AIDS stands for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. As witnessed in the History of HIV it is a syndrome and not a disease . AIDS is caused by HIV which means Human Immunodeficiency Virus. HIV attacks the CD4 lymphocytes- a type of white blood cells and breaks it down to weaken the immune system of the person. Because of the weakened immunity the person becomes open to infections and diseases.
The History of HIV started in Central Africa. In Congo a man called Kinshasha who died in 1959 is thought to be the first man infected with the virus. The man probably died because of a viral infection and his blood test also confirmed that he had been infected with HIV. Many experts believe that the disease was caused by SIV(Simian Immunodeficiency Virus) found in monkeys and chimpanzees. The virus was transfered into the human after intake of the monkey’s meat. Thus HIV is probably a mutation of the African monkey virus.
After it reached the coast of United State the History of HIV turned a new page. By the 1981 in the month of March a rare and non-deadly form of cancer called Kaposi’s sarcoma which usually occurred in older population began to be detected among the gay men in New York in a more aggressive form. Around the same time there were also a number of cases of a rare lung infection Pneumocystis Carinii Pneumonia (PCP) in New York and California. In June, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta published a report about these occurrences. The beginning of the knowledge of AIDS in United States is attributed to this report.
The History of HIV in America and Europe witnessed two cultural changes which contributed to the rapid growth of the infection. These movements were the sexual liberation movement and the increase in recreational and addictive use of drugs. Multiple sexual partners and injection drug use (IDU) with shared needles were the two main agents for the spread of HIV.
By this time public health care officials began to recognize that HIV was going to bring about an epidemic which would affect people of all races, life-style and age.
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