AIDS

The origin of AIDS and HIV has puzzled scientists ever sine the illness first came to light in the early 1980’s occurred in the USA. A number of gay men in New York and San Francisco suddenly began to develop rarer opportunistic infections & cancers that seemed stubbornly resistant to any treatment. At this time, AIDS did not yet have a name, but it quickly became obvious that all the men were suffering from a common syndrome. The discovery of HIV, the Human Immunodeficiency virus was known after.
HIV is a lent virus, and like all viruses of this type, it attacks the immune system. Lent viruses are in turn part of a larger group of viruses known as retroviruses. The name ‘lent virus’ literally mean ‘slow virus’ because they take such a long time to produce any adverse effects in the body; They have been found in a numbers of different animals, including Cato, deep horses & cattle. However, the most interring lent virus in terms of the investigation into the origins of HIV is the Simian Immune deficiency Virus (SIV) that affects monkeys. HIV is a descendant of a Simian Immunodeficiency virus because certain strains of SIVs bear a very close resemblance to HIV-1 and HIV-2, the two types of HIV.

In February 1999 a group of researchers (lead by Paul ship of Nottingham University and Beatrice than of the University of Alabama ) discover a type of SIV cpz that was almost identical to HIV-1 they made the discovery during the course of 10 years long study into the origins of the virus. Their final findings were published two years later in Nature Magazine that concluded that wild chimps had been infected simultaneous with two different Simian immunodeficiency viruses which had “Viral sex” to form a third virus that could be paned on to other chips & more significantly, was capable of infecting humans & causing AIDS. 
When a viral transfer between animals and human takes place, it is known as zoon sis and the most common theories about how this ‘ zoon sis’ took place & how SIV became HIV in domains are:- 

1. THE ‘HUNTER’ THEORY:-
   
   In this scenario SIV cpz was transferred to humans as a result of chimps being killed & eaten or their blood getting into cuts or wounds of the hunter. Normally the hunters body would have fought of SIV, but on occasions is/ adapted itself within its new human host & become HIV-1. In a sample of 1099 individuals in Cameroon, they discovered to ten (1%) were infected with SEV (Simian Foamy Virus), an illness which like SIV, was previously only infected primates. Discoveries such as this have lead to calls for an outright ban on bushmeat hunting to prevent simian viruses being passed to humans.
   
   

2. THE ORAL POLIO VACCINE (OPV) THEORY:-
   
   One particularly well publicized idea is that polio vaccines played a role in the transfer. A journalist EDWARD HOOPER in his book. The River, suggested that HIV could be traced to the testing of an oral polis vaccine called Chat, given to about a million people in the Belgian Congo, Rwanda & Urundi in 1950s. The vaccine was subsequently analyzed & in April 2001 it was announced that no trace had been found of either HIV or chimpanzee SIV. A second analysis confirmed that only macaque monkey kidney cells, which cannot be infected with SIV or HIV, were wed to make chat.
   
   

3. THE CONTAMINATED  NEEDLE THEORY:-
   
   This is an extension of the original ‘hunker’ theory. In the 1950s the use of disposable plastic syringes became commonplace around the world as a cheap, stasito way to administer medicines. It is therefore likely that one single syringe would have used to infect multiple patients without any sterilization in between; This would rapidly have transferred any viral particles from one person to another, creating huge potential for the virus to mutate & replicate in each new individual it entered.
   
   

4. THE COLONIALISM THEORY:-
   
   The colonialism or ‘Heart of Darkness’ theory, in one of the more recent theories. It was proposed in 2000 by Lim Moore, an American specialist in primate behavior, who published his findings in the journal AIDS Research & Human Retroviruses.
   During the late 19th & early 20th country, much of Africa was ruled by colonial forces. In areas such as French Equroalional Africa & the Belgian Congo, colonial rule was particularly harsh & many Africans were forced into labor camps where sanitation was poor, food was scare & physical demands were extreme, so SIV could easily have infiltrated the labors force & taken advantage of their weakened immune system to become HIV.
   
   

5. THE CONSPIRACY THEORY:-
   
   Some say that HIV is a ‘conspiracy theory’ or ‘man-mode’. A recent survey carried out in the US for example, identified a significant number of African Americans believe HIV was manufactured as part of a biological was fare programme, designed to wipe out large number of black & homosexual people. Many say this was done under the auspicious of the US federal ‘Special Cances Virus Program’ (SCVP) & some ever believe that the virus was spread to thousands of people all over the world through the small box inoculation programme, or to gay men through Hepatitis B vaccine trials.

WHEN?

Three of the earliest known instances of HIV infection are:-

1. A plasma sample taken in 1959 from an adult male living in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo.

2. HIV found in true samples from an American teenager who died in St. Louis in 1969.

3. HIV found in timer samples from a Norwegian sailor who died around 1976.

A 1998 analysis of the plasma sample from 1959 has suggested that HIV-1 was introduced into humans around the 1940s or the early 1950s. In Jan, 2000 however, the results of a new study by Dr. Bette Korber of the Los Alamos National Laboraliory prerenlod at the Conference on Retroviruses and opportunistic Infections, suggested that the first case of HIV-1 infection occurred around 1980 in West Africa.
HIV-2 is thought to come from the SIV in Sooty Manga boys rather than chimpanzees, through the butchering & consumption of monkey meat. It is for rarer, significantly less infectious & progresses more slowly to AIDS than HIV-1. As a result, it infects far fewer people, & is mainly confined to a few coretries in West Africa.
In May 2003, a group of Belgian researches lead by Dr. Anne-Mieke Vandamme concluded that subtype A has pruned into humans around 1940 & subtype B in 1945. They discovered that the virus had originated in Guinea-Bissau a former Portuguese colony & its spread was most likely precipitated by the independence was that took place in the country between 1963 & 1974.


WHERE?

The questions of exactly where the transfer took place, and where the ‘epidemic’ officially first developed has always been controversial. However, scientists remain keen to fend the true origin of HIV, as most argues it is important to understand the virus & its epidemiology in order to that fight. Given the evidence, it is likely that Africa was indeed the continent where the transfer of HIV to humans first occurred Smokey from Asia & S. America have never been found to have SIVs that could cause HIV in humans. However, who exactly spread the virus from Africa, to America & beyond remains a mystery.
These are a number of factors that may have contributed to the sudden spread of HIV.

TRAVELS:-

Both national & international travel undoubtedly had a major role in the initial spread of HIV. In the US, international travel by young men making the most of the gay sexual revolution of the late 70s & early 80s would certainly have played a large part in taking the virus worldwide. In Africa, the virus would probably have been spread along truck routes & between towns & cities within the continent itself. The process of transmission in a global pandemic is too complex. Hence it is difficult to put the blame on any one group or individual.

THE BLOOD INDUSTRY:-

As blood transfusions became a routine part of medical practice an industry to meet this increased demand for blood began to develop rapidly. In the early stages of the epidemic, doctors were unaware of how easily HIV could be spread & blood donations remained unscreened. This blood was then sent worldwide, & unfortunately most people who received infected donations went on to became HIV positive themselves.
In the late 1960’s hemophiliacs also began to benefit from the blood dotting properties of a product called factor VIII & to produce this coagulant, blood from hundreds of individual donors had to be pooled; meant a single donation of HIV+ blood could contaminate a huge batch of factor VIII. This put thousands of hemophiliacs all over the world at risk of HIV, & many subsequently contracted the virus.

DRUG USE:-

The 1970s saw an increase in the availability of heroin following the Vietnam was & other conflicts in the middle east, which helped stimulate a growth in intravenous drug use. This increase availability & development of disposable plastic syringes provided another route through which the virus could be paned on.

HIV TYPES, GROUPS AND SUBTYPES:-

HIV is a highly variable virus which matures very rapidly. Based on genetic similarities, the numerous virus strains may be classified into types, groups & subtypes. 
There are two types of HIV: HIV-1 & HIV-2. Both types are transmitted by sexual contact, through blood and form mother to child. However, HIV-2 in less easily transmitted & concentrated in West Africa whereas, HIV-1 is worldwide predominant virus. 
The strains of HIV-1 can be classified into three groups: the “major” groups M, the “outlier” O, and the “new” group N.
Group O appeass to be restricted to West-Central Africa and group N-discovered in 1998 in Cameroon in extremely rare. More than 90% of HIV-1 infections belong to HIV-1 group M. Within group M there are atteast nine genetically distinct Subtypes (or clods) of HIV-1 are known. These are Subtypes A, B, C, D, F, G, H, J and K.
Occasionally, two viruses of different subtypes meet in the cell of an infected person & mire together their genetic material to create a new hybrid virus, many of these strains do not survive for long, but those which infect more than one person are known as “Circulating recombinant forms” or CRFs.
The classification of HIV Strains into subtypes and CRFs is a complex issue. One of the CRF’s is called A/F because it is thought to have resulted from hybridization between subtype A and some other “parent” Subtype E.
The HIV-1 subtype and CRFs are very unevenly distributed throughout the world, with the most widespread being subtypes B and C.
Subtype C is largely predominant in southern and eastern Africa, India & Nepal. It has caused the world’s worst HIV epidemics & is responsible for around half of all infection.
Historically, subtype B has been the most common subtype CRF in Europe, the America, Japan and Australia.
Subtype A and CRF A/G predominate in West & Central Africa, with subtype A possibly also causing Russian epidemic.
Subtype D is generally limited to east & central Africa.
A/E is prevalent in south-east Asia, but originated in central Africa.
F has been found in central Africa, South America and eastern 
Europe. 
G & A/C have been brewed in western & eastern Africa & Central 
Europe.

Subtype H found in Central Africa. 
Subtype J only in Central America.
Subtype K only in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon.


Q. What is Aids And How 1st HIV Passed On? 

A Person infected with HIV may look & feal perfectly well for many your & then, as the person’s immune system weakens they become increasingly vulnerable to illnesses. They become ill with one of a number of particularly severe illnesses & it is at this point that they are said to have AIDS. Different countries have slightly different ways of defining the point that a person is said to have AIDS rather than HIV.
Without drug treatment HIV usually progresses to AIDS in an average of ten years. Someone in a resource poor area who might not be adequately nourished may well progress to AIDS & death much more rapidly.

HIV antiretroviral
Medication can prolong the time between HIV infection & the onset of AIDS. New medicines are being developed & these medicines, however, are not available in many poor countries around the world, & millions of people who cannot afford or access medication continue to die.

How one can be infected with HIV:-
Having unprotected sexual intercourse with an infected person:-

Vaginal SEX:-

• HIV is found in the sexual fluids of an infected person, If a man with HIV has vaginal intercourse without a condom, infected fluid can pass into the woman’s blood stream through a tiny cut or sore inside her body.

• If a woman with HIV has sexual intercourse without a condom, HIV could get into the man’s blood through a sore patch on his penis or by getting into the tube that runs down the penis.

• If there is any contact with blood during sex, this increases the risk of infection. For eg blood in the vagina if intercourses occurs during a woman’s period. 

ORAL SEX:-

• If a person sucks on the penis of an infected man, the virus could then get into the blood if one have bleeding gums tiny sores or ulcers somewhere in the mouth. 

• The some is true if infected sexual fluids from a woman get into the mouth of her partners.

• But infection from Ural sex alone seems to be very rare.

ANAL SEX:-

If a couple have Aral intercourses the risk of infection is greater than with glacial intercourse. The lining of the anus is more delicate that the lining of the vagina so its more likely to be damaged during intercourse.

INJECTIVE DRUGS:-

People have been infected through transfusion f infected blood. In those countries where the blood is tasted before transfusion, HIV infection through this route has become extremely rase.

BLOOD PRODUCT:-

Blood products, such as those used by people with Hemophilia, are now heat treated to make them safe.

MOTHER TO CHILD TRANSMISSION:-

An infected pregnant woman can pass the virus on to her unborn abay either befor or during birth. HIV can also be passed on during breastfeeding. 
If woman knows that she is infected with HIV, there are drugs that she can take to greatly reduce the chances of her child becoming infected.

INFECTION IN THE HEALTH CARE SETTING:-

Some health-care workers have become infected with HIV by being stuck with needles containing HIV- infected blood.
However, these have only been a few documented instances of patients becoming infected y a health-care worker.

TATTOOS/ PIERCING :-

If the equipment properly sterilized, having a tattoos done could carry a very small risk. In the UK, there are hygiene regulations governing people who do tattoos & sterile. 

SNEEZING, COUGHING, SHARING GLASSES/CUPS, TOILET, CLOTHS etc :-

HIV in unable to reproduce outside its host. HIV does not survive well in the open air thus cannot be transmitted through spitting, sneezing, sharing, glances or musical instruments. One also can’t be infected in swimming pools, showers or y sharing washing machines or toilet seats.

INSECTS :-

Studies conducted y many researchers have shown no HIV evidence of HIV transmission through insects. Also, HIV only lives for a short time & does not reproduce in an insects. So even if the virus enters a mosquito or another sucking or biting insect, the insects. does not become infected & therefore cannot transmit HIV to the next human it feeds on bites.

INJECTING WITH STERILE NEEDLES:-

Drug used with sterile equipments / instruments compassing needle, syringe, spoon & filters.

HIV MYTHS

Around the world, there are a numbers of different myths about HIV and AIDS. “HIV is found in saliva”, but in quantities too small to infect someone. There has been only one recorded case of HIV transmission via kissing out of all the many million of recorded cases. In this case, both partners had extremely badly blooding gums. totally untrue. This myth has resulted in many Capes of young girls & children by HIV+ men, who often infect heir victims & is a serious crime all around the world. “It only happens to gay men / black people / young people, etc. This constitute some other popular myths “HIV can pass through latex”- this is not true. If an unbroken latex condom is used, there in no risk of HIV transmission.

HIV TESTING

There are three main types of HIV test. The first type of test is the HIV antibody test. This test shows whether a person have been infected with HIV, the virus which cause AIDS.
The second type of test is P24 antigen testing. This is primarily used to screen the blood supply but in some places it is used for testing for HIV in individuals. P24 antigen is a protein that is part of the HIV. The P24 test can detect HIV infection before the HIV antibody test can. Therefore P24 antigen testing is used in detecting HIV early in the course of infection. 
The looks for antibodies in a person’s blood, when the HIV enters a person’s body, special chemicals are produced. These are called antibodies. Anybodies are the body’s response to an infection. So if a person has antibodies to HIV in their blood, it means they have been infected with HIV. 
For most people it takes months for these antibodies to develop. In rare case, It can take up to 6 months.
The time between infection & the development of antibodies is called the window period. In the window period people infected with HIV have no antibodies in their blood that can be detected by an HIV test. HIV can be passed on to another person during the window period.
The only way to know for sure whether one is infected with HIV is to have an HIV antibody test, It is not possible to identify from any symptoms.
It is recommended that one should get the HIV test done at a health clinic, or at a specialist HIV/AIDS voluntary counseling and testing site
(VCTC)
Initial test for HIV to detect all types, groups & subtypes are usually conducted using the ELISA Antibody test or a rapid antibody test.

IS THERE A CURE

There is antiretroviral medication which slows the progress from HIV to AIDS and which can keep some people healthy for many years. But they have to take powerful medication every day for their entire life, sometimes with very unpleasant side- effects.
But there is still no way to cure HIV, & at the moment the only always to remain safe is safe sex. Safe sex refers to sexual activities which does not allows any blood or sexual fluid to pass from one person another person’s body.
In many parts of the world, particularly the USA, people are taught that the best from of safe sex is no sex-also called ‘Sexual abstinence.’

Migrants of economic

Product sections of the population is a common phenomena all over India. It is the situations encountered and the behaviors possibly engaged in during mobility that increase vulnerability & risk regarding HIV/AIDS. Most of the migrant workers ate highly mobile & often live in unhygienic conditions in urban slums. Long working hours, long isolation from the family & geographical mobility may forester casual sexual relationships & make then highly vulnerable to STDs & HIV/AIDS.
Mumbai has the country’s largest brothel based sex industry, with over 15,000 sex workers it is estimated that in the region of 70% of the sex workers in Mumbai are HIV- positive. A study in Surat found that HIV prevalence among sex workers had increased from 17% in 1992 to 43% in 2003.
A positive outcome of a prevention program amongst sex workers can be found in Sonagachi, in central Kolkatta. The education program initially targeted about 5,000 female sex workers including education, condom promotion when the project was launched in 1992, 27% of sex workers reported condom use. BY 1995, this had risen to 82% in 2001 it was 86%.
HIV infections among Injecting Drug Users (IDUs) fret appeared in Manipur. In City, the level of HIV infection increased from 61% in 1994 to 85% in 1997 and in 1998 it was 80.7%. Injecting drug use is also a major problem in urban areas such as Mumbai, Kolkatta, Delhi & Chennai.
India has one of the largest road networks in the world & an estimated 2 to 5 million long distance truck drivers & helpers. The extended period of time that t hey spend away from their families place them enclose proximity to “high-risk” sexual networks, & often results in having an increased number of sexual contacts. As a result, truck drivers are crucial in spreading STDs and HIV infection throughout the country. A study conducted in 1999 showed that 87% tuck drivers had casual sex-without condoms.

STIGMA & DISCRIMINATION IN INDIA :-

In India , as elsewhere, AIDS is perceived as a disease of “others” or people living the margins of society, whose lifestyles are considered ‘perverted’ ‘&’ sinful, discrimination, stigmatization & denial are the outcomes of such values. Right education can alone get rid of such a relation.
The heath care sector has generally been the most conspicuous context for HIV/AIDS related discrimination, stigma & denial. Negative attitudes form health care staff have generated anxiety & fear among many people living with HIV & AIDS. 
Other examples f discrimination, are children of HIV- positive parents, whether positive or negative themselves, being denied the right to go to school or being separated from other children. People in marginalized groups (female sex workers, hijras,transgender ad) & a gay men’ are often stigmatized on the grounds of not only of their HIV status but also being members of socially excluded groups. 
Such kind of stigmas, often affects major prevention efforts.