Home » Science & Nature » Microbiology » What Do You Know About AIDS? Part 1 of 3

What Do You Know About AIDS? Part 1 of 3

© Neal Rolfe Chamberlain

In 1993 the leading cause of death in the United States for persons from 25 to 44 years of age was AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficency Syndrome). AIDS is currently the 2nd most common cause of death in 25 to 44 year olds (1996 statistics from Centers for Disease Control). This drop in the death rate of people in this age group has been attributed to better education of children in their primary and secondary schools (kindergarten through 12th grade) and to better treatments that have increased the life expectancy of HIV infected patients (HIV= Human Immunodeficiency Virus).

Unfortunately, this disease is still a major cause of death. The World Health Organization estimated in 1998 that 30 million people worldwide were living with HIV/AIDS and that 10,000 new HIV infections occur each DAY (1). Last year, 40,000 new HIV infections were reported in the United States. Fifty percent of those new HIV infected people were under the age of 25. Currently, the leading cause of HIV infection in women in the United States is due to HETEROSEXUAL contact. Intravenous drug use is NO longer the leading cause of HIV infection in women in the United States. There has been a 14 percent increase in heterosexually acquired AIDS cases in African American Men and a 12 percent increase in heterosexually acquired AIDS cases in African American Women. Racial distribution of AIDS in U.S is Causcasian non-hispanic - 54 percent; African American- 29 percent(yet 12 percent of the population is African American); and Caucasian Hispanic - 16 percent (yet 6 percent of the population is Hispanic).

A recent survey of Community College students showed that AIDS ranked third on a list of life's worries, behind getting bad grades and the death of a family member (2). For African American and Hispanic students, getting AIDS ranked first on a list of life's worries. Students reporting high-risk behavior for getting HIV also ranked getting AIDS first on their list of life's worries. Education of our young people is a crucial task in the fight against AIDS. More needs to be done to tell people how to avoid getting this deadly disease. The current drug therapies do NOT cure someone with HIV infection or with AIDS.

A longitudinal study (from 1992-1998) revealed that non-science major students' knowledge/awareness about AIDS and how AIDS is and is not transmitted has improved since 1992. Even though students' knowledge/awareness has increased a 1998 survey of these students revealed that fewer than half (41 percent) knew that heterosexual sex is the primary method of transmission of HIV in the world. Slightly less than half (47

The copyright of the article What Do You Know About AIDS? Part 1 of 3 in Microbiology is owned by . Permission to republish What Do You Know About AIDS? Part 1 of 3 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.