HIV/AIDS is a disease that attacks and weakens the human immune system. It is caused by the HIV virus and develops into AIDS when untreated. Around 34 million people worldwide are currently infected. HIV is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids and there is no cure, though treatment can control it. Research continues on treatments and a potential vaccine due to HIV's ability to rapidly mutate.

1. HIV/AIDS
A Mobius disease project

2. Identification
• HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus.
• AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.
• AIDS is the late stage of HIV infection. It develops once
the immune system is seriously damaged. 5
Discoverers of HIV won nobel prize in 2008
Harald zur Hausen, Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, Luc Montagnier6

3. Demographics
• HIV/AIDS is widespread enough to be considered
ubiquitous worldwide. It is not associated with any specific
region.
• HIV affects about 0.6% of the world's population, and has
killed more than 25 million people since its discovery in
1981.
• Around 34 million people worldwide currently have HIV/
AIDS.
• Over 2.7 million people were infected with HIV in 2010.2

4. People living with HIV

5. HIV
• HIV attacks and destroys the
human immune system over
time. It uses the cells of the
immune system for
reproduction.
• It can be contracted by contact
with bodily fluids with an
infected person, usually through
sharing of needles or
unprotected sex.
• It is descended from Simian
Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV),
but is specific to humans.3

6. Natural Resistance
• While no one is completely immune to HIV, some people
are naturally resistant to the virus.
• Resistant people can come from anywhere in Asia and
Europe, but most are of Northern European descent
• This resistance is attributed to two mutated
chromosomes.
• Resistance is believed to be related to smallpox or
plague.
• Those with the highest level of resistance lack a CCR5
receptor, which the virus must attach to in order to infect
a cell.1

8. Impact
• The Global Fund has been created to fight AIDS, HIV,
Malaria, and Tuberculosis, and to help reduce poverty.
• Early misconceptions about HIV/AIDS caused the
creation of numerous stereotypes. The most prolific
stereotype called it the "gay man's disease." People with
AIDS would be alienated and shunned by even their
closest friends and family.
• The AIDS epidemic was responsible for 3.7% of the
estimated 57 million deaths worldwide in 2008.7

9. Presentation and Manifestation
• HIV has two or three stages depending on the
individual: The acute stage, the chronic stage, and
AIDS.
• HIV does not cause the death of an individual, it makes
the body more susceptible to other illnesses.3

10. Acute Stage
• Begins two to four weeks after patient is infected.
• Caused by a period of extremely fast replication.
• During this stage a patient suffers from influenza-like
symptoms (fever, lymphadenopathy, nausea, headache,
etc.).
• Usually lasts ~ 28 days though it can be longer.
• During this stage, the HIV infection is usually
misdiagnosed as a different illness.3

11. Chronic Stage
• The chronic stage is the second stage of the HIV
infection.
• The beginning of the chronic stage is marked by the
disappearance of the acute stage symptoms.
• During the chronic stage the virus resides mostly in the
lymph nodes, causing them to be constantly swollen.
‣ this is because of the large number of viruses trapped
in the follicular dendritic cells.3

12. AIDS
• AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.
• AIDS is the third stage of the HIV infection.
• This stage is marked when the number of T-Cells drops
below 200 per microliter of blood.
• HIV patients suffering from AIDS have a high risk of
developing other illnesses due to their compromised
immune system.
• Some patients will never develop AIDS.3

13. Contraction
• HIV is contracted through blood to blood contact,
unprotected sex, and breast milk
• HIV is NOT contracted from saliva, skin contact, or air
contamination. 2

14. Prevention and Cure
• There is currently no cure for HIV/AIDS. The virus
reproduces so quickly that a single strain can't be
isolated. Because of this no medicine will get rid of all the
viruses in a person.
• The best hope for HIV patients is to go through highly
active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) which is a
combination of at least two antiretroviral medicines.4

15. Prevention and Cure
• There is one case in which an HIV positive 40-year-old
man was cured of HIV.
• The man was given stem cell transplants in order to treat
for myeloid leukemia, and then another transplant after it
relapsed.
• After 20 months doctors reported that HIV levels in the
patient's blood, bone marrow, and bowel were below the
detectable limit.
• Some call this a cure while other still think the virus is
hidden somewhere else in his body.4

16. Additional Research
• Why is HIV’s fast replication rate such a problem?
• The fast replication rate of HIV causes there to be
more variability in the viruses; this leads to a single
individual having multiple strains of HIV at once.
Because of this normal viral vaccination, which is
done by infecting an individual with non-dangerous
form of a virus so that their immune system is able
to build an immunity to it, doesn’t work as there are
so many different varieties.3

17. Additional Research
• Why is it that HIV is so prevalent in Africa?
• HIV is extremely prevalent in Africa because many
of those those infected with HIV are unable to
receive proper medical attention and HIV positive
mothers pass the virus on to their children because
breast milk is the only way they are able the feed
them as infants.2

19. References
1. Dotinga, R. (2005, July 01). Genetic HIV Resistance Deciphered. Retrieved February 10, 2012, from
http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/news/2005/01/66198?currentPage=all
2. Pisani, E. (2011, September 3). HIV. New Scientist, 211(2828), i-8.
3. Rambaut, A., Posada, D., Crandall, K.A., & Holmes, E.C. (2004, January). The Causes and Consequences of HIV
Evolution. Nature, 5, 52-61
4. Rawlings, N. (2011, December 26). Untold Stories. Time, 178(25), 34. Retrieved February 15, 2012, from
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ulh&AN=69840728&site=src-live
5. Stein, J. M. (1975). The Random House College Dictionary. (Revised ed., Vol. 1). New York, NY: Random House
Reference
6. The Nobel Foundation. (2012, February 28). The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2008. Retrieved February
15, 2012, from http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2008/index.html
7. World Health Organization. (2011, June). World Health Organization Fact Sheets. Retrieved February 15, 2012, from
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs310/en/index.html