"Our
only real competition for the dominance of the planet remain the viruses.
The survival of humanity is not preordained." -Nobel
Laureate, Joshua Lederberg Learning Objectives
Upon successful completion of this module,
you should be able to demonstrate by examination that you understand
the following aspects of HIV/AIDS disease and the AIDS epidemic.:
- Discuss
the etiology of HIV/AIDS infections.
-
Explain diagnostic tools available for detecting presence of HIV
and other opportunistic infections.
- List
factors that play a role in perinatal transmission of HIV infection.
-
Outline recent pediatric guidelines for antiretroviral management
of children with HIV disease.
-
Identify the most common opportunistic infections associated with
HIV-infected patients.
-
Identify clinical management protocols for HIV/AIDS-infected patients.
-
Discuss the impact of the HIV/AIDS infection on healthcare professionals.
-
The care and support of persons with HIV disease.
-
The legal rights of persons with AIDS and other legal aspects.
Introduction
April 4, 1981 "...Any unusual outbreak of a
disease is, in medical jargon, an epidemic. With five cases of Pneumocystis
diagnosed in five gay men over the past few months in just one city
(Los Angeles), the phenomena Gottleib and Shandea were studying fit
the necessary criteria for an epidemic. One man was already dead.
Gottleib had the queasy feeling that there was something bigger, something
catastrophic lurking behind this. Five cases of an uncommon illness
in just a few months meant that the disease was no longer uncommon
among gay men, Gottleib thought, and chances were that it was going
to get a lot more uncommon in the months to come." (from
Randy Shiltsą And The Band Played On)
On Friday, June 5, 1981, the Centers for Disease Control Morbidity
and Mortality Weekly Report published what would be the first report
on the epidemic we now call AIDS, based on the Los Angeles cases of
Pneumocystis that Drs. Michael Gottleib and Joel Weisman had seen
in the previous months. The disease was then called "GRID" (Gay Related
Immune Disease) and the cause was unknown. There were five known cases
in the United States on that June 5th, 1981. What we were to learn
about this disease, now called AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome)
and about the causative virus HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus),
were to create an alarming picture. We couldnąt know at that time
that the virus had already been around for a number of years infecting
in a silent and deadly manner and establishing the base for a worldwide
epidemic. |
