HIV Infection and AIDS - Research Paper Example

AIDS and HIV Probably, there are no one in the modern world who doesn’t know what HIV infection and AIDS are. The issue of this infection has been a great concern for global community for recent years and even decades. This disease has already caused deaths of millions of people and continues to pose significant danger because of its pandemic nature. Epidemiological picture of HIV is rather grave nowadays: by the end of 2011, 60 million people had been infected by the virus. In 1981 American scientists discovered the first cases of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome in gay men: this conclusion was made based on the unusual clusters of pneumocystic pneumonia and Kaposi’s sarcoma (Morison). Since that time, as the number of victims has increased a lot, medical science has been making progressive discoveries concerning HIV, AIDS and the ways of its treatment. According to researchers, HIV virus cannot cause death or disease on its own, it is AIDS that is caused by HIV virus destroying immunity of an individual. “The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has been decisively established as the cause of AIDS” (Canadian AIDS Society). The 2012’s data showed that about 35 million people worldwide live with HIV virus with the lion’s share of them still alive owing to antiretroviral therapy. More than 60% of HIV positive people live in Africa in sub-Saharan areas. Here, the outbreak of HIV infection began in late 1970’s – early 1980’s. Then it spread to the U.S., Western Europe, countries of South Africa and further: nowadays, the most vulnerable regions’ list includes Central Asia and Eastern Europe. However, there are factors explaining uneven epidemiological pattern. AIDS is first of all a social disease. And only then a medical one. Thus, the level of contagion varies throughout the world, depending on numerous factors of influence. The level of AIDS contagion varies from continent to continent due to influence of social, economic, political, cultural, religious and psychophysiological factors. Considering effect of social factor, one could take social stratification peculiarities into account. This includes social differentiation between the rich and the poor: if the gap between this two strata is broadened because of absence of the middle class, such society will be extremely vulnerable to spread of infection. It has been proved throughout the history of humanity that all the vices are typical mainly for those who are extremely wealthy and those beyond the poverty line. That is why this social factor creates fertile soil for spreading of HIV virus, as transmission of the virus via sexual contacts is the most common type worldwide (Morison). The same concerns drug addicts who take in drugs via injections. The second social factor implies increase in the number of marginalized individuals in the recent years, i.e. the number of people who lost connection with their social groups has been increasing considerably. This stratum of society includes drug addicts and prostitutes who –according to sociological researches – have no regular job and are the most vulnerable group in terms of the virus transmission. Economic factor influencing HIV spread incorporates two aspects. The first one concerns the level of healthcare funding and absence of proper preventive measures. Obviously, this aspect depends on development level of certain countries, increasing the risk of contagion in underdeveloped and unindustrialized countries. Regions having shortage in funding fail to deliver necessary information to citizens, to arrange proper epidemiology surveillance and to take preventive measures in order to reduce the risk. The second aspect here is the local standard of living which produces great impact on the level of HIV transmission and spread. Extremely low incomes are the main source of such phenomenon as prostitution and impair the overall condition of the society, encouraging decline in morality, unprotected sex (as people living beyond the poverty line often cannot afford contraception), use of drugs etc. Thus, economic factor influencing the scale of HIV spread incorporates financial conditions on the part of the state and on the part of its population. Religious factor is also believed to be significant in predetermining spread of the virus in society. As it is closely connected to morality, it becomes obvious that the level of commitment to religion in a society defines the level of morality to certain extent. Then the conclusion follows that an individual keeping faith in his/her heart and adhering to religious commandments is expected to lead a certain righteous way of life excluding the probability of HIV transition. Psychophysiological factor implies increasing pace of acceleration and early sexual maturation in teenagers. As a result, adolescents tend to enter sexual relationships at an early age, neglecting elementary rules and norms of safe sex and contraception. Another hypothesis about the factor predeterminimg high level of HIV contagion in sub-Saharan Africa was described by the Nigerian scholar Joseph Muta’a Hellandendu. According to his theory, high level of HIV spread in countries of this region could be explained by the peculiarities of culture and attributed to prevailing dominance-subservience type of relationships – in gender, economic and international issues (Hellandendu). Inequality promoted in society makes women living in countries of this region extremely vulnerable to HIV transmission: whereas their rights in control of their sexual lives are very restricted, men are allowed to have more than one partner and make all the decisions concerning their sexual lives, depriving women of choice, let alone the opportunity to use contraception. Another widespread practice is providing sexual services on the commercial basis: women form rural areas tend to move to cities seeking better financial conditions and get involved in sex industry – a factor increasing risk of HIV transmission greatly (Hellandendu). Thus, promiscuity, poor sanitation, lack of contraception and inequality typical for sub-African countries contribute to spread of the disease. As the result, countries with poor living conditions like those of sub-Saharan region have extremely high rates of HIV infection with about 70 per cent of HIV positive people living in Sub-Saharan Africa (Okeregbe). Conventional studies tend to attribute origins of the virus to African primates that are believed to have carried the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus until it was transmitted to human beings (Sharp & Hahn). There is also assumption that HIV has long existed among aboriginal settlements of Central Africa and only spread around the world in the 20th century due to the increasing migration processes. Different Point of View Existence of AIDS as an outcome of HIV presence in a human organism has been supported by numerous studies and authoritative scholars’ opinions; the dangerous and contagious pandemic drawn global community together in the struggle against it; numerous organizations were established for surveillance, statistical analysis and prevention of HIV/AIDS spread. HIV positive people have to take antiretroviral medication and suffer from social depreciation and treatment stained by prejudice. However, although the evidences supporting the theory of HIV causing AIDS might seem rather convincing and plausible, this global concern is basically a mythical creation. The main statement of AIDS denialism is that HIV isn’t a cause of AIDS development, hence AUDS is just another myth created by power players. According to the data provided by UN’s World Health Organization, struggle against AIDS devours 10 billion dollars every year, and annual income from pharmaceutical products for HIV positive patients makes up about 150 billion. However, AIDS takes away around 3 million lives annually, and searches for a medicine or vaccine that would fight this grave disease end up in nothing. According to the “dissidents” from medicine, viral nature of AIDS can be refuted, and this disease is actually far from what people think it to be. The first argument: are the tests reliable? Robert Gallo, a prominent American scientist in virology, is considered to be the “father” of HIV – in other words, this man was the first to identify the virus based on the data about immune bodies in blood of patients. Moreover, this method was suggested as a variant of testing for HIV. On the other hand, skepticism arose just after discovery of the virus. One of the leading AIDS-dissidents, Peter Duesberg, cast doubt on Gallo’s methodology. According to his statement, science doesn’t know any hidden viruses that would be identified by immune bodies and cause lethal diseases (Duesberg). The virus can reproduce itself every 24 hours, similar to any other; hence the incubative stage of the disease should last no more than several weeks, though scientists claim this period to last for 5 to 10 years, which is rather strange. Such a long period of development is typical rather for such accumulative diseases as lung cancer in smokers and liver cirrhosis in alcohol addicts. At the same time, it has been stated by many scientists that HIV is a passenger virus that is incapable of changing the nature of a cell and intruding diseases into an organism. If that wasn’t so, the effect would be produced rapidly after the virus began reproduction process in the cells. However, HIV as a passenger virus feeds on the cell and lives inside it, yet doesn’t harm or destroy it. To add more, Gallo’s French colleague Luc Montagnier who also provided one of the first descriptions of HIV, admitted in 1989 that it is unable to destroy immune system in the way AIDS does it. In the documentary House of Numbers, he stated that an individual can get exposed to the virus many times, yet he/she won’t be chronically infected as the organism will get rid of it in several weeks on the condition that immune system works properly (Leung). So, one of the co-founders of HIV eventually refuted his previous hypotheses about the nature of HIV and AIDS. Further studies of scientists have revealed that experiments and tests conducted by Gallo “did not constitute proof of HIV isolation or an unambiguous role for HIV in the pathogenesis of AIDS” (Papadopulos-Eleopulos et al.). Generally, as world medicine still uses HIV testing methods suggested by Gallo (though they have been proved to be inadequate), many people may get positive HIV result. The explanation is rather simple: test focuses on the number of immune bodies in blood, large irregular clusters of which can occur as a result of any other disease that “activates” defense system of an organism. Thus, the test identifies only immune bodies and not the virus itself. The second argument Another argument proving deceptive nature of AIDS myth is the following. Sharp and Hahn state that the virus was initially typical for African primates, however, it is remarkable that it was transmitted to human beings only on the edge of 1970’s and 1980’s. Why? There are many strange factors – often almost unbelievable coincidences – supporting the theory about AIDS’ unnatural origins. As an inflectional disease, HIV/AIDS should have been less selective in the “choice” of victims, as it is typical for an epidemic disease to spread rapidly and affect absolutely any human being who is vulnerable to it. Having analyzed statistical data on HIV infection in the end of 1980’s, Peter Duesberg emphasized that 90 per cent of infected people belonged to a rather certain social group – these are white males (in Europe and USA), 30 per cent of which take drug injections and others are homosexuals. At the same time, there are no diseases that would be directly connected with HIV/AIDS. If a lethal outcome occurs, it is usually connected with other hazardous diseases requiring strong immune system to cope with them: these are, e.g., tuberculosis, dementia, mycotic infection, enormous weight loss and others. All the diseases that tend to be connected with AIDS in HIV positive patients are well-known and existed much earlier than these two were discovered. Decrease in immunity can be affected by numerous factors: stress, unhealthy way of life, drug addiction or toxic medication consumption, poor ecological conditions and many others. Immune system can be decreased or weakened in many people, but, obviously, not all of them have AIDS. Thus, basic notions are confused – it isn’t a virus that impairs immune system, but a complex set of factors that lead an individual to disease and death. In addition, drug abuse that is considered to be one of the strongest factors impairing immunity is the key cause of the so called AIDS. This can explain why most of infected patients from the statistics described above were addicted to various sorts of drugs and mainly injection drugs. Killer Medicine, Conspiracy and Depopulation Whereas supporters on the conventional views on AIDS believe that special medications developed by pharmaceutical giants are the only salvation for HIV positive patients, this products are not only useless in treatment of HIV/AIDS, but also very destructive for a “fragile” health of the patients. People diagnosed with HIV in the course of Gallo’s testing are deluded by propaganda and the complex mechanism of deception operating on people’s fear. Keeping in mind conventional pessimistic view, HIV positive people are unaware of the fact that HIV doesn’t mean death sentence. Driven by fear of death, people worldwide get involved in this mechanism of manipulation. It is fear of death that makes patients take expensive medication offered by pharmaceutical companies. However, things are getting even more interesting here. According to Duesberg, many medications and particularly antiretroviral drugs prescribed to HIV positive patients produce devastating effect on immune system of a human being. Eventually, one gets AIDS and dies not of it, but of treatment. At the same time, AIDS – as it is described nowadays – is a disease that breaks functioning of immune system with no explicable reason. Moreover, one of widespread medications of Europe and USA, AZT, the well-known protease inhibitor, is also present in the list of Duesberg. Although this might seem totally absurd, such position is supported by plausible arguments. AZT and other meds prescribed to HIV positive today were initially developed for treatment of cancer and chemical therapy. And it is well-known that it kills cancer cells, killing normal ones as well. In case of HIV, such drugs are used to kill or restrain the virus that hasn’t been proved to be harmful itself, yet killing billions of healthy cells and hence destroying immune system. What is more, although statistical data collected by the UN and other organizations illustrates millions of HIV positive people living in the world, but there have been only several millions of AIDS infected patients out of more than 40 million HIV positive people. In fact, this argument refutes the hypothesis about direct connection between HIV and AIDS. The arguments presented above give reasons to consider the artificial nature of HIV/AIDS. Numerous contradictions in the commonly accepted version of HIV nature and properties have inspired scholars to develop theories of conspiracy. For instance, Nancy Banks as a representative of AIDS dissident movement cultivates a theory of conspiracy on high levels between world’s societies aimed at defending and promoting their interests. For instance, it cannot be so simple that the highest level of HIV contagion and the place of origin of it is Sub-Saharan Africa. This geographical attachment drives one to the assumption that power players are interested in cultivating and using resources that are in abundance in that region. According to Banks, the aim of severe AIDS pandemic in Africa is cleansing the continent of the lion’s share of population in order to freely use its rich resources and extract diamonds (Banks). Emphasis is laid on the factors that can impair immune system of African people, making them vulnerable to deathly diseases. “AIDS is the subterfuge for the economic destruction of a continent and psychological warfare against the African people of the Diaspora” (Banks). AIDS is used as a cover by international corporations and power players defending their interests. Another supporter of a similar point of view is Jon Rappoport, whose article focusing on HIV and AIDS as a tool for depopulation controlled from the outside (Rappoport). Deaths on the continent were first explained with famine, poisoned water other similar reasons; later the plan for gradual depopulation in certain areas of the Earth was vested in the disguise of AIDS. The arguments supporting this point of view are rather plausible, and even for the person who isn’t familiar with it, the question might arise: why is the pandemic so selective, raging in certain areas? This question is relevant as there are many other regions in the world where social and economic factors create fertile soil for HIV contagion. Works Cited: Banks, Nancy. AIDS, Opium, Diamonds and Empire. iUniverse, 2010. The book covers numerous topics including AIDS through the prism of global conspiracy and artificial nature of the described phenomena. Canadian AIDS Society. HIV Causes AIDS - How to Respond to Denialist Arguments, 2001, from: http://www.physics.smu.edu/pseudo/AIDS/Responding_to_HIV_Denialists_En_Red.pdf The report of Canadian AIDS Society was signed by more than 5 thousand scientists and includes information on the controversy between AIDS denialism and adherents of conventional view, telling about the origins of the controversy and supporting the conventional views on HIV and AIDS. Duesberg, P. H. “How much longer can we afford the AIDS virus monopoly?” In: Duesberg, P. (eds.) AIDS: Virus- or Drug Induced?, Kluwer, Dordrecht, Netherlands, 241-270), 1996. The article focusing on AIDS as a myth written by one of leading AIDS dissident who provides rich argumentation refuting existence of AIDS as a result of HIV infection. Hellandendu, Joseph Muta’a. “Contributory Factors to the Spread of HIV/AIDS and it Impacts in Sub-Saharan African Countries”, European Scientific Journal June edition vol. 8, No.14, from: http://eujournal.org/index.php/esj/article/viewFile/218/222 The article written by the Nigerian scientist provides an interesting perspective of the factors influencing high level of HIV spread in Africa. Leung, Brent. Dr. Luc Montagnier on Getting Rid of HIV Naturally, 2009, from: http://reducetheburden.org/dr-luc-montagnier-on-getting-rid-of-hiv-naturally/ Interview with one of the co-founders of HIV and a Nobel Prize winner, highlighting his current opinion on the nature and properties of HIV. Morison, Linda. “The global epidemiology of HIV/AIDS”, British Medical Bulletin (2001) 58 (1), from: http://bmb.oxfordjournals.org/content/58/1/7.full The article by Linda Morison incorporates comprehensive analysis of HIV/AIDS epidemiological situation, examining risk groups, levels of spread and ways of transition. Okeregbe, T. “Global AIDS Pandemic Assumes Scary Dimension”. The Sunday Guardian, 3/12/00, p. 6. The epidemiological picture of AIDS is described and evaluated in this article with the emphasis on the rising level of spread around the world. Papadopulos-Eleopulos, E., Turner, V. F., Papadimitriou, J. M. “Has Gallo Proven the Role of HIV in AIDS?” Emergency Medicine 1993; 5, from: http://www.virusmyth.com/aids/hiv/epgallo.htm The paper evaluates theoretical foundations established by Robert Gallo and analyzes data in order to identify relevance of the hypothesis about HIV and AIDS interrelations. Rappoport, Jon. Depopulation and HIV, 2003, from: http://www.whale.to/b/rappoport.html This article examines AIDS denial point of view in the context of depopulation plan, assuming that HIV and AIDS are used as a cover for real plans of power players. Sharp, Paul M. & Hahn, Beatrice H. “Origins of HIV and the AIDS Pandemic”, CSH Perspectives, 2011, from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3234451/ The origins of HIV are examined in the article, including the virus’ spread from African primates on the human beings. Read More