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HIV/AIDS

PATHOPHYSIOLOGY By: Tina Green

HIV/AIDS

Hook & Thesis statement

What is AIDS?

I. How is it contracted?

A. Where did AIDS come from

B. Who is at risk of infection?

II. Transfer of the virus A. Is anyone safe from the virus? B. Is there a cure? III. Statistics A. How many people living with HIV? B. How many people living with AIDS? IV. Conclusion A. Medication B. Prevention

What exactly is HIV? HIV is an abbreviation for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. This virus can lead to AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome). According to Aids.gov, more than 1.1 million people in the United States are living with HIV infection, and almost 1 in 6 (15.8%) an unaware of their infection. HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is an infectious virus that destroys the Immune system and makes it harder to fight off infections. Where did HIV come from? The aidsinstitute.org states, “Scientists identified a chimpanzee in West Africa as the source of HIV infection in humans. The chimpanzee version of the immunodeficiency virus (called simian immunodeficiency virus or SIV) was most likely transmitted to humans and mutated into HIV when humans hunted these chimpanzees for meat and came into contact with their infected blood. Over decades, the virus slowly spread across Africa and later into other parts of the world. The earliest known case of infection with HIV-1 in a human was detected in a blood sample collected in 1959 from a man in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (How he became infected is not known).” How does one catch HIV? HIV cannot be spread by casual contact such as hugging or shaking hands. HIV is contracted by having sexual intercourse with someone who has the

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