Overview Of HIV/AIDS

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According to the World Health Organization, HIV/AIDS is the leading infectious killer in the world with the death toll estimated around 36 million people (WHO, 2014). HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. HIV is very different from other communicable disease because the virus takes over cells in the body and weakens the immune system. It does that by destroying healthy, important cells that fight off disease and infection. The reason your immune system cannot fight this virus is still a question many scientists are seeking to answer, (AIDS, 2014). Scientists know that HIV is capable of being undetected in the cells of our bodies for long periods of time. The HIV virus invades our T cells, which are in charge of cellular immunity, and is able to duplicate itself in these cells and then destroy them. When too many T cells become destroyed the body is unable to fight off this virus, which leads to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome or AIDS, (AIDS, 2014).

Scientists are unsure of the exact origins of HIV, but many believe it started when humans came into contact with a certain type of chimpanzee from Western Africa, (AIDS, 2014). There is evidence that monkeys do have a virus like HIV called Simian Immunodeficiency Virus, or SIV, that has been around for many years. Scientists believe SIV transferred to humans from chimps when hunters came in contact with the animal and ate infected meat.
HIV is transmitted in several ways. The virus is transmitted thought sexual contact, childbirth, breast-feeding, occupational exposure and IV drug use, (AIDS, 2014a). Workers in the healthcare field are at a higher risk of getting HIV since it lives and reproduces in body fluids such as blood, semen, vaginal fluid, breast milk, an...

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...re heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory disease, and stroke, (CDC, 2013). The life expectancy for a male living in the United States of America is 77.11 years, while a female’s life expectancy is considerably higher at 81.94 years as of 2014. The average birth rate in 2014 in the United States is 13.42 births per 1,000 people, while the death rate is 8.15 per 1,000 people. Infant mortality rate total in 2014 is 6.17 percent per 1,000 live births, (CIA, 2014).
The United States of America is considered the largest and most powerful economy in the world with the highest industries being technology innovator, motor vehicles, and telecommunications, (CIA, 2014). The GDP of the United States sits at $16.72 trillion, which is a 1 percent increase from 2012. The unemployment rate for 2013 is 7.3 percent, and the poverty line is 15.1 percent, (CIA, 2014).

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