AIDS :: Free AIDS Essays

support Is the message getting through? We already know enough about AIDS toprevent its spread, besides ignorance, complacency, fear and superstition continueto stop many an(prenominal) from taking adequate precautions. We know enough about how the transmitting is transmitted to nurtureourselves from it without resorting to such extremes as mandatory testing, implement quarantine or total celibacy. But too few people are heeding theAIDS message. Perhaps many simply dont like or trust to believe what theyhear, preferring to think that AIDS cant happen to them. Expertsrepeatedly remind us that infective agents do not discriminate, just now caninfect any and everyone. standardized former(a) communicable diseases, AIDS can strikeanyone. It is not necessarily confined to a few notional groups. We mustall protect ourselves from this infection and teach our children about itin time to take effective precautions. Given the refine measures, no one emergency get AIDS.The pandemic continues Many of us have forgotten about the virulence of widespread epidemics,such as the 1917/18 influenza pandemic which killed all over 21 million people,including 50,000 Canadians. Having been lulled into false security measure bymodern antibiotics and vaccines about our ability to conquer infections,the Western world was ill prepared to cope with the advent of AIDS in 1981.(Retro- spective studies now instal the first reported U.S. case of AIDS asfar back as 1968.) The arrival of a raw(a) and lethal virus caught us move outguard. Research suggests that the agent responsible for AIDS in all likelihooddates from the 1950s, with a chance infection of humans by a modifiedSimian virus put up in African green monkeys. Whatever its origins,scientists surmise that the disease spread from Africa to the Caribbeanand Europe, then to the U.S. Current estimates are that 1.5 to 2 millionAmericans are now probably HIV carriers, with higher numbers in CentralAfrica and parts of the Caribbean.Recapping AIDS - the facts --------------------------- AIDS is an insidious, often fatal but less contagious disease thanmeasles, squawker pox or hepatitis B. AIDS is thought to be causedprimarily by a virus that invades white relationship cells (lymphocytes) -especially T4-lymphocytes or T-helper cells - and certain other body cells,including the brain. In 1983 and 1984, French and U.S. researchersindependently identified the virus believed to cause AIDS as an unusual fibre of slow-acting retrovirus now called human immunodeficiency virusor HIV. Like other viruses, HIV is basically a tiny package of genes. Butbeing a retrovirus, it has the exalted capacity to copy and insert its genesright into a human cells own chromosomes (DNA).AIDS Free AIDS EssaysAIDS Is the message getting through? We already know enough about AIDS toprevent its spread, but ignorance, complacency, fear and bigotry continueto stop many from taking adequate precautions. We know enough about ho w the infection is transmitted to protectourselves from it without resorting to such extremes as mandatory testing,enforced quarantine or total celibacy. But too few people are heeding theAIDS message. Perhaps many simply dont like or want to believe what theyhear, preferring to think that AIDS cant happen to them. Expertsrepeatedly remind us that infective agents do not discriminate, but caninfect any and everyone. Like other communicable diseases, AIDS can strikeanyone. It is not necessarily confined to a few high-risk groups. We mustall protect ourselves from this infection and teach our children about itin time to take effective precautions. Given the right measures, no oneneed get AIDS.The pandemic continues Many of us have forgotten about the virulence of widespread epidemics,such as the 1917/18 influenza pandemic which killed over 21 million people,including 50,000 Canadians. Having been lulled into false security bymodern antibiotics and vaccines about our ability to conqu er infections,the Western world was ill prepared to cope with the advent of AIDS in 1981.(Retro- spective studies now put the first reported U.S. case of AIDS asfar back as 1968.) The arrival of a new and lethal virus caught us offguard. Research suggests that the agent responsible for AIDS probablydates from the 1950s, with a chance infection of humans by a modifiedSimian virus found in African green monkeys. Whatever its origins,scientists surmise that the disease spread from Africa to the Caribbeanand Europe, then to the U.S. Current estimates are that 1.5 to 2 millionAmericans are now probably HIV carriers, with higher numbers in CentralAfrica and parts of the Caribbean.Recapping AIDS - the facts --------------------------- AIDS is an insidious, often fatal but less contagious disease thanmeasles, chicken pox or hepatitis B. AIDS is thought to be causedprimarily by a virus that invades white blood cells (lymphocytes) -especially T4-lymphocytes or T-helper cells - and certain ot her body cells,including the brain. In 1983 and 1984, French and U.S. researchersindependently identified the virus believed to cause AIDS as an unusualtype of slow-acting retrovirus now called human immunodeficiency virusor HIV. Like other viruses, HIV is basically a tiny package of genes. Butbeing a retrovirus, it has the rare capacity to copy and insert its genesright into a human cells own chromosomes (DNA).