Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is an immune system disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).This condition progressively reduces the effectiveness of the immune system and leaves people vulnerable to opportunistic infections and tumors. HIV is the direct contact with mucous membranes with blood or body fluids of HIV, such as blood, semen, vaginal secretions, pre-seminal fluid and breast milk.
This transmission can involve anal, vaginal sex or oral, blood transfusion, contaminated hypodermic needles, exchange between mother and child during pregnancy, childbirth, breast feeding or other exposure to one fluid over the body.
AIDS is a pandemic. AIDS has been identified by preventing S. U. and control centers in 1981, and the cause, HIV, in the 1980s.
Despite widespread treatment of HIV / AIDS and delay progression of the disease, there is currently no vaccine or cure. Antiretroviral treatment reduces both mortality and morbidity of HIV infection, but these drugs are expensive and routine access to antiretroviral drugs is not available in all countries. Difficulties in the treatment of HIV infection is to prevent a major destination for the fight against the AIDS pandemic, with organizations promoting health and safe sex programs of needle exchange in steps halting the spread of the virus.
The AIDS pandemic can be considered as multiple epidemics of different subtypes, the transfer of the main factors in the spread of sexual and vertical transmission from mother to child at birth and breast milk.
Globally, 33.2 million people living with HIV in 2007, including 2.5 million children. An estimated 2.5 million (range 1.8-4.1 million) people were newly infected in 2007, including 420,000 children. South and Southeast Asia are the second most affected, and in 2007, this area contains about 18% of all people living with AIDS and 300, 000 AIDS deaths.
In the United States, young African American women are at particularly high risk of HIV infection. This is partly due to lack of information on AIDS and the perception that they are vulnerable and have limited access to health resources and a greater chance of sexual contact with male sexual partners at risk. There are also geographical differences in the prevalence of AIDS in the United States, where it is more common in rural and southern states, particularly in the Appalachians and the Mississippi Delta and areas along the border with Mexico.
