HIV AIDS - Scourge Of The 21st Century

AIDS is a fatal disease, which is now a pandemic, affecting millions of people worldwide. What do we truly know about AIDS and how does this syndrome affects the lives of people?

AIDS means Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. As the name aptly describes, this is a disease that severely affects the proper functioning of the immune system. It brings about a host of other syndromes and paves the way for "opportunistic infections" and neurological dysfunctions.

HIV on the other hand, stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus and is the virus that causes AIDS. The virus triggers AIDS and progresses until the infected person succumbs and dies.

For now, this disease is not curable. It can only be delayed in its evolution, with medicines and surgery. AIDS has been declared an official disease and aligned to the rest of the diseases in 1981. Unfortunately, the number of deceases caused by it is very large and growing. According to the World Health Organization, the number of deceases because of this disease was 2.9 million in 2006, and the world wide infected number of people is 39.5 million.

It is heartbreaking to note that the number of people dying and getting infected continuously grow year after year. Again, WHO has estimated that the number goes up by about 4.3 million per year? Worldwide, 1% of people from age 15-45 are afflicted. In Africa the ratio is much higher, at 20% for the same age group and even higher in some regions. These numbers sets forth a frightening picture that should cause all people to be concerned and do something for its cause.

AIDS is the summation of all the diseases associated with HIV infection. This infection triggers the weakening of the immune system and until its final breakdown. Majority of all the infected and untreated persons will sooner or later develop the AIDS.

This has a disastrous effect especially on the young population, especially the young people who are sexually active. That is not a rule though, and it does not mean that the rest of the people categories are safe from it. It is usually transmitted by sexual contact but this is not the only way this virus spreads.

It can also be transmitted from the mother to the fetus; thus, a baby can be born carrying the virus. A baby born with this virus stands low survival chances and the possibility that child is dead before he or she gets to know the world and enjoy the gift of life and all the aspects a human should know before dying. The virus is transmitted by contact with the mother's blood, or after the birth process, by breast-feeding.

Despite the worldwide attention it is getting and the application of the most sophisticated and state-of-the-art treatments, HIV continues to evolve and claim millions of lives, which leaves the scientific world stumped. Meanwhile the world is on standby while this 21st century epidemic continues to wreak havoc to the world's population, especially on those innocent children.

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