Evolution Of Hiv Case Definition

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Evolution of HIV case-definition
In 1981, fear began to grip a nation as a mysterious new illness began to emerge. Since, the origins of this mysterious new illness had not been discovered, a descriptive epidemiologic case definition was used to identify the disease. This new disease, called gay-related infectious disease (GRID) was characterized by opportunistic infections, pneumonia and Kaposi’s Sarcoma, a rare cancer characterized by purple lesions. At first, it seemed to only be affecting a group, men who have sex with men (MSM), it did not take long to notice the growing number of hemophiliacs who also exhibited symptoms of the case definition, leading researchers to believe there must have been a blood borne pathogen involved. As MSM were no longer the only people that was being affected by the disease, it was renamed the Acquired Immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Soon after a retrovirus was discovered and was proven to be the cause of AIDS and the virus was named Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). As understanding of the virus continued to emerge two strands of the virus were identified as HIV-1 and HIV-2, and a blood test was developed to detect the virus.
In a journal article written by Selik and peers, in 2014 the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), revised the most recent case definition, which is currently used today. Which uses multiple tests to confirm the presence of HIV, the first being a reactive test to the presence of HIV antibodies and or antigens of both HIV-1 and HIV-2. A positive test is followed by confirmatory test that can identify the strain the individual is infected with, HIV-1 or HIV-2. Remnants of the original case definition still exist, to identify the progression of the virus in the individu...

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...his program to admit heroin addicts, would give addicts a place to recover and give them essential skills to find better employment opportunities. The best road to recovery is not to fall back into old habits and influences. New job skills will give addicts the opportunity to relocate and find better high paying jobs. Funding for this could come from the new jobs themselves. Many temp services get people high paying jobs, a reduced portion of the starting salary. For example, a new job in a factory might pay new employees $18 an hour, but the temp service pays $18 and hour and the remaining $6 funds the temp service. After 6 months, the temp employee can apply for full time and receive an $6 increase per hour. Further studies need to be done, to determine toxic lifestyle habits that are often associated with intravenous drug usage to help reduce the risk of relapse.

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