AIDS, HIV & STDs

That HIV infection and AIDS have become a major worldwide public health problem is an excepted fact of life these days. Certainly, the importance, danger and costs of HIV/AIDS cannot be understated or underestimated. While we are fortunate that the dire predictions of the mid-1980s have not come to pass -- at least for the United States and Europe -- the impact of HIV/AIDS of world society is still highly significant.

HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a virus that attacks the immune system, making it difficult for the body to fight off infection and diseases. HIV infection eventually results in AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). This conversion to AIDS may result after 12 or 13 years after the initial infection. Initial HIV symptoms are similar to those of the flu and include fatigue, fever, weight loss, and swollen lymph nodes in the neck, armpits, or groin. Although there is currently no cure for HIV infection, a combination of medications called Highly Active AntiRetroviral Therapy (HAART), and now referred to as AART, helps prolong life in many people. As noted above, person with HIV infection may live for many years before developing any signs of AIDS.

While HIV/AIDS isn’t found in the headlines as much as during the disease’s discovery, more people in the United States are living with HIV/AIDS than ever before. While the incidence of HIV infection in the United States was approximately 0.25% of the population ten to fifteen years ago, it is now approximately 0.47% -- and the population in general has grown.

For this reason, it is important to understand the trends in HIV/AIDS epidemiology and the potential impacts on economies and societies as a whole. These trends emphasize the strategic need for preventive approaches, clinical testing technologies and products, and new therapeutics. Many market research reports provide such information.