The Modern Plague: Protecting Yourself, Your Community Against HIV
To lessen the devastating impact HIV has on people's lives, healthcare professionals advise that you maintain a monogamous relationship with an HIV negative person, abstain from sexual intercourse, or use a condom 100% of the time. Do not use needle...
Risky Business: Making Choices
The surging incidence of sexually transmitted diseases demands a reexamination of attitudes about sexual behavior As Dr. Alexandra Levine states: "As a society that's hard to do, but that's the real issue. Who is that partner? How important is he to...
The Modern Plague: Rumblings, New Disease Rumored
The year was 1981. Reports of a strange disease that was attacking seemingly healthy young men began to spread through the medical community. The most important thing initially was to construct a case definition for what is now called AIDS. The comb...
The Modern Plague: Search for an HIV Vaccine
The development of a vaccine against HIV is proving to be a daunting task. Alexandra Levine talks of her work with Jonas Salk on what was to be his last major project, looking for either a way to kill the virus or use it as a therapeutic vaccine dur...
The Modern Plague: Identifying the Virus and Its Effects
In record time, using technical means not available a few years earlier, scientists isolated and identified the virus they called HIV--Human Immunodeficiency Virus. The virus, which multiplies rapidly in the body, attaches itself to the T4 cell, the...
The Modern Plague: Emerging Treatment Protocols for HIV
Prior to the development of new drugs, a person who developed full-blown AIDS had 1 to 2 years to live. In 1987 the very first anti-HIV drug was developed. Of the ninety patients who received the drug, Steve Pieters was the only one to experience po...
The Modern Plague: Fear Among Healthcare Providers; Public Complacency
At the beginning of the epidemic, fear was the bottom line, particularly among healthcare providers. Some healthcare providers refused to take care of these patients. Initially the public was complacent, lulled by the fact that many people considere...
The Modern Plague: Worldwide Efforts to Stem the Spread of HIV
HIV and AIDs are decimating populations in Africa, parts of Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent, affecting whole generations of families In resource-poor areas of the world and major population areas, public health officials struggle to ste...
The Modern Plague: Victims of HIV: A Changing Picture
The death rate due to AIDS continues to decline as a result of more sophisticated testing and treatment, but the incidence of HIV infection continues is increasing among women, minorities, heterosexuals, and adolescents. Sandra McDonald shares her e...