The HIV & AIDS Virus

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AIDS.org - news, treatment information, and other resources. www.aids.org/ HIV and AIDS Activities - information from the FDA Office of Special Health Issues. www.fda.gov/oashi/aids/hiv.html Specialized Information Services Home Page - US National Library ... - ... Library of Medicine (NLM) is responsible for information resources and services in toxicology, environmental health, chemistry, HIV/AIDS, and specialized ... www.sis.nlm.nih.gov CDC-NCHSTP-Divisions of HIV/AIDS Prevention (DHAP) Home Page - ... CDC - Divisions of HIV / AIDS Prevention Home Page; logo: HIV / AIDS Prevention National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention Divisions of HIV/AIDS Prevention. ... www.cdc.gov/hiv/dhap.htm AIDSinfo - federally approved information on AIDS research, clinical trials, and treatment from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Created by merging the AIDS Clinical Trials Information Service (ACTIS) and the HIV/AIDS Treatment Information Service (ATIS). www.hivatis.org/ HIV InSite - comprehensive and reliable information on HIV/AIDS treatment, policy, research, epidemiology, and prevention from the University of California, San Francisco. hivinsite.ucsf.edu/ HIV & AIDS Virus
AIDS - acquired immunodeficiency syndrome - was first reported in the United States in 1981 and has since become a major worldwide epidemic. AIDS is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). By killing or damaging cells of the body's immune system, HIV progressively destroys the body's ability to fight infections and certain cancers. People diagnosed with AIDS may get life-threatening diseases called opportunistic infections, which are caused by microbes such as viruses or bacteria that usually do not make healthy people sick. More than 790,000 cases of AIDS have been reported in the United States since 1981, and as many as 900,000 Americans may be infected with HIV. This epidemic is growing more rapidly among minority populations and is a leading killer of African-American males ages 25 to 44. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), AIDS affects nearly seven times more African Americans and three times more Hispanics than whites.
Transmission of HIV
Having unprotected sex with an infected partner most commonly spreads HIV. The virus can enter the body through the lining of the vagina, vulva, penis, or mouth during sex. HIV also is spread through contact with infected blood. Before donated blood was screened for evidence of HIV infection and before heat-treating techniques to destroy HIV in blood products were introduced. HIV was transmitted through transfusions having the contaminated blood or blood components. Today, because of blood screening and heat treatment, the risk of getting HIV from such transfusions is extremely small.

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