AIDS among many other infectious diseases can be quite frightening to learn about or even discover that they have contracted it. Throughout my life I have taken many health classes and it has come to my knowledge that many people do not know the difference between HIV and AIDS, as they do come in hand. HIV which stands for human immunodeficiency virus is a virus that primarily attacks the immune system which then leads to a persons immune system not being able to function as effectively.
On the other hand, AIDS which stands for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome also known as stage 3 HIV is when the original virus (HIV) has caused major damage to the immune system. Although there is no cure for AIDS, there is new medications and treatments that can help live with this. HIV is spread through bodily fluids and used needles.
AIDS began to first arise in the early 1980s and from then on, it quickly became an epidemic primarily among homosexual men, people who used drugs, and especially through blood transfusions. Back then, a lot of the rules and regulations that we have now did not exist which is why it was able to be shared through transfusions, it was also a very new disease which for quite some time, people did not know how to prevent it, or how it was contracted in the first place.
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When this disease first arose, much of the government did little to nothing to researcher and dig deeper into this terrifying disease, but eventually invested a great ordeal of money into research facilities. When this new disease came about, a large amount of people would die off rather quickly because we had no idea how to treat, cure, or prevent it. As medicine advances, there a new and more effective medications that have been created to ‘slow’ the destruction to the body and help manage these symptoms.
I believe that after this epidemic the United States implemented stricter and more efficient rules and protocols to prevent this from happening. Blood transfusions are now strictly monitored and tested to ensure it is disease-free. Men who have had intercourse with other men are not allowed to even donate blood if they have had sexual intercourse with another man in the last twelve months. Over time, the U.S has implemented stricter policies and are still continuing to do so to ensure the health and safety of all individuals.
In 1983 the CDC implemented guidelines to try and prevent this virus from spreading and they also conducted a large amount of studies, tests, and research to learn about AIDS. Many test and conclusions about AIDS ended up being retracted because studies were not accurate. Surprisingly in the span of eight years, almost 50 sets of regulation were published in preventing HIV. Although regulations are different from what they are now, the CDC and many other research facilities have done a thorough job to ensure the health and safety of individual’s.
Citations
- Emergence of the AIDS crisis. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/modern-us/1980s-america/a/emergence-of-the-aids-crisis
- LGBTQ Donors. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.redcrossblood.org/donate-blood/how-to-donate/eligibility-requirements/lgbtq-donors.html
- Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). (2011, October 07). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/su6004a11.htm
