Human Immunodeficiency Virus ( Hiv ) - 1324 Words

The presence of a virus similar to Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) was first identified in a species of chimpanzee in Africa and researchers believed contact with an infected ape s blood to be the source of its transmission to humans. According to studies, this transmission may have occurred in the late 1800s. As years passed, the virus gradually swept across Africa and later into other regions throughout the world[1]. HIV, an infectious disease, tends to advance through body fluids such as blood, semen or breast milk[2] and attacks the immune system. As it progresses, it damages immune cells impairing the immune system in protecting against infections and diseases resulting in AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). Some†¦show more content†¦In 2011, the worldwide adult HIV prevalence rate was reported to be 0.8% [8]. Within one generation, HIV/AIDS has proven to be the most far-reaching and devastating epidemic, especially among women. According to researchers, by th e end of year 2012, it was predicted that 52 percent of all people living with HIV/AIDS in developing countries would be women [7]. Previous years’ trends have also confirmed this exponential rise - in 2007, 1.6 million more women were living with HIV/AIDS worldwide (15.7 million) than in the year 2001 (13.8 million), showing an 11.6 percent in the increase in the prevalence of HIV/AIDS cases in six years (less than a decade). In addition, a 2004 study in the Sub-Saharan Africa where 58% of those affected are women, showed an estimated prevalence of infection to be 6 to 10 percent among young women, while among young men of the same age it was 3 to 6 percent [9]. Despite targeted programs and policies to fight and control HIV/AIDS, the difference between HIV prevalence rates among men and women continues to narrow. In the year 2013, around 60% of all new HIV infections among young people of ages 15–24 occurred among adolescent females and young women [7]. In some parts of the world and within certain age groups, the prevalence of females with HIV/AIDS has already