AIDS
In some parts of the world there are still wars being fought and
dictators in
power. There are societies which consider themselves at the peak
of evolution
and progress. They are able to create state of the art
automobiles, luxurious
homes, efficient and organized industries, complex
computerized machinery and
atomic weapons. Many societies are governed by a
democratic system which herald
a belief in freedom. All societies, regardless
of their political and economic
makeup, are also ruled by a special class of
dictators; these dictators are
unseen to the naked eye, and are invincible.
These invisible tyrants are
microorganisms. Underdeveloped countries,
technologically advanced countries,
and those in between are at the mercy of
these microorganisms, which come in
many forms - viruses, bacteria, fungi and
parasites. The most dangerous of these
forms is the virus. Some viruses, such
as the common flu, are considered to have
a fairly detrimental capacity. The
flu can incapacitate a human for several
weeks with various symptoms such as
bodily soreness, fever, bronchial
complications, and even pneumonia. But
while these conditions can be painful and
frightening, we are usually
confident that proper medication and rest will take
care of the matter.
However there is a much more severe and indiscriminate
tyrant, with enormous
corrupting influence, capable of infiltrating all of
civilization.
Scientifically, it is a submicroscopic pathogen consisting of a
particle of
nucleic acid, enclosed in proteins, and able to replicate only
within a
living cell. Socially, it is responsible for an enormous amount of
chaos and
fear in the world today, and pronounces the human fault of ignorance.
Can
it be considered to be a modern plague? This complex and confusing king
of
all tyrants is called Human Immunodeficiency Virus, or HIV. HIV is a
retrovirus.
Retroviruses are commonly identified in many animal species,
but HIV and its
variants, such as HTLV I, HTLV II, HTLV III are among the
rare retroviruses
found in humans. It is transmitted through blood, semen,
and vaginal secretions.
HIV is a retrovirus of the Lentivirus group and
is the etiologic agent of
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
AIDS was first recognized as a
disease syndrome in 1981; HIV was identified
as its cause in 1984. AIDS is a
life and death issue. To have the AIDS
disease is at present a sentence of slow
but inevitable death. There
currently is neither a cure, nor an effective
treatment, and no vaccine
either. But there are things that have been proven
immensely effective in
slowing the spread of this hideously lethal disease.
Scientist believe
that the disease originated somewhere in Africa about 20 years
ago. HIV
antibodies were found in serum drawn in parts of Africa in the
early
1970, leading many investigators to believe that the disease
originated in
Africa, spreading to the Caribbean, and then to the United
States. In Africa it
first appeared as a mysterious ailment afflicting
primarily heterosexuals of
both sexes. It probably was spread especially fast
by female prostitutes living
there. AIDS has already become a crisis of
staggering proportions in parts of
Africa. In Zaire, it is estimated that
over twenty percent of the adults
currently carry the virus. That figure is
increasing. On a global scale, the
AIDS epidemic is rapidly expanding.
Africa, which represents about 10 percent of
the global population, now
accounts for more than 60 percent of the total HIV
infections among adults
worldwide. In comparison, North America and South
America combined
account for less than 20 percent of the adult HIV infections.
More than
90 percent of HIV infections in Africa are due to heterosexual
transmission.
An AIDS epidemic is also emerging in Asia, where new HIV
infections increased
by 80 percent in the last three years, and estimates from
the World Health
Organization (WHO) indicate that AIDS in Asia will cause
unprecedented rates
of infection and death. The major strain of HIV in the North
America,
Europe, and central Africa is known as HIV-1. In western Africa, AIDS
is also
caused by HIV-2, a strain of HIV closely related to HIV-1. Other
distantly
related strains of HIV-1 have been identified in various areas of the
world.
Although some of these strains cannot be detected using the
current
blood-screening methods, there is little risk of spread to North
America because
of the geographic isolation of these viruses. Even in the
case of HIV-2, spread
outside Africa is rare. Only 18 cases of HIV-2 have
been documented in the
United States, and transmission in these cases was
linked directly to western
Africa. Currently, this invisible tyrant is so
dominant that our basic values of
"Make Love not War" have been twisted into
an anxious cry of
"Make Love and Die". This disease is causing a great deal
of pain and
sorrow. We need to reason and evaluate the truth of the matter
and to adapt to a
way of life in order to minimize further casualties. If we
declare war on HIV,
educate in preventing the spread of this disease, and
avoid stigmatizing and
discriminating based on misinformation, we are well on
our way to at least
neutralizing HIV. Moral awareness should also be
increased in an effort to have
better use of the education we possess. This
includes those in the medical
profession. At this juncture, the chance to
find a cure for retroviruses,
especially the HIV virus, are less likely than
it is for the virus to evolve
into a non-deadly form. Perhaps then it will
come to be considered one of the
lesser, invisible tyrants. Once again I ask
"Is AIDS a modern plague?"
I guess it remains to be seen.