The human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, infects approximately 50,000 U.S. citizens per year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 1 million Americans are living with HIV, many of whom are unaware they are infected. HIV is a virus that attacks the white blood cells responsible for staving off disease and illnesses. It can take many years for HIV to destroy enough white blood cells to cause harm in the host. Once enough of the immune system is damaged, the host is considered to be in the final stages of HIV, also referred to as AIDS.
Origins
Scientists believe that HIV originated in a particular species of chimpanzee in Africa. They believe that the humans who hunted this chimpanzee for meat were HIV once they ate the animal. It was several years before the disease slowly spread across the population of Africa through human blood and then other parts of the world.
HIV in the U.S.
HIV was first discovered in the United States around 1981 when a significant portion of the male homosexual population became infected. At first, doctors believed these men were dying from a rare form of cancer. It took several years for scientists to even develop a test for HIV and understand how humans were passing it to one another. Once it was discovered that HIV is passed through bodily fluids, such as blood and semen, the U.S. government launched a national campaign warning of the dangers of HIV and avoid contracting it.
Number of infected
The number of people infected with HIV each year was highest in the 1980s, with an estimate that 130,000 people carried the virus. Those numbers dropped significantly in the early 1990s, to about 50,000. After a slight increase in HIV infections in the late 1990s, the number of infected people leveled off to about 55,000 people in 2000. The CDC estimates that in 2006, 56,300 were infected with HIV.
Blood donation
Other than sharing blood and semen with an HIV-infected person, a significant number of people contracted the disease through blood infusions. Hospitals unknowingly accepted blood donations from infected persons and then used that blood on patients. Since 1985, all blood donated in the U.S. is tested for HIV. Three major ways a person can contract HIV is by having sex (anal, vaginal and oral), sharing needles or syringes, and being exposed to HIV before birth while in the womb.
HIV symptoms
There are no symptoms for HIV. The only way a person can find out if they are infected with HIV is to get tested. Many people report feeling healthy for years even though they are infected. However, once the immune system has been broken down to a point of no repair, it is often too late to receive treatment. Contracting HIV can be fatal once the virus turns into AIDS, and currently there is no cure for HIV or AIDS. New technology in drug treatments have allowed many HIV-infected people to live longer without the disease ever turning into AIDS.
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