Aids: Epidemic Of The Century :: AIDS Essays

INTRODUCTIONThere is no doubt that help is indeed the epidemic of the century. Not only ar there many supporting facts and data, tour urban cities and third world regardries prove this point. Furthermore, AIDS is not only highly infectious, it is also the first major incurable epidemic throughout this biomedical revolution that mankind is going through. This epidemic might actually be the one that will completely wipeout the third world. Scientists, government agencies and pharmaceutical companies are scrambling to find a cure to this epidemic but in the mean time we have to find a way to deal with it, if possible. As we stop into the next millennium with all sorts of problems facing humanity, the choice with regard to AIDS is simple, evolve or dieINFECTIVITYThe Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) has 2 different types of strains. HIV-1 is the labor union American strain while HIV-2 is the African strain. The only real difference between the two is that HIV-2 has the vpx gene while HIV-1 does not. As you can tell by the name, the virus works by gradually deteriorating the immune system. The virus can infect any cell with CD4 molecules on the cells membrane. It seems to specifically overthrow or disable the CD4+ T cells. These cells are sometimes called "T helper" cells. They work by signalling other cells to per pattern their special functions. A normal firm person usually has a CD4+ T cell count of 800 to 1,200 per cubic millimetre of blood. Once a persons CD4+ T cell count falls below 200/mm3, a person is diagnosed with Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). A person diagnosed with AIDS will usually die of an opportunistic infection, not of HIV/AIDS itself.HIV is a virus and a virus is basically a microscopic bag of protein filled with a strain of DNA or RNA. To be more specific, HIV has a diameter of approximately 1/10,000 of a millimetre and is spherical in shape (see Figure 1-1). The viral envelope consists of two layers of lipid molec ules and contains proteins taken from the host cell. There are 72 copies (on average) of a complex HIV protein called Env. Env is made of three or four molecules of a glycoprotein, gp120, that form a cap and a stem consisting of gp41 molecules that anchor the structure to the surface of the viral envelope. HIV belongs to the class of viruses known as retroviruses.