Related topics: hiv , hiv infection , vaccine , immune system , virus
AIDS
hideAcquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
This condition progressively reduces the effectiveness of the immune system and leaves individuals susceptible to opportunistic infections and tumors. HIV is transmitted through direct contact of a mucous membrane or the bloodstream with a bodily fluid containing HIV, such as blood, semen, vaginal fluid, preseminal fluid, and breast milk.
This transmission can involve anal, vaginal or oral sex, blood transfusion, contaminated hypodermic needles, exchange between mother and baby during pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding or other exposure to one of the above bodily fluids.
AIDS is now a pandemic. In 2007, it was estimated that 33.2 million people lived with the disease worldwide, and that AIDS had killed an estimated 2.1 million people, including 330,000 children. Over three-quarters of these deaths occurred in sub-Saharan Africa, retarding economic growth and destroying human capital.
Genetic research indicates that HIV originated in west-central Africa during the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. AIDS was first recognized by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1981 and its cause, HIV, identified in the early 1980s.
Although treatments for AIDS and HIV can slow the course of the disease, there is currently no vaccine or cure. Antiretroviral treatment reduces both the mortality and the morbidity of HIV infection, but these drugs are expensive and routine access to antiretroviral medication is not available in all countries. Due to the difficulty in treating HIV infection, preventing infection is a key aim in controlling the AIDS pandemic, with health organizations promoting safe sex and needle-exchange programmes in attempts to slow the spread of the virus.
For more information about AIDS, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with aids
Now hear this: Swim-proof hearing aids to get test
Dec 28, 2009 |
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(AP) -- They're not your grandpa's hearing aids. Today's newest models range from the completely invisible - it sits deep in the ear canal for months at a time - to Bluetooth-enabled gadgets that open cell phones and iPods ...
Researchers creating model of HIV care for developing nations
Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS
Dec 21, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Expanding Michigan State University's global health outreach, a team of researchers is working in the Dominican Republic to establish a model for HIV/AIDS care that can be exported to other resource-limited ...
Routine HIV screening in community health centers boosts HIV testing
Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS
Dec 15, 2009 |
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UCSF researchers have that found routinely offering rapid HIV tests to patients in community health centers can significantly increase the number of patients screened for HIV.
Research reveals further progress toward AIDS vaccine
Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS
Dec 14, 2009 |
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(PHILADELPHIA) Researchers from Thomas Jefferson University are one step closer to developing a vaccine against the AIDS disease.
Hindering HIV-1-fighting immune cells
Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS
Dec 14, 2009 |
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Immune proteins called HLA molecules help to activate killer T cell responses against pathogens. But according to a study that will be published online on December 14th in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, one partic ...
Gene Hijacked By HIV Ancestor Suggests New Way to Block Viral Reproduction
Dec 07, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- An ancestor of the AIDS virus hijacked an entire gene, perhaps from some prehistoric cat it had infected, a gene that makes it much better able to infect humans, according to a study published ...
Why Some Monkeys Don't Get AIDS
Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS
Dec 03, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Two studies published this month in the Journal of Clinical Investigation provide a significant advance in understanding how some species of monkeys such as sooty mangabeys and African green ...
South Africa to treat all HIV-positive babies
Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS
Dec 01, 2009 |
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(AP) -- South Africa announced ambitious new plans Tuesday for earlier and expanded treatment for HIV-positive babies and pregnant women, a change that could save hundreds of thousands of lives in the nation ...
New study measures HIV anti-retroviral regimens' safety and efficacy
Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS
Dec 01, 2009 |
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A study in the New England Journal of Medicine released on World AIDS Day reports that viral failure, the point at which medication can no longer suppress the HIV infection, was twice as likely and happen ...
WHO: Treat HIV patients sooner
Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS
Nov 30, 2009 |
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(AP) -- People infected with the virus that causes AIDS should start treatment earlier than currently recommended, the World Health Organization said Monday.
Some patients diagnosed with HIV experience improved outlook on life
Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS
Nov 25, 2009 |
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A new study from researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) and the Cincinnati Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center reaffirms that some patients with HIV experience an improved quality of life following their ...
Preventing Spread of HIV in Jails: Best Window of Opportunity Early in Incarceration
Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS
Nov 25, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- With World AIDS Day less than a week away, two new studies from Yale School of Medicine show that jail inmates, one of the highest risk groups for AIDS, are far more likely to be tested for ...
UNAIDS: Sex main cause for HIV spreading in China
Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS
Nov 25, 2009 |
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(AP) -- The virus that causes AIDS is now spreading fastest in China through heterosexual sex, a trend demanding new strategies to stave off a rebound in the epidemic after years of progress in containing ...
UN: HIV outbreak peaked in 1996
Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS
Nov 24, 2009 |
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(AP) -- The number of people worldwide infected with the virus that causes AIDS - about 33 million - has remained virtually unchanged for the last two years, United Nations experts said Tuesday.
Many pregnant women avoid HIV screening in Africa
Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS
Nov 19, 2009 |
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'Prevention is the best cure' is a common expression, but what happens if preventative measures are not used? A large proportion of pregnant Ugandan women are going out of their way not to be HIV tested, increasing the risk ...
