The totally tubular 80’s were super
groovy, that is until a raging outbreak of HIV swept across the world, and not
even the sky-high hair decade had a chance at beating this infectious disease.
That was the reality in the 1980’s, no hope or future for the unfortunate
victims that contracted HIV/AIDS, and never being able to accomplish their
goals (“U.S. Statistics”). Imagine being one of the first people diagnosed with
this new, unknown disease, and not even knowing where it originated from and
how a person contracted it. The whole world was confused at first, giving it
many different names, but after linking the similar cases from around the
world, the official name for the infection was created, 'AIDS' (acquired immune
deficiency syndrome) (“History of HIV and AIDS Overview”). Since the beginning
of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, there has been a substantial decrease in the number
of cases and deaths caused from the infections and viruses, but it is most
definitely still a battle today, with no proven solution. Let’s further
investigate the topic of HIV/AIDS in the following text and break down the
epidemic to its fundamentals.
History of the Epidemic
The very first case of HIV is said
to have been a man from the Democratic Republic of Congo, dating back to the
1920’s, where there was a cross contamination from chimpanzee to man (1). After
the case of the man from Congo there seems to be a gap from 1920-1980, where no
one is exactly sure of how many people had the infection since it was a new
epidemic surfacing, and no one knew the symptoms or exactly what they were even
dealing with at the time (1). Although it was not a widespread virus yet,
available data displays that it spread rather rapidly, having the power to
expand over five continents in a matter of five years, including North America,
South America, Europe, Africa and Australia. Fast forward almost five years
later to 1984 when experts made a breakthrough in the epidemic:
The National Cancer Institute announced they had found the
cause of AIDS, the retrovirus HTLV-III. In a joint conference with the Pasteur
Institute they announced that LAV and HTLV-III are identical and the likely
cause of AIDS (1).
Finally, there were answers to this mysterious virus, and
with a blood test created to screen for the infection, a cure would hopefully
be developed soon.
After a teen from Indiana was
rejected from school in 1985 because he was diagnosed with AIDS, simply from
getting a treatment for his hemophilia, it became a real-world problem that
needed to be shared so others could be educated on the dangers of AIDS (“A
Timeline of HIV and AIDS”). October 2, 1985, HIV/AIDS research centers and
organizations begin to act, raising money for research, educating others on
signs of the disease and how to prevent it, and trying to find a cure for this
now, very popular illness (1). As many more tests come out trying to detect the
virus of HIV, the FDA approves a new, more specific test for HIV antibodies:
the Western blot blood test kit (1). Through the early 90’s, the rate of
people with HIV/AIDS continued to increase, but in June 1995, when the FDA
discovered a new highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART), a whopping
60-80% of AIDS- related deaths decreased, making HAART the most effective form
of treatment known (1). By the end of 1996, there were about 23 million people
living with HIV, located mostly in Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa
(1).
As the population of people has
increased substantially, the number of citizens living with HIV/AIDS has as
well. Modern medicine and organizations have played a very important role in
decreasing deaths caused by HIV/AIDS, but there still is no cure. It is more
important now than ever we find a cure to this horrible virus, either by
raising more money for the cause, educating teenagers on the infection, or
trying new tactics, because as the population continues to sky rocket, so will
HIV and AIDS.
Social Effects
The social effect of HIV and AIDS
devastates the whole world no matter what continent or country you are in.
940,000 [670,000–1.3 million] people died from AIDS-related illnesses in 2017,
and although that is a decrease from the peak in 2004, it is still killing more
people than necessary, leaving many families with lost loved ones every year
(“Global HIV/AIDS Overview”). The disease is spread many ways, such as blood
transfusions, mother to child, minority groups, sexual intercourse between two
men, or from previous STD’s a person might have (1). The epidemic that affects
the world has left communities around the world devastated, millions of
children orphaned, and continues to decrease economic growth. HIV/AIDS ruins
families and futures of children with parents living with HIV or AIDS, and it
drastically changes victims lives that have experienced a death related to the
virus (1).
HIV and AIDS has affected
Sub-Saharan Africa drastically. With over 40 million people carrying the virus,
this country has more than twice the number of people living with HIV/AIDS than
the rest of the world (Dixon). The disease is not only responsible for being
the fourth biggest cause of death in 2001, but it affects the economic
development of Africa (1). The citizens of Sub-Saharan Africa do not have the
resources or money to be able to fully cope with the pandemic or even predict
how it will affect future development. People living with HIV or AIDS in Africa
cannot work as much, reducing any sort of exports going out to other countries,
and increasing the import rate considering they need more resources for the
heavily growing infection (1). HIV/AIDS is not only destroying the economic
development, but the social development as well. The percentage of children
with HIV or AIDS is over 3.4 million in Africa, with that number only
continuing to grow as the population grows as well (“The Burden of HIV/AIDS:
Implications for African States and Societies”). When adults with HIV/AIDS have
children, they are more likely to die earlier than expected, and are leaving
their child/ children with burden on their shoulders. They are leaving them
with a critically low household income along with no sort of future investment,
extreme stress, and diminish labor supply for that family (1).
Examples
In 1991, Los Angeles Lakers
basketball player Magic Johnson announces his HIV status, leaving everyone
thinking that he just announced his death sentence. But Johnson was far from
death, and although treatments weren’t as effective or popular in the 90’s, it
still assisted in saving a lot of people and let them live much longer than
expected. Since Magic is in the minority, he blames that for contracting the
virus (Hadhazy). Magic Johnson makes it very clear he takes the same medicine
as everyone else after being accused of seeing a witch doctor in Kenya and
getting special medicines for being famous. He claims that is has just been
suppressed because of modern day treatments that any other person has the
ability to get (Rodriguez). Magic is just one example on how living with HIV
can be stress and harm free, by taking medicine accessible to anyone with the
infection.
In November 2017, famous actor
Charlie Sheen came out on the Today Show that he was HIV positive, but with
modern tests and medicine, he was still able to be with different partners
without them contracting the disease as well (Shalby). With HAART, Sheen was
fully capable of having unprotected intercourse without it spreading, proving
how efficient and successful modern treatments are compared to the early 2000’s
(1). Along with unprotected intercourse, he has an undetectable viral load
which means that there’s no virus in his system to pass on to anyone he has
intercourse with, making it 100% safe (1). PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) also
plays a role in Charlie Sheen’s life where his partners can take a drug called
Truvada, which decreases the chance of them acquiring HIV by more than 90% if
taken every day (1). Although Mr. Sheen is required by law to share his
infection with every partner, even with his viral load being undetectable,
todays treatments and medicine make it very easy for him to live his life,
while still being HIV positive.
Solutions
In the 21st century,
there is still no guaranteed solution that will exterminate HIV or AIDS
permanently, but there are many different treatments that make it possible and
even easy to live a normal life even while still having the infection. Finding
solutions can be difficult because of the lack of knowledge on the subject. In
order to find solutions, the population needs to be aware of how the infection
started, and how to prevent it from developing in the first place. Another way
to prevent the infection from becoming or how to treat it is by recognizing it
for what HIV/AIDS really is and educating others about the viruses. Oftentimes,
most people cannot even explain what HIV/AIDS means or what it stands for.
The first and most popular solution
is highly-active antiretroviral treatment (HAART). HAART was introduced
in 1996 because taking only one medication was not nearly enough to suppress
HIV (Fletcher). HAART is a combination of many different medications
prescribed by physicians based on the patient’s viral load, (how much virus is
in the blood), the particular strain of the virus, the CD4+ cell count, and
other considerations (e.g., disease symptoms) (“What Is HAART?”). This solution
is so popular because it allows people living with HIV to still be sexually
active, even though they are still carrying the disease. For example, what
HAART specifically does is:
stops HIV from multiplying in the blood,
reduces viral load, which is the number of HIV copies in the blood, increases
the number of CD4 cells, which are immune cells that HIV targets, to improve
immune system function, slows down and prevents the development of stage 3 HIV,
or AIDS, prevents transmission,
reduces the severity of complications and increases survival rates, and keeps
virus counts low in the blood. (Fletcher)
Highly-active antiretroviral treatment is the most effective
method of treatment out at the moment for HIV/AIDS and is allowing humans with
the virus to live a completely normal life as if they aren’t infected at all.
Although it is cliché, another
favored solution is preventing the virus overall. Getting tested is crucial to
prevent HIV/AIDS and can save a long painful journey to come if you ignore the
signs. One symptom of HIV can be flu-like illness within 2 to 4 weeks
after infection (Stage 1 HIV infection) (“HIV/AIDS”). It is important to get
tested at least once if you are between 13-64, but people with higher risk
should once every year (1). There are many different methods and strategies to
prevent the epidemic known as HIV and AIDS, but first, the population affected
needs to be aware of the viruses. Some prevention strategies include using
tools such as condoms to prevent the spreading of the disease, reducing the
number of sexual partners one is involved with, or taking medications if their
partner is HIV or AIDS positive. One medication a person can take to prevent
HIV or AIDS is pre-exposure
prophylaxis (PrEP), which is highly
recommended if you are HIV-negative, but any partner whom you are sexually
active with is HIV-positive (1). There is also the medication post-exposure
prophylaxis (PEP), which can be taken if one has
been exposed to someone who could possibly be infected. These prevention
techniques are critical for finally ending the infection and could be the
solution to all HIV/AIDS cases in the future. The only thing stopping us is
that the world population must first be educated about the different procedures
in order to end it once and for all.
Camus and Absurdity
Albert Camus had a very divergent
opinion about many things, such as his thoughts on suicide, faith, and the
meaning of life. The social epidemics of HIV and AIDS do not tie into this
topic, considering HIV/AIDS are diseases that naturally happen to people
unlucky enough to acquire it. There is nothing absurd about the infection
either, because HIV and AIDS are both very serious and kill hundreds of
thousands of people annually. This proves the epidemic is nowhere near meaningless
or foolish like Camus would describe things such as life itself (Hendricks).
Because Albert Camus had little to no belief in rationalism, there would be no
reason for the diseases of HIV or AIDS at all (Aronson). Camus would be
sorrowful because of all the deaths caused by HIV and/or AIDS, and even more
disappointed that no one was questioning what was happening or trying to learn
how to stop it until much later in time.
Conclusion
The only way to end an epidemic is
to educate about the epidemic. HIV/AIDS can oftentimes be overlooked or ignored
because of the lack of education on the topic, when it is in fact very
important to be aware of these harmful viruses. Since HIV and AIDS is never
spoken about, most of the world population would not be aware if they were
carrying the disease, then they could easily pass it to one of their partners
making the epidemic even more drastic. The most important thing to do now is to
try and convince younger generations to educate themselves and others about the
topic, and to be mindful of how to prevent and treat the infection so we can
put a stop to the deaths caused by HIV/AIDS once and for all.
Works Cited
Aronson, Ronald. “Albert Camus.” Stanford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University,
10 Apr. 2017,
plato.stanford.edu/entries/camus/.
“A Timeline of HIV and AIDS.” HIV.gov, 12 Mar. 2019, www.hiv.gov/hiv
-basics/overview/history/hiv-and-aids-timeline.
Centers for Disease Control. “U.S.
Statistics.” HIV.gov, 19 Feb. 2019, www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics/overview/data-and-trends/statistics.
Dixon, Simon, et al. “The Impact of
HIV and AIDS on Africa's Economic Development.” BMJ (Clinical Research
Ed.), BMJ, 26 Jan. 2002, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1122139/.
Fletcher, Jenna. “What Is HAART for HIV? Regimen and Drugs
List.” Medical News Today,
MediLexicon International, Dec. 2018,
Hadhazy, Adam. “How Has Magic
Johnson Survived 20 Years with HIV?” LiveScience, Purch, 7 Nov.
2011, www.livescience.com/16909-magic-johnson-hiv-aids-anniversary.html.
Hendricks, Scotty. “The Meaning of Life: Albert Camus on
Faith, Suicide, and Absurdity.” Big
Think, Big Think, 5 Oct. 2018,
bigthink.com/scotty-hendricks/the-meaning-of-life
-albert-camus-on-faith-suicide-and-absurdity.
“History of HIV and AIDS Overview.” AVERT, Avert, 26
Nov. 2018,
“HIV/AIDS.” Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, 24 Apr. 2019, www.cdc.gov/hiv/basics/whatishiv.html.
Institute of Medicine (US) Committee
on Envisioning a Strategy for the Long-Term Burden of HIV/AIDS: African Needs
and U.S. Interests. “The Burden of HIV/AIDS: Implications for African States
and Societies.” Preparing for the Future of HIV/AIDS in Africa: A
Shared Responsibility., U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1 Jan. 1970, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK209743/.
National Institute on Drug Abuse. “What Is HAART?” NIDA, 2012,
Rodriguez, Mathew. “Magic Johnson
Wants You to Know He Isn't Cured of HIV, He's Just Taking His Meds.” TheBody.com,
2015, www.thebody.com/content/76192/magic-johnson-wants-you-to-know-he-isnt-cured-of-h.html.
Shalby, Colleen. “4 Things to Know
about Charlie Sheen's HIV Diagnosis.” PBS, Public Broadcasting
Service, 18 Nov. 2015, www.pbs.org/newshour/health/4-things-to-know-about-charlie-sheens-hiv-diagnosis.
UNAIDSDate. “Global HIV/AIDS
Overview.” HIV.gov, 10 Jan. 2019, www.hiv.gov/federal-response/pepfar-global-aids/global-hiv-aids-overview.
No comments:
Post a Comment