HIV:AIDS

At the present time, HIV/AIDS has become more serious over the decades, and people these
days take a crucial look at this deadly epidemic. Before I begin to explain about it, you need to
be aware of this dangerous virus first. HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a virus that
destroys your body’s immune system, and it can lead to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency
syndrome) if you do not receive appropriate treatment. There is no cure that works right now,
and HIV/AIDS is a major problem for scientist as there were several of death cases have been
reported but no heal has been found.
Where did it come from?
The most unbelievable information about HIV was about its history. This deadly virus was first
called GRID, which means gay-related immune deficiency. In 1981, an unknown illness that
affected five young, previously healthy gay men was reported in a hospital in New York City,
but it soon changed to AIDS as the cases have been documented are not associated with
homosexuality (HIV.gov). People at that time did not know much about this epidemic and there
were a wide range of negative feelings towards AIDS as the mortality rate all over the world rose
rapidly.
Which scientist devotes their whole life to exploring the HIV/AIDS epidemic?
The father of HIV/AIDS was Robert Gallo, who is known as the co-discoverer of this epidemic.
His most notable contribution was to the development of HIV as the virus causing acquired
immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) (Wikipedia). Back in time, when Robert Gallo and Luc
Montagnier fought a long battle to be recognized for discovering HIV and the blood tests that
followed – have buried their past differences and decided to collaborate on developing an HIV
vaccine (i -base, 10 April 2002). Unfortunately, they passed away before completely inventing a
vaccine against HIV/AIDS, but both of them are still a great example for everyone to follow.
Causes
HIV/AIDS is caused by a virus that can spread from person to person through sexual contact,
sharing needles, mother to child during pregnancy, etc. By having sex, mouth sores or small tears
that sometimes develop in the rectum or vagina throughout sexual activity can easily become
infected if either of you gets HIV/AIDS. Using the same needle with other people also puts you
at high risk of having HIV and other contagious diseases, such as hepatitis. Infected birth
mothers can spread the virus to their babies via breastfeeding or during pregnancy. Female
parents who are HIV-positive still have a possibility of lower the risk to their babies by getting
suitable treatment for the infection in the time of pregnancy. Nevertheless, even though people
know that the HIV/AIDS virus cannot be spread by hugging, kissing, shaking hands, or other
physical contact with someone who has the infection, they still keep a certain distance from
HIV/AIDS-positive people. According to the Mayo Clinic
Consequences
Untreated HIV/AIDS can result in considerable weight loss, which is frequently accompanied by
diarrhea, chronic fatigue, and fever. As HIV slowly weakens the body’s natural defenses, there
will be several signs and symptoms in your body, for instance, night sweats, headaches, joint
pain, a sore throat, etc. Effects of HIV on the body can be a nightmare for HIV-positive as it has
negative impact all over their body or even affect the internal organs if it got worse. (Mayo
clinic)
National perspective
According to the study HIV/AIDS Policy in Vietnam by Public Health Watch: A Civil Society
Perspective, research shows that HIV/AIDS is spreading outside of these high-risk categories
through drug users' intimate partners and sex workers' customers. HIV/AIDS's first case was
registered in 1990 and swiftly spread to more than a quarter-million people in the whole country.
During 2005, sexual transmission was responsible for more than 70% of new HIV infections.
Regardless of how rapidly HIV infection is rising these days and age, Vietnam’s current reaction
to this lethal epidemic does not adequately address the huge surge in sexual transmission. (Open
Society Foundation, November 2007)
Global perspective
Approximately 38.4 million people from all around the world were infected with HIV in 2020, of
which 36.7 million were adults and the rest were children under 15 years old. In addition, more
than half of the cases have been reported were female gender. Fortunately, there is a glimmer of
hope for the world because the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) of the
United States is the greatest commitment ever made by a country to combat a single disease, and
hopefully we can win this century’s major illness. (HIV.gov)
Key solution
There is no known cure that has worked recently, and the only way to avoid it is to reduce the
risk of acquiring or transmitting HIV through each person's awareness and self-protection.
However, there are many medications that are capable of controlling HIV and helping those with
the infection live a longer life. These treatments are known as antiretroviral therapy (ART), but
they only work if you know you are infected with the virus as soon as possible. HIV can be
diagnosed through blood or saliva testing and available test that you can use are:
Antigen/Antibody tests or Nucleic acid tests (NATs), and yet you should speak to your doctor
about which HIV test is the best for you. If any of these tests come out negative, you may need to
repeat them weeks or months later to verify the results. (Mayo Clinic)
evaluation of sources
The Mayo Clinic is one of my favorite sources since it is frequently ranked among the nation's
best medical providers and the world's leading institutions of medicine and science. The Mayo
Clinic's experts also solve the world's most difficult medical issues—one patient at a time so
everyone can rely on this source. HIV.gov is also a popular source for HIV researchers like me,
but if you've never heard of HIV.gov, it is the federal government's leading source for
information about HIV, and other common sources like Wikipedia are used by people around the
world and everyone knows about it, so it is obviously the source that you can trust.
Reflection
Living with HIV is not an easy thing for humans to deal with, and anyone who is infected can
accelerate the likelihood of stress, anxiety, or other impacts on their mental health. HIV/AIDS
always leads to other health problems, but the most common one is mental or emotional health.
A lot of people cannot afford the drugs and hospital bills because those are incredibly expensive,
so most of them decided to end their lives before the HIV/AIDS virus could destroy their bodies.
According to certain studies, HIV patients who have an optimistic view about their life or health
can live a longer life than any other HIV-positive.

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At the present time, HIV/AIDS has become more serious over the decades, and people these

Where did it come from?

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