AIDS is the final, life-threatening stage of the infection with human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV. AIDS stands for acquired immunodeficiecy syndrome. The name refers to the fact that HIV severely damages the patient’s disease-fighting immune system. Cases of AIDS were first identified in 1981 in the United States, but scientists have traced cases to as early as 1959. Millions of AIDS cases have been diagnosed worldwide. HIV can be present in the body for 2 to 12 years …showed first 75 words of 434 total…

…showed last 75 words of 434 total…continue to seek more effective and safer anti-viral drugs. They believe any eventual cure for AIDS must stop the growth of the virus, prevent opportunistic illnesses, and restore the immune system. To prevent transmission of the AIDS virus, intimate sexual contact with anyone infected must be avoided. Medical and public health authorities have recommended that a condom be used every time sexual intercourse occurs with an infected person or with someone whose status is unknown.