No disease has received so much press and inspired so much concern among.
doctors and the public alike in recent years as the acquired immunodeficiency.
syndrome (AIDS). The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome was unknown to.
medical investigators until 1980 (Zinner M.D. 115). The human immunodeficiency.
virus (HIV) is the virus that causes the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.
(AIDS). The first reports of people dying from AIDS emerged in the early 1980's,.
and the understanding that HIV was the cause of this syndrome came soon after.
Recently tissue and blood samples from people who lived in Africa in the 1950's.
have been found to have evidence of the virus, so it appears to have evicted longer.
than was previously thought (Marr 229). When a person learns that he or she.
testspositive for the human immunodeficiency virus, the world is turned on end.
Research on HIV led, for example, to the development of several classes of anti- HIV.
drugs, including protease inhibitors. The use of protease inhibitors in combination.
with previously approved anti -HIV drugs has given rise to the theory that it might .
who still have a strong and intact immune system and a relatively small number of.
HIV particles in their bodies. Scientist have recently learned that early diagnosis.
and early multidrug treatment enable many people with HIV infection to survive.
significantly longer. People who know they are infected are less likely to transmit the.
infection to others. Tests for HIV have also evolved dramatically. Individuals can.
even collect their own blood sample and be tested with complete anonymity using.
kits designed for home use. Physicians can better determine when to begin or.
change anti-HIV treatments in patients using tests that measure the amount of HIV.
in the bloodstream (Ward4). Certain individuals are at an increased risk of.
developing AIDS, but all of the risk factors associated with this disease are not yet.
known. Although the cause of AIDS has recently been determined, the specific types.