The Origins Of Hiv ( Immunodeficiency Syndrome ) - 1031 Words

The origins of HIV (Human immunodeficiency virus) and the disease it causes AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). The virus might have sprung up as early as the 1940’s, yet it was not recognized as a new pathogen until the early 1980s. Physicians who study patterns of illness began to take not when immune-deficiency conditions such as oral candida thrush, herpes, Pneumocystis Jiroveci pneumonia, and Kaposi’s sarcoma, a rare type of cancer, began to show up in the United States, primarily among urban populations of men who have sex with men. In 1986, HIV-1 and HIV-2 were isolated as the viruses that cause AIDS. Men who have sex with men were just the first to be affected. Infection was soon seen in their populations. HIV falls into a†¦show more content†¦A person who is HIV positive may have an entire supply of T4 cells depleted every 15 days. Eventually the body is unable to maintain a healthy immune response and the body will begin to show symptoms of HIV /AIDS (CDC 2012). Signs and Symptoms of HIV infection in the initial stage of HIV infection may experience only generalized flu-like symptoms such as malaise, nausea and vomiting, decreased appetite, rash and diarrhea. In the latent stage of the disease the patients may begin to experience frequent and persistent infections. Complaining of fever, night sweats, swollen lymph nodes, headache, skin lesions that do not heal, sore throat, difficulty breathing, burning with urination or diarrhea. Patients also may report extreme fatigue and weight loss. Any of these symptoms coupled with a history of unprotected sexual contact with persons possibly infected with HIV, a history of intravenous drug abuse using shared needles, or a history of a blood transfusion before 1989 warrants consideration of a diagnosis of HIV infection. (CDC 2014). The major complications of HIV infection are opportunistic infections, wasting, secondary cancers and dementia. Patients with AIDS are very high risk for opportunistic fungal, parasitic, and viral infections. These are oral candidacies, P. jiroveci pneumonia, herpes simples, cytomegalovirus retinitis, Cryptosporidium enteritis,