the cell HIV takes over the cell and the virus replicates. In just a couple days, the cell dies and the new virus particles go on to infect more helper T cells.

What is AIDS? Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, or AIDS, is a condition in recognition that impairment of the immune system and the resulting inability to fight infections was a fundamental clinical characteristic. AIDS is now known to be caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus, HIV. The word acquired was chosen because the illness was neither genetically determined nor the result of other conditions; it was acquired during a period of normal health. The word syndrome signifies that a condition with a single underlying cause can have different clinical manifestations. Before the cause