Download AIDS 101 Part 2

HIV/AIDS 101… continued
Anthropology 393 – Cultural
Construction of HIV/AIDS
Josephine MacIntosh
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Questions from Yesterday
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What is Selenium?
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A trace mineral that is essential to good health
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Incorporated into proteins to make
selenoproteins -- important antioxidant enzymes
Help prevent cellular damage from free radicals

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Only required in small amounts
Free radicals linked to chronic diseases such as cancer
and heart disease
Other selenoproteins help regulate thyroid
function and play a role in the immune system
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What Foods Provide Selenium?
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Plant foods, some meats and seafood
Some nuts (especially Brazil nuts)
BUT… the selenium content in food depends
on the selenium content of the soil it was
raised in/on
Selenium deficiency most often reported in
regions with low selenium content in the soil
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Recall…
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Blood transfusion is the most
efficient route for HIV infection
Sexual transmission is the most
common route of infection
75% to 85% of all HIV infections are
sexually transmitted
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Evolution of a Pandemic
“We typically think of a new epidemic in
a ‘virgin’ population as something that
arises suddenly, sweeps through the
population in a few months, and then
wanes and disappears” (Anderson, 1996:71).
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Epidemic Curves

Classical epidemic curve is bell-shaped

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Steepness of slope is a measure of infectivity or
contagion
Length of the curve describes duration of epidemic
Highly infectious diseases (like measles):

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Short period of infectiousness (generally 2 weeks)
Relatively short duration (typically 6 months to a
year)
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Epidemic Curves

Not so with HIV/AIDS
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Marked by elongated curve

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Lengthy period of infectivity, enduring over
generations
Several distinct peaks

As it moves through different populations
(MSMs, IDUs, etc)
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Infectious Diseases Can Be…

Endemic

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Relatively low but constant presence of the
disease in a specific geographic area or
population group
Epidemic

More cases of a disease occur than are
expected in a given area or group
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Infectious Diseases Can Be…

Pandemic
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When an epidemic affects large proportions
of a population and spans a wide area
(several countries or continents
HIV/AIDS
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May have been endemic to a specific
region
Is currently a full-fledged epidemic
Global distribution gives it pandemic status
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Incidence Vs. Prevalence

Incidence

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Refers to the total number of persons who
became newly infected in a given year
Prevalence

Refers to the total number of persons who
were living with the infection at the end of a
given time period
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Doing the Math


In a 1988 study, a mathematical model was
used to predict future HIV infection rates
based on known AIDS cases
The prediction: A “slow but continuous
development of the AIDS epidemic over many
decades...where the numbers of cases of HIV
infection (and hence AIDS) increase faster as
time goes on, in compound interest fashion”
(Anderson & May, 1992:58)
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Doing the Math

Using this mathematical model and assuming:
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Exponential growth
A doubling time of 3 years
It would take:
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30 years for the prevalence of HIV to change from
0.001% to a detectable level of 1%
3 years to change from 10 to 20 percent
(Anderson & May, 1992:59)
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Doing the Math
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Currently, the epidemic is spreading at twice
the initial predicted rate
Between 1999 & 2002, infection rates have:
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DOUBLED in East Asia & the Pacific
Increased 2 ½ times in North Africa & Middle East
Almost TRIPLED in Eastern Europe & Central Asia
Eastern Europe & Central Asia currently have
the fastest-growing epidemic in the world
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Global summary of the HIV and AIDS epidemic,
December 2004
Number of people living with HIV in 2004
**Prevalence
People newly infected with HIV in 2004
**Incidence
AIDS deaths in 2004
Total
39.4 million (35.9 – 44.3 million)
Adults
37.2 million (33.8 – 41.7 million)
Women
17.6 million (16.3 – 19.5 million)
Children under 15 years
2.2 million (2.0 – 2.6 million)
Total
4.9 million (4.3 – 6.4 million)
Adults
4.3 million (3.7 – 5.7 million)
Children under 15 years
640 000 (570 000 – 750 000)
Total
3.1 million (2.8 – 3.5 million)
Adults
2.6 million (2.3 – 2.9 million)
Children under 15 years
510 000 (460 000 – 600 000)
The ranges around the estimates in this table define the boundaries within which the actual numbers lie, based on the best available information.
00003-E-1 – December 2004
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Adults and children estimated to be living
with HIV as of end 2004
Western & Central
Europe
North America
1.0 million
[540 000 – 1.6 million]
Caribbean
440 000
[270 000 – 780 000]
Latin America
1.7 million
[1.3 – 2.2 million]
610 000
[480 000 – 760 000]
Eastern Europe
& Central Asia
1.4 million
[920 000 – 2.1 million] East Asia
North Africa & Middle East
540 000
[230 000 – 1.5 million]
Sub-Saharan Africa
25.4 million
[23.4 – 28.4 million]
1.1 million
[560 000 – 1.8 million]
South & South-East Asia
7.1 million
[4.4 – 10.6 million]
Oceania
35 000
[25 000 – 48 000]
Total: 39.4 (35.9 – 44.3) million
00003-E-4 – December 2004
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