According to the statistics, the AIDS epidemic has killed roughly 35 million people since the 1980s, and many others are still infected. Based on the estimates, around two million people contract this virus every year.
In addition, over one million patients die each every due to this devastating infection. The World Health Organization has recently warned everyone about the risk of AIDS. The experts underline that people should have better access to testing.
- In 2015, approximately 40 percent of infected people, meaning 14 million, were oblivious to the fact that they were carrying the deadliest virus of the 21st century.
- Scientists are conducting a comprehensive research to develop a combination of antibodies which are expected to suppress the infection for six to twelve months.
- If this treatment pays off, HIV patients won’t need to take any other drugs.
- Public health specialists underline that the AIDS epidemic is far from being over because the number of cases is still high in many regions of the world.
Fortunately, AIDS is no longer considered an immediate death sentence thanks to the latest medical advances. Researchers have developed various medications during the past three decades and successfully turned AIDS into a manageable condition.
However, there is a high prevalence of opioid use across the U.S., and it has become a major factor influencing the spread of HIV in many local communities. Many patients who are addicted to opioid medications start using injectable drugs such as heroin.
Unfortunately, many of these people use needles that are not sterile, based on the latest report released by the CDC. According to the statistics, roughly nine percent of all HIV infections which occur in the country every year are among those who use injectable drugs.
HIV represents a public health concern not just in the United States but also in Africa and Europe.
Although the number of diseases in intravenous drug users dropped 90 % since 1993, more people are using injectable drugs nowadays, thus facilitating the spread of the AIDS epidemic. According to Dr. Cyprian Wejnert, a CDC epidemiologist, intravenous drug use represents the primary HIV cause across the United States.
Therefore, public health specialists emphasize that if the widely-spread opioid use is stopped, then the AIDS epidemic will come to an end as well.
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