Introduction to HIV / AIDS

Worldwide, there were about 1.5 million new cases of HIV in 2020. About 37.7 million people were living with HIV around the world in 2020. An estimated 680,000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses in 2020. An estimated 36.3 million people have died from AIDS-related illnesses since the start of the epidemic. ( CDC 2022 )

Immunity and the Immune System

Immunity is the body’s ability to resist disease or infection. When the body is healthy it quickly propels an immune response and prevents the infection or disease. This is achieved either naturally or artificially.

Passive immunity is beneficial for a brief period, as when, a mother passes her antibodies to her baby through the placenta and breastmilk, or when a person suspects exposure to tetanus and an injection is administered. This immunity is immediate and is passive, no memory cells are produced. Active immunity requires a healthy immune system and time to create antibodies within the system while, passive does not require a healthy system and activates itself from the start.

NATURAL IMMUNITY is what healthy individuals are born with, unbroken skin, white blood cells, proteins, tissues, and digestive enzymes. Natural immunity is inherited as are other characteristics in a person’s genes.

ACQUIRED IMMUNITY either natural of artificial or developed after birth and may be active or passive. Acquired Immunity matures during a lifetime as the body encounters various pathogens. For instance, when a person contracts a disease such as chicken pox, antibodies and memory cells are created to protect the body from future attacks of this specific disease.

ARTIFICIAL IMMUNITY is acquired via an injection of weakened (attenuated) or dead antigens, resulting in the production of antibodies and memory cells.

All are examples of active immunity. Active immunity is long term immunity.

Definition & Brief History

Acquired Immune Deficiency/ AIDS is a disorder of the immune system rendering it unable to defend the body, it is the late clinical stage of Human Immunodeficiency Virus /HIV. There are two types of HIV, HIV-1 and HIV-2. In the United States, unless otherwise noted, the term “HIV” primarily refers to HIV-1. HIV affects and invades specific white blood cells called CD4 cells or T cells. Their mission is to destroy so many of the cells that the body can no longer fight off disease and infection.

Though HIV is the precursor to AIDS, it was AIDS that was first reported in the United States in June 1981. Due to the segment of the population that was affected by the, then mysterious disease, AIDS was first introduced as GRIDS – Gay Related Immune Deficiency. In September 1982, the CDC used the term AIDS to describe the disease, and rightfully so, as the faces of those infected changed from gay men to all segments of the population. In December of the same year, the CDC reported an infant had contracted AIDS through blood transfusions and a week after that announcement, twenty-two cases of immunodeficiency and opportunistic infections were reported in infants.

The CDC reported cases of AIDS in female partners of males with AIDS in January 1983. In the same year, a committee of international scientist discovered the virus that caused AIDS. They named it HTLV-III/LAV (human T-cell lymphotropic virus-type III/lymphadenopathy – associate virus), in 1986 it was renamed HIV.

According to the CDC, 37,832 individuals in the U.S. received a HIV diagnosis in 2019. This shows an 8% decrease from 2010 to 2016. The most recent (2019) data available shows an estimated 1.2 million people in the United States are living with HIV and estimates 13% are unaware of their infection.

Scientists have identified a chimpanzee in West Africa as the source of HIV infection in humans. Scientists believe that the chimpanzee version of the immunodeficiency virus (simian immunodeficiency virus/SIV) was likely transmitted to humans because humans hunted these chimpanzees for their meat and hence came in contact with their infected blood. The virus mutated into what we now know as HIV. Over decades it is believed the virus slowly spread across Africa and later traveled into other parts of the world.

Introduction to HIV / AIDS

4 HOUR CONTINUING EDUCATION