Human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, weakens the immune system, leaving the body unable to effectively fight such diseases as cancer and pneumonia. Approximately 40 million people worldwide had HIV in 2008, according to the Mayo Clinic, and they will eventually develop life-threatening acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS, as their HIV infection progresses and severely damages their immune system. (See References 1, Section "What are HIV and AIDS?," Last Paragraph; See References 4; See References 5)
Origin of AIDS
Research indicates HIV originated in West Africa as a mutation of the chimpanzee-related simian immunodeficiency virus after humans came into contact with the blood of infected chimpanzees. Once HIV infects humans, it multiplies and destroys CD4+ T-lymphocyte white blood cells, which play a critical role in the body's ability to resist diseases. Although HIV-infected people may develop different symptoms at different rates, HIV affects their body even if they seem healthy. Regular medical treatment helps limit HIV's impact and delay its progression to AIDS.
HIV Symptoms Leading to AIDS
HIV infection has three stages: early, later and AIDS. The first stage occurs roughly three weeks after infection and may involve no symptoms or a short period of symptoms similar to flu, such as fever and swollen lymph nodes. Beginning at this stage, infected people can spread HIV to others through contact with their blood, semen or vaginal fluids.
The next stage may last a decade or more and involve no symptoms. Evident symptoms may be chronic yet mild, such as cough and diarrhea. Children with HIV may experience delayed mental development; difficulty gaining weight, growing and walking; and severe cases of normal childhood ailments, such as tonsillitis.
AIDS Diagnosis
The last stage of HIV infection, AIDS, usually occurs a decade or more after infection. An AIDS diagnosis requires a positive result on the HIV-antibody test that detects HIV and either the presence of an opportunistic infection that normally does not occur in people with a healthy immune system--pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, for example--or a CD4+ T-lymphocyte count of 200 or lower. Symptoms associated with the severely weakened immune system of AIDS include blurry vision, continual fatigue, extreme chills and fever that last for weeks, lesions or white spots inside the mouth, night sweats, persistent diarrhea and recurring headaches.
Treatments for AIDS
No treatments cure AIDS or HIV, but they may delay the development of AIDS and improve quality of life. Options include seven anti-retroviral drugs that impede HIV's ability to grow and multiply: chemokine co-receptor inhibitors, fusion inhibitors, integrase inhibitors, non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, nucleoside analogue reverse transcriptase inhibitors, nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors and protease inhibitors. Some medications are expensive or produce severe side effects, however, and people can develop resistance to them with prolonged use.
AIDS Statistics
The United States had roughly 1,018,428 total AIDS cases through 2007, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with 426,003 afflicted people Black, 404,465 White, 169,138 Hispanic or Latino, and 7,511 Asian. About 1,009,220 diagnosed individuals were age 13 or older, with 198,544 female and 810,676 male. Children younger than 13 accounted for 9,209 cases. An estimated 557,902 people with AIDS died in the United States through 2007, 4,891 of them children younger than 13.
