The Symptoms of HIV & AIDS

In the late 70's early 80's a new disease came onto the scene and was labeled the new plague. Prior to 1981, there were about 100 cases of HIV diagnosed; but many wonder how many people were diagnosed with some other disease rather than HIV. It is a known fact that scientists and doctors do not name or diagnose diseases till those diseases are understood and it has been proven that the symptoms are not linked to some other virus or disease.

Of these 100 that were officially diagnosed, about 30 were specifically said to have died of HIV complications. In total, since HIV was named and labeled, over 1.14 million people have been diagnosed. In that same time period, over 550,000 people have died because of it. To put this number into perspective, it is almost as large as the population of Washington DC. The number of infected people increased steadily till 1995 when it dropped a little more than 3000 people. Since that point the number has steadily dropped nationwide. However, Latinos, African Americans, and the over 60 population have threatened to increase the number of infected after over a decade of steady decline. The over 60 population, who have never had to think about safe sex, are now facing an increase of late in life divorce and pills such as Viagra, and are becoming infected in record numbers.

The Latino and African-American population are showing signs of becoming indifferent about the disease to the point of not caring. Many young men and women in both populations have come to see this as a game of Russian roulette. However, the increase is also in line with a decline of economic status for both of these races. The statistics show an improvement, but these numbers can only continue to drop if we want them to.