Investigating HIV

This week’s subject I feel is one that is often overlooked or not talked about enough because it makes people uncomfortable to openly talk about their sex lives. However, I believe that it is something that should at least be discussing with your sexual partners. One sexually transmitted disease that I have been interested in learning more about is the human immunodeficiency virus or HIV. From my past schooling and biology courses, I know that there has been research done to link HIV to the cause of some acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS, cases. I also know that there was great fear and stigma around individuals, specifically around males that contracted the virus, but with our technology and medicine now available it is not as threatening as it was 30 years ago.

According to the CDC, there are more than 30,000 Americans that get diagnosed each year. To me this seemed staggeringly high because of all the news and research we now know about the disease and how it is transmitted. With just a simple google search anyone can find out more information than they want on the disease. However, I am aware that there are numerous people who do not know they are even transmitting the virus, which probably accounts for majority of the cases. Further reading on the CDC website explains just how the US is trying to get these numbers down by encouraging everyone to get tested, get the medications available and keep up with doctors appointments. The main point is trying to give people the opportunities to get tested that way the spread of it can be even more contained. They also discuss how there is a pill that healthy individuals can take as an extra precaution if they are in a position to be exposed to it or at risk which also helps the prevention. I think this initiative is a very good way to keep talking about HIV and to keep offering new resources to

I was interested to see how exactly HIV interacted within the body. From this article I found out that it is like any other virus and replicates within our cells to expel more virions, the difference is that HIV’s target cell are specific immune cells calls T-helper cells. From class we have learned that these cells are vital in helping our body fight off infections. With these cells now becoming dominated and at the control of the virus it allows our body’s immune system to drastically decrease. This is why many HIV patients have secondary infections from opportunistic pathogens that take advantage of the decrease in our body’s immune responses. Something new i learned from this website is that if you catch your infection soon enough you can drastically decrease its effect on you but if you let you linger and reproduce more within the your body it obviously becomes harder to contain and get rid of.