How is HIV spread all over the world?

In 1959, the first patient infected with HIV was identified. Nearly 60 years have passed, people still have to accept living with "century diseases".

In the 80s and 90s of the twentieth century, HIV-infected patients are expected to die soon. Therefore, they quit their jobs, withdrew their pensions and tried to enjoy the final days. Decades later, thousands of people infected with HIV in the UK, the United States and other countries around the world are entering old age, which they think they will never see.

Many of them survived the discovery in the early 90s. They considered it a miracle. However, their life when they get old is full of bitterness. Most live in poverty and have long had no chance of finding jobs. More than half of the life of using powerful special medicines also has a significant effect. In addition to physical problems caused by HIV, they also have a high incidence of mental illness.

Many HIV-infected patients survived with the help of drugs.(Photo: Canada).

Now, HIV patients no longer face death, but loneliness will cling to them for the rest of their lives. The virus that causes this "century disease" is constantly changing and so far, no medicine has completely destroyed it.

What is HIV?

, a virus that attacks the immune system, especially CD4 or T-cells . The virus spreads from person to person through body fluids such as blood, sperm, vaginal fluids . Historically, HIV has been spread primarily through unprotected sex, sharing needles and from mothers to mothers. baby

Over time, HIV destroys many CD4 cells to the extent that the body cannot fight infection and disease, leading to the most severe stages of the disease:. People with AIDS are often unable to cope with diseases and can die from common infections such as pneumonia.

What makes HIV scary is that they are capable of continuous evolution, making it impossible to find a vaccine to prevent this virus.

HIV is a lentivirus (retrovirus) that attacks the human immune system. Researchers found that HIV with Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) affects monkeys and primates. There are many similarities between these two viruses. In particular, HIV-1 has a close relative to a type of SIV found in chimpanzees, while HIV-2 is closely related to a SIV strip found in sooty mangabey.

In 1999, scientists found a strip of SIV in chimpanzees almost identical to human HIV. They concluded that chimpanzees were the source of HIV-1 , and at some point, the virus spread from chimpanzees to humans. These chimpanzees hunt and eat two smaller monkeys - these prey spread two different SIV strips to them. These two SIV strips then combine to produce a third virus (SIVcpz) that can be transmitted from one chimp to another. This is also the virus range affecting people.

HIV virus in human blood.(Photo: Avert).

The most widely accepted hypothesis is that SIVcpz is transmitted to humans when they kill and eat chimpanzees, or get infected from blood sticking to the wound while hunting them. Usually, the human body can resist SIV. However, in some cases, the virus adapts itself to the human host and becomes HIV-1.

HIV has four main groups (M, N, O and P) with slightly different genetic differences. In particular, the M group is the virus that has spread all over the world and accounts for the majority of current HIV infections.

HIV-2 comes from SIVsmm in sooty mangabey monkey and infected people in the same way (through monkey hunting and eating meat). However, this virus is more rare, affecting fewer people, mainly in some West African countries.

From the first case to the road spread throughout the world

The first case of HIV was identified in 1959, from the blood sample of a man in the current area of ​​Kinshasa in the Republic of Congo. Blood samples were analyzed and HIV virus was detected. Previously, many cases of death due to normal illnesses may indicate that HIV is the cause, but this is the first time that a blood sample confirms a patient with this virus.

Since then, scientists have established a 'genealogical tree' that shows the route of HIV transmission in the world and traces out where this dreaded disease arises. The study concluded that the first cases in which SIV changed to HIV in humans took place around 1920 in Kinshasa, Congo. This is also the region with the most genetically diverse HIV strips in the world, showing that different times of SIV are transmitted to humans. Many of the first AIDS cases were also recorded here.

The areas around Kinshasa have many roads, and also the place where prostitution takes place strongly at that time. HIV spreads gradually through migration and prostitution. By 1937, this frightening virus went to Brazzaville 120 kilometers west of Kinshasa.

In the 1960s, HIV from Africa went to Haiti and the Caribbean when the number of Haitians working in Congo at that time returned to their homeland. From Haiti, the HIV virus arrived in the United States around 1970 and spread to major cities. By the 1980s, this deadly virus was present in five continents around the world.

Initially, the disease did not have an official name. By September 1982, the disease was named AIDS. In 1983, researchers at the Pasteur Institute (France) separated and identified the HIV virus. Originally known as Lymphadenopathy-Associated Virus (LAV), this virus is confirmed to be the cause of AIDS. Scientists at the US National Cancer Institute also found the same virus and named it HTLV-III. Later, LAV and HTLV-III were recognized as one, and the current name for this virus is HIV.

Drugs that combine life-sustaining for HIV-infected people, but have many effects on both their health and well-being.(Photo: NPR).

Can HIV-infected people live as long as ordinary people?

In 1987, the first antiretroviral drug for HIV treatment called Azidothymidine (AZT) was put into use. To date, many drugs have been used in combination with highly active antiretroviral and antiretroviral therapy. They act on a mechanism to prevent HIV virus from multiplying, giving the immune system an opportunity to recover and fight HIV infections and diseases. These therapies help reduce the risk of transmission, including from mother to fetus.

Surprisingly, some people have innate immunity to HIV, thanks to a mutation in the CCR5 gene . The researchers tested injecting stem cells containing the mutant CCR5 gene for HIV-infected mice. The results show that these cells are able to resist and destroy the virus, and can multiply and create long-term anti-HIV cell sources. This process is being tested on people and opens new hope for people with HIV.

Thanks to the development of medicine, HIV patients are able to maintain life for decades and continue to expect one day to cure the disease completely.