Human Immunodeficiency Virus

Introduction

When any component of the immune system is absent or fails, the human body is capable of developing immunodeficiency disease. As a result, we are more susceptible to infection making our bodies a haven for agents such as viruses. One of the most notorious viruses known to man is the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); a retrovirus that cannot grow or reproduce on its own. The cells of a living organism must be infected before it can make new copies of itself 1. Our immune system would normally locate a virus and destroy it but in the case of HIV, our biological defenses are challenged and are no match for this virulent disease.

HIV made its debut to the world in 1983 and was shown to be the cause of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in 1984 2. Because the first cases of AIDS were identified in gay men back in 1981, the disease acquired the designation GRID (Gay-Related Immune Deficiency) and was thought to be a homosexual disease 3. Eventually by 1982, the disease was given its proper name after Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began to track a growing population of young men, women, and babies, whose immune systems were nearly destroyed, thus the name Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome was born and was recognized as a retrovirus that is transmitted via sexual contact, exposure to infected body fluids or tissues, and from mother to fetus or child during prenatal period.

Due to the alarming rate of infection, it wasn’t long before the disease made its way to our shores. In 1985, the Bahamas reported its first case of HIV when a female was admitted to the Princess Margaret Hospital with Tuberculosis. After her death, an autopsy revealed that she was infected with the virus and was then confirmed as the nation’s first reported case of HIV 4. The Government of the Bahamas wasted no time in being practical thus taking bold initiates and making sincere and serious commitments to stem the spread of HIV/AIDS...