Community Health and Population: HIV/AIDS
Communicable diseases start through outbreaks in a single global location and spread to other parts of the world through human contact. Therefore, in a short period, the adverse effects of the disease become evident in other global regions, spread due to c...
Communicable diseases start through outbreaks in a single global location and spread to
other parts of the world through human contact. Therefore, in a short period, the adverse effects
of the disease become evident in other global regions, spread due to constant human interactions
and travels. Most infectious disease outbreaks turn out to be global pandemics or epidemics due
to the slow response from the healthcare fraternity concerning treatment and management of the
disease. This paper explains HIV/AIDS as a contagious disease, highlighting its outbreak, risk
factors, transmissions, reporting protocols, and the efficient strategies towards reducing its
impact within the communities.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a virus that attacks and weakens an
individual's white blood cells, thereby reducing the body's ability to fight infections.
Nonetheless, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is the last stage of an individual
with HIV, whereby all the white blood cells are destroyed, thereby damaging the immune
system. HIV has its roots in Kinshasa, Congo, in the mid-1920s when the virus crossed species
from apes to humans. Nonetheless, the epidemic only started in the mid-1970s and spread to
other continents by 1980 due to European colonization in Africa (Avert, 2018). This infectious
disease did not spread as quickly as the current diseases due to the low human cross-border
interactions. By the mid-1980s, the disease was present in several global countries infecting
close to 300,000 individuals. This was so fast since the healthcare agencies did not have
informative research or data to reduce the disease's adverse effects.
HIV spread into a global pandemic due to a lack of information. During the outbreak,
people and global administrations developed different explanations and conspiracy theories
trying to explain the disease. For instance, in Africa, HIV was linked to the wrath of the gods in
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