Time Frame

• HIV, or the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, can incubate for a lengthy period of time. It is mostly spread by sexual transmission of bodily fluids, as well as by blood transfusion. Once HIV manifests itself, your body becomes more susceptible to disease, because the virus attacks the immune system. HIV does this by existing both as free particles and as a virus within cells, making it tough for the body to fight unaided. Also complicating matters is that HIV has no specific genetic pattern or target. In other words, almost everyone who is exposed shares the same risks.
  
  HIV starts with the incubation period. The virus can hide in your body from 2 to 4 weeks. The acute infection stage lasts almost a month. Fever, sore throat, rashes, muscle pain and swollen lymph nodes signify the initial development of HIV. Sores begin to appear around the mouth and throat. During the latency stage, all of those symptoms can go away for a number of weeks or even years before finally developing into Auto Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). AIDS is the resulting loss of the cell's total ability to fight diseases. Unexplained weight loss, lung infections, rashes and mouth sores are all signs of AIDS. From there, your body becomes extremely vulnerable to hepatitis, tuberculosis, herpes and pneumonia.
  
  

Geography

• HIV is a truly global disease. Almost half of all new HIV infections are in people 25 and under. As of 2007, an estimated 33 million people live with HIV or AIDS. Although 22 million infected people live in Sub-Saharan Africa, North America has 2 million people carrying the virus. Europe claims 1.5 million infected, while Latin America counts 1.7 million. Since 1981, 25 million people have died from AIDS.
  
  

History

• Documented HIV cases first appeared in 1981. HIV is thought to have evolved from a simian immunodeficiency virus that jumped from infected monkeys to human beings. Although deaths as early as the 1950s are suspected to have been from HIV, one of the first confirmed cases of HIV deaths involved an entire family in 1976. Arvid Noe, his wife and 9-year-old daughter all died from AIDS. A tissue-sample test conducted in 1988 revealed that both he and his wife had the HIV virus. Noe may have contracted it in 1969 when he was sexually active in West Africa.
  
  

Misconceptions

• Strong misconceptions about HIV exist even today. Although HIV was widespread in the gay community during the discovery period of the ailment, it is not a strictly gay disease. HIV is also not spread solely by men who are sexually active with multiple partners. Women are proportionally diagnosed at higher rates in certain years. The suspected reason is unclean surgical operations in poverty-stricken countries.
  
  

Prevention/Solution

• Although HIV infections are not limited to sexual transmission, prevention and reduction of its spread mostly rely on sexual lifestyle changes. Abstinence is obviously the best way to prevent getting HIV. But if you are sexually active, it is strongly encouraged that you use condoms. Also, complete honesty between sexual partners can help avert the risk of HIV infection. Knowing the sexual history of your partner and getting tested before having sex can prevent the spread of HIV.