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Infectious Disease

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Fever, sore throat, swollen lymph nodes, rashes, muscle aches and night sweats are all symptoms that have been associated with the HIV/AIDS virus (AIDS.gov). These particular symptoms are very common and can be misdiagnosed as something as simple as the flu, or respiratory or gastrointestinal infections. Many who are diagnosed with the virus are not even aware of because the virus can be dormant for up to 10 years before it begins to progress into AIDS.
More than 1.7 million people have been diagnosed with the HIV/AIDS virus since the early 1980’s; before it was given the name (HIV) Human immunodeficiency virus it was known as GRID (Gay- related immune deficiency). Many believed that this virus was only associated with homosexual males, when the virus began to spread and more than just homosexual males were being diagnosed the name was changed to accurately describe the demographic that the disease affected in 1986. Scientist believes that the HIV virus came from chimpanzees in the Western parts of Africa and the virus came into contact with humans when the humans hunted the affected chimpanzees for meat. (What is HIV/AID 2012?) The immune system of a person that has been diagnosed with the HIV virus will slowly deteriorate, making it difficult for the body to defend itself from the virus. The HIV virus will begin attacking the defense cells found in the white blood cells; T- cells or the CD4 cells. These cells are considered the body’s line of defense against any bad viruses. When the HIV virus enters the body the T-cells try to attack it, but instead the HIV virus ends up invading those cells duplicating them, then destroying them.
There is currently no cure for the HIV/AIDS disease, however; in many cases the best and most effective way of treating an HIV patient would be to prescribe them the antiretroviral therapy (ART) medications recommended to treat an

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