Demographics of Hiv/Aids in the United States of America
Demographics of HIV/AIDS in the United States of America
HCS/490 Health Consumer Trends and Marketing
January 21, 2013
Jennifer Pharr Demographics of HIV/AIDS in the United States of America “Every 9.5 minutes someone in the United States is infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).” According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), there are approximately 1.5 million people living with HIV, and one out of five is not aware they are infected (CDC, 2011). The first documented case of HIV was from a blood sample retrieved in 1959 from an individual residing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There is no information on how this individual became infected or how it was believed to have arrived in the United States in 1969. There are a number of stories on how this life-threatening disease came about and how it made it to the United States. There is also a story of hunters eating a contaminated chimpanzee in the western part of Africa. Recent studies show HIV may have traveled from monkeys to humans as far back as the late 1800s. In 1981 the CDC received reports of a rare cancer among the gay men in New York and California, called Kaposi’s sarcoma. Doctors began treating and caring for these young gay men for the cancer. Kaposi’s sarcoma is a cancer found in the Mediterranean heritage among elderly men with weakened immune systems. Gay and bisexual men of all races are ranked highest affected by HIV. A total of 270 cases of severe immune deficiency among gay men were reported in the closing of 1981 and 121 have died. In June, the CDC created the Task Force on Kaposi’s sarcoma and Opportunistic Infections (KSOI) to recognize the risk factors and to develop awareness for coast-to-coast observation. This marked the beginning of HIV. It is understood that HIV can go undetected for a long time within the body’s cells. During this time it is attacking the CD4 cells (needed for the body to fight infections and diseases) by using them to
HCS/490 Health Consumer Trends and Marketing
January 21, 2013
Jennifer Pharr Demographics of HIV/AIDS in the United States of America “Every 9.5 minutes someone in the United States is infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).” According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), there are approximately 1.5 million people living with HIV, and one out of five is not aware they are infected (CDC, 2011). The first documented case of HIV was from a blood sample retrieved in 1959 from an individual residing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There is no information on how this individual became infected or how it was believed to have arrived in the United States in 1969. There are a number of stories on how this life-threatening disease came about and how it made it to the United States. There is also a story of hunters eating a contaminated chimpanzee in the western part of Africa. Recent studies show HIV may have traveled from monkeys to humans as far back as the late 1800s. In 1981 the CDC received reports of a rare cancer among the gay men in New York and California, called Kaposi’s sarcoma. Doctors began treating and caring for these young gay men for the cancer. Kaposi’s sarcoma is a cancer found in the Mediterranean heritage among elderly men with weakened immune systems. Gay and bisexual men of all races are ranked highest affected by HIV. A total of 270 cases of severe immune deficiency among gay men were reported in the closing of 1981 and 121 have died. In June, the CDC created the Task Force on Kaposi’s sarcoma and Opportunistic Infections (KSOI) to recognize the risk factors and to develop awareness for coast-to-coast observation. This marked the beginning of HIV. It is understood that HIV can go undetected for a long time within the body’s cells. During this time it is attacking the CD4 cells (needed for the body to fight infections and diseases) by using them to
References: statements Center for Disease Control, (2011) www.cdc.gov/hiv/default.htm Center for Disease Control, (August, 2008)