HIV Basics
HIV Statistics
HIV Timeline
HIV Basics
Description
AIDS is an acronym for acquired immune deficiency syndrome, a disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This virus attacks the immune system, the body's line of defense against disease and infections. When the immune system breaks down, one become susceptible to serious, often deadly infections and cancers called opportunistic infections, so named because they take advantage of the body's weakened defenses.Symptoms
Soon after infection, some people develop short-term flu-like symptoms. But infected people usually show no other symptoms until the disease progresses. Patients with advancing disease can develop swollen lymph nodes, weight loss, fatigue, diarrhea, anemia and thrush, as well as various opportunistic infections, such as Pneumocystis pneumonia.Risk Factors
HIV is spread by sexual contact with an infected person, by needle-sharing among injection drug users or through transfusions with infected blood. HIV-infected women can transmit the virus to their newborns before or during birth, or through breast-feeding after birth. Health-care workers can become infected with HIV after being stuck with HIV-tainted needles.Prevention
People can protect themselves by not engaging in unprotected sex with those who have HIV or whose HIV status is unknown. The gold standard in sexual protection is the male latex condom. When used correctly and consistently, male condoms are 98 to 100 percent effective against infection, studies show. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the female condom also offers some protection against HIV and may be used when a male condom cannot be used appropriately. Protection is also important during oral sex, either with a male condom or dental dam, which covers the vagina. People who use injection drugs should use a clean needle each time they inject drugs. Anti-HIV therapy for pregnant women infected with the virus can reduce the risk of mother-to-infant transmission substantially.Treatment
Thanks in large part to powerful combination therapies that include protease inhibitors, U.S. deaths from the disease have been declining. But the drugs don't work for everybody and they can have serious side effects. Protease inhibitors, such as indinavir and nelfinavir, block an enzyme called protease, resulting in the production of non-infectious viral particles. Two other classes of anti-HIV drugs are nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, such as AZT and ddC, and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptease inhibitors, such as nevirapine and delavirdine. Drugs from different classes are commonly combined.
HIV Statistics
• African Americans living in San Francisco have the highest* prevalence rate of HIV at 4.7% followed by whites at 3.7% Latinos 2.4% Native Americans at 2.0% followed by Asian Pacific Islanders at 3%.
• For African American men who have sex with men HIV prevalence is estimated at 55% overall (SFDPH 2001a). Among anonymous testers, prevalence was 9.7% (SFDPHb). Another study found a 29% prevalence (Catina et al 2001). Collectively, this data suggests that African Americans have the highest prevalence of any MSM population.
• The HIV/AIDS infection rate among Black men is 6 times that of white men and the rate among Black women is 16 times that of white women
• The number of men with AIDS per 100,000 population includes:
Blacks - 125
Hispanics - 58
Whites - 18
American Indian/Alaska native - 16
Asian/Pacific Islander - 9• The number of women with AIDS per 100,000 population includes:
Blacks -50
Hispanics -17
American Indian/Alaska native - 4
Whites - 2
Asian/Pacific Islander - 1• AIDS now accounts for 1 in 3 deaths among Black men aged 25 to 4
• More children with AIDS are Black than all other race and ethnic groups combined
• Every day in the U.S. about 100 people of color become infected with HIV
• More than two-thirds of all women in the U.S. who are infected with the AIDS virus are Black
• Blacks represent 57% of all new AIDS cases in the United States, though comprising only 13% of the population
• AIDS is the leading cause of death of Blacks, age 25-44
• AIDS is the leading cause of death for Black women
* HIV incidence: Refers to new infections, Incidence can be expressed as the number of new infections in a year, or as the percentage of uninfected individuals who will become infected in a year* HIV prevalence: Refers to people living with HIV, including people living with AIDS at any given point in time. Prevalence can be expressed as the number of HIV-positive people, but is more often expressed as the percentage of people who are HIV-positive within a given population.
HIV Timeline
1981
Outbreaks of two rare illnesses are reported among young homosexual men in the U.S. The disorders, a respiratory infection called pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and a cancer, Kaposi's sarcoma, usually infect older men.1981-1983
Scientists and researchers start to recognize the emergence of a new disease that is destroying the body's immune system, preventing sufferers from fighting simple infections. The illness is also found to affect intravenous drug users and blood transfusion recipients.1983
Researchers isolate a virus that is linked to the disease.1984
The human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, is identified as the cause of the disease. Scientific papers suggesting that AIDS is spread through blood are published in The Lancet and The New England Journal of Medicine.1985
First World AIDS Conference in held in Atlanta. Blood screening for HIV is introduced in North American and European countries.1986
United Nations establishes a joint program on AIDS.1987
Zidovudine (AZT), the first treatment for HIV, is launched.1988
December 1st is designated World AIDS Day.1992
Experts at the World AIDS Conference in Amsterdam warn that women, the fastest-growing group of AIDS cases worldwide, are being overlooked in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the disease.1993
World Health Organization says 14 million people are infected with HIV and estimate that there are more than 2.5 million AIDS cases worldwide.1996
Triple-drug cocktails including protease inhibitors that block the replication of HIV in the body are revealed at the 11th World AIDS Conference in Vancouver, Canada.1997
Indinavir and saquinavir, two protease inhibitors, are launched. Patients start to show first serious side effects and resistance to the latest drug treatments.1998
U.S. doctors volunteer to act as guinea pigs to try out an experimental AIDS vaccine.
Scientists image the crystalline structure of the gp120 protein that HIV uses to break into the immune-system cells it attacks.United Nations AIDS prevention agency, UNAIDS, releases latest figures showing rates of infection are stabilizing or falling in rich nations and parts of Latin America due to new treatments. But the killer disease is spreading at an alarming rate in the developing world. Figures show 11.7 million people have died since the start of the epidemic and over 30 million people are infected with HIV.
First large-scale test for AIDS vaccine begins in the United States. 12th World AIDS Conference in Geneva.
1999
UNAIDS reports the global AIDS death toll reached a record high of 2.6 million this year. The agency also says for the first time women infected with HIV outnumber men in sub-Saharan Africa - still the disease's epicenter.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report the sharp decline in U.S. AIDS deaths that began two years ago has been cut in half, suggesting the drug "cocktails" may have lost some of their punch.
The Food and Drug Administration approves a new protease inhibitor, amprenavir, the fifth drug of its kind on the market.
2000
World AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa. South African President Thabo Mbeki angers many by seemingly giving credence to the theory that HIV does not cause AIDS.
The United Nations reports that AIDS has killed 19 million people worldwide since the beginning of the epidemic. Another 34 million are living with HIV or AIDS. Experts warn the worst is yet to come: the disease is expected to wipe out half the teen-agers in some African nations.2001
The World Marks 20 years of AIDS.