Description of HIV
H - Human - because this virus can only infect human beings.
I - Immuno-deficiency because the virus creates a deficiency, within the body's immune system.
V - Virus
Description of AIDS
A - Acquired A condition one acquires or gets infected with, it is not transmitted genetically
I - Immune It affects the body's immune system
D - Deficiency It causes immune system deficient
S - Syndrome Someone with AIDS may experience a wide range of different diseases and opportunistic infections
Summary
HIV damages the immune system. Over time, the immune system becomes very weak. This stage of HIV is called AIDS. In other words, it can be said that AIDS is the late stage of infection which can take around 7-10 years to develop after patient becomes HIV positive.
No one knows for sure when a person with HIV will get AIDS. It is quiet possible that many people infected with HIV may stay healthy for years.
Origination of HIV
The most recent presentation on the origin of HIV was presented at the 6th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunitistic Infections (Chicago, January 1999). At that conference, research was presented that suggested that HIV had "crossed over" into the human population from a particular species of chimpanzee, probably through blood contact that occurred during hunting and field dressing of the animals. The CDC states that the findings presented at this conference provide the strongest evidence to date that HIV-1 originated in non-human primates. The research findings were featured in the February 4,1999 issue of the journal, Nature.
We know that the virus has existed in the United States, Haiti and Africa since at least 1977-1978. In 1979, doctors in Los Angeles and New York were reporting rare types of pneumonia, cancer and other illnesses. The common thread was that these conditions were not usually found in persons with healthy immune systems.
In 1982 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officially named the condition AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). In 1984 the virus responsible for weakening the immune system was identified as HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus)
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