HISTORY OF HIV/AIDS 1

History of HIV/Aids

Demontae Crumes

CPH 201-001

HISTORY OF HIV/AIDS 2
HISTORY OF HIV/AIDS 2

Overview of what is HIV/Aids

HIV/Aids is an incurable disease caused by a virus known as HIV. HIV viruses usually

damage, .your body's immune system. It usually kills body CD4 cells. T cells are the body

immune cell, and when killed, it means a victim is immune deficient. Over time, due to the

presence of a weak immune system, HIV patients have a high chance of getting infected with

other diseases such as cancer ("Origin of HIV & AIDS," 2021). HIV is transmitted from an

infected person to another through bodily fluids such as contact with infected blood, breast milk,

semen, and rectal and vaginal fluids. Sex is the major medium of transmitting the deadly virus.

Kissing has lower chances of transmitting, and also pregnant mothers may pass the virus to an

infant during birth. It's important to note that HIV cannot be transmitted in water, casual contact,

or air.

HIV in the United States and its origin

Scientists brought claims that HIV was present in the United States in the early 1980s,

but this is the period become aware of the virus's existence. In the 1980s, HIV was recognized as

a new health condition ("Origin of HIV & AIDS," 2021). By early 1981 several cases were

reported in the USA, and gay men from New York being amongst the diagnosed victims of HIV.

By the time HIV has resulted in many citizens in the USA suffering from infectious diseases

such as PCP, a lung infection, and Kaposi's sarcoma, a very is a type of cancer. Since its

discovery in the early 1980s in the USA, HIV becomes a scientific research interest. Scientists

come up with wealthy evidence on the origin of the deadly virus. They determined its source,

when it happened and how it was able to spread to humans. In 1999 scientists in their field of

research discovered SIV strains present in a chimpanzee which was similar to the HIV infecting

humans ("Origin of HIV & AIDS," 2021). Researchers proved that HIV originated from
HISTORY OF HIV/AIDS 3

chimpanzees. HIV-2 spread to a human through their hunting activities some relied on sooty

mangabey for food in Africa. In the process of hunting, they got in contact with the contaminated

blood from the sooty mangabey.

HIV progress in three stages: acute stage, chronic stage, and AIDS stage 3. After its

discovery in the USA, many were encouraged to partake in a clinical test of the virus; knowing

your HIV status in its early stage is important ("Origin of HIV & AIDS," 2021). At the early

stages of the virus, the doctor can prescribe appropriate measures, and in most cases, ARVs are

issued to the patient. Counseling and taking precautions are some of the prevention measures we

can curb the spread of HIV in the USA and globally.

Measures have been put in place by public health to ensure that HIV/Aids patients are

treated equally and with care. Health workers and counselors assist with referrals to find out

those patients who are not treated with effective care. In conjunction with non-governmental

agencies comes the federal ministry of health up with condom distribution strategies to people

("Origin of HIV & AIDS," 2021). Everyone is encouraged whenever they prefer engaging in

sexual intercourse, taking precautions, and using free government condoms not only prevent the

HIV from spreading but also prevent infections from STI's and reducing the number of unwanted

pregnancies.

Most patients who have been diagnosed with HIV/Aids have been stigmatized. Others

have ended up with depression because of how society sees them. It has led to public health

encouraging the patients who are infected to go for therapy. It has reduced suicidal cases. In the

1990s, HIV was the number one disease-causing death in America. Many death cases reported

were young youth between the ages 25-44 ("Origin of HIV & AIDS," 2021). AZT was the only

single treatment drug, but overtime HIV mutated, and the drug was no longer effective. FDA
HISTORY OF HIV/AIDS 4

approved the use of Saquinavir, an antiretroviral drug, in the year 1995. Since then, different

companies have been manufacturing different ARVs. In 2007 FDA approved another integrase

inhibitor, the raltegravir Isentress a special type of drug. In the recent decade, millions of HIV-

positive victims can control and boost their immune systems with just a single pill, thanks to the

scientist for their wonderful job.

HIV Prevalence and incidence in the United States

Scientists use two main methods to estimate HIV prevalence in the United States. The

first technique involves raw data gathering from serosurvey conducted to different groups and

races from distinct geographical locations (Oster et al., 2018). All data is combined analyzed,

and the most vulnerable population is estimated. The second method is the 'back calculation,' a

mathematical model. In order to estimate the population, vulnerable past HIV data is

incorporated and compared with the incubation period of HIV. Medical professionals have

estimated estimate of 1.2 million individuals is currently living with HIV. Approximately 14%

are infected but not yet diagnosed. HIV has been mainly determined to a specific population,

especially the ethnic and racial minorities such as bisexual individuals and gays (Oster et al.,

2018). In 2019 an estimate of about 36,400 was newly reported to be infected with the virus. By

2018 only 37,968 American citizens received HIV testing and diagnosis, a 7% decrease from

2015. Despite the HIV diagnosis facilities being evenly distributed, the south continues to

register higher HIV patients every year.

Mortality rate

In 2019 America registered about 15,820 death case, all from people living with HIV and

the most significant percentage being the adult and adolescents (Oster et al., 2018). Only six

dependent areas were registered to host the most important number of patients living with HIV
HISTORY OF HIV/AIDS 5

and origin of high mortality rates. The cause of death may be from various factors, not

necessarily from HIV. Due to weakened immune systems, HIV patients may contact diseases

such as cancer and malaria, which may cause their death.

HIV Incidence

In comparison with 2015, HIV incidence is somehow relatively stable. 36,400 is the

estimated number of individuals living with HIV by 2019, the rate per 100,000 people was low

and estimated to be 13.3%.

By age group: in comparison with 2015, the number of patients with HIV reduced in 2019. A

drastic reduction was registered in the specific age group 13-24 years. But the rate was still high

for other age groups (Hall et al., 2018). In 2019 rate of transmission of the virus by an age group

of 25-34 was high with a 31.5% occurrence rate which was followed closely by an individual

under the age bracket 35-44 years with a moderate occurrence rate of about 16.9%

By ethnicity and race: A decrement of HIV contacting was registered amongst people across

multiple races, but the rate remained the same for other ethnicities groups and races. In 2019

Black-Americans reported the highest percentage, 45.4%, Latinos and Hispanics 22.4%, and

individual rate from multiple races was stable at 19.3% (Hall et al., 2018).

By gender: the number of HIV patients was stable from previous years, both the gender

remained stable while registering a slight change in 2019 (Hall et al., 2018). The rate of males

transmitting HIV was 22.1% and females 4.8%, which shows that males are at a higher chance of

contracting the virus.

HIV transmission category: transmission categorizes registered a stable number in 2019

compared to the number recorded by these categories in 2015 (Hall et al., 2018). In 2019 male to
HISTORY OF HIV/AIDS 6

male sexual contact was attributed to being the leading cause of high HIV transmission rates,

which was 675 overall and 82% amongst the male gender.

Figure A1: HIV transmission rates based on subgroups.

Mortality rate based on Social groups

Black-Americans and Latinos who reside in the States are the most HIV vulnerable group

compared to whites with a low HIV transmission rate. These races have subgroups with different

health implications from being HIV victims (Ragonnet et al., 2019). The quality of health

complications and mortality rates among these groups are high. The mortality rate caused by

HIV infection per 100,000 people was relatively high in these two races. The male gender has

the highest mortality rate, 45.6%, while the female gender has a low mortality rate of 12.0%.

Based on age-adjusted HIV-related deaths, the Puerto Ricans hold the highest mortality rate,
HISTORY OF HIV/AIDS 7

29.9%, and the Mexicans hold the lowest mortality rate of about 16.9%. For longer life-

expectancy to all individuals living with HIV regardless of their age, race, and ethnic differences,

the government should establish better treatment and medical programs in the USA.
HISTORY OF HIV/AIDS 8

References

Origin of HIV & AIDS. Avert. (2021). Retrieved 5 March 2021, from

https://www.avert.org/professionals/history-hiv-aids/origin#footnote17_qlro9fd.

HIV and AIDS: Causes, Symptoms, Treatments, and More. Healthline. (2021). Retrieved 5

March 2021, from https://www.healthline.com/health/hiv-aids#hiv-and-aids.

History of HIV/AIDS | CANFAR. CANFAR. (2021). Retrieved 5 March 2021, from

https://canfar.com/awareness/about-hiv-aids/history-of-hiv-aids/.

Oster, A. M., Johnson, C. H., Le, B. C., Balaji, A. B., Finlayson, T. J., Lansky, A., ... & Paz-

Bailey, G. (2018). Trends in HIV prevalence and HIV testing among young MSM: five

United States cities, 1994–2011. AIDS and Behavior, 18(3), 237-247.

Hall, H. I., Green, T. A., Wolitski, R. J., Holtgrave, D. R., Rhodes, P., Lehman, J. S., ... &

Mermin, J. H. (2018). Estimated future HIV prevalence, incidence, and potential

infections averted in the United States: a multiple scenario analysis. JAIDS Journal of

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, 55(2), 271-276.

Ragonnet-Cronin, M., Hu, Y. W., Morris, S. R., Sheng, Z., Poortinga, K., & Wertheim, J. O.

(2019). HIV transmission networks among transgender women in Los Angeles County,

CA, USA: a phylogenetic analysis of surveillance data. The Lancet HIV, 6(3), e164-e172.