HIV and AIDS have affected millions of people around the world. Since 1981, there have been 25 million deaths from AIDS, involving men, women and children. Currently, 40 million people are living with HIV and AIDS worldwide and two million die each year from AIDS-related illnesses. The Center for Disease Control estimates that one-third of the million Americans living with HIV do not know they have it. The first known case of HIV was in 1959. It was discovered in a blood sample taken from a man in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. Looking further into the genetics of this blood sample, researchers suggested that it came from a virus dating back to the late 1940s or early 1950s. In 1999, researchers discovered that HIV originated of chimpanzees originating from western equatorial Africa. This epidemic is spreading to all countries and infects 14,000 victims every day. To learn about HIV, you need to know how to get the virus, understand most of the people it affects, how to prevent its spread, and what treatments are available. HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, is a progressive disease that attacks and weakens the immune system. immune system, making the HIV-positive person more susceptible to any illness or infection. Human immunodeficiency virus is caused by the transfer of bodily functions, including blood, breast milk, semen and vaginal secretions. Sex, including oral, vaginal and anal sex, is the most common way to contract HIV. It can also be acquired by injecting a needle into your body that was used by someone with HIV. The virus cannot be spread through the air or through food and water. You also can't get the virus from shaking an HIV-positive person... middle of paper... trying to live a normal life. Scientists are also struggling to create a vaccine to get rid of HIV for good. Practicing safe sex or abstinence and also avoiding using needles to inject drugs is an important decision that saves lives.BibliographyDHH-Office of Public Health. Facts about HIV and AIDS. South Deerfield: Channing Bete Company, 2002. PrintAmerican Social Health Association. Condoms, contraceptives and STIs. Research Triangle Park: American Social Health Association, Ink, 2007. Print.DHH-Office of Public Health. Young and gay people, protect yourselves from HIV. Santa Cruz: Journeyworks, 1998. Print. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. HIV vaccines explained. NIH Publication, 2006. Print. Hiatt, Jane. Abstinence and HIV. ETR Associates, 1992. Print.AIDS & HIV Information from the charity AIDS AVERT. Internet. July 29 2010. .