HIV continues to affect millions of people across the world every day. In 2014, according to the World Health Organization, 1.2 million people died from HIV-related complications.
Sub-Saharan African, where these two studies took place, is the most affected region in the world – which stresses the importance of these findings for public health safety.
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There were about 25.8 million people living with HIV in sub-Saharan African in 2014. About 70 percent of HIV infections across the world are in sub-Saharan Africa.
HIV, or the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, attacks the immune system until it weakens the body’s ability to fight off infections. HIV can develop into its most advanced stage, AIDS, of the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome.
There is no cure for HIV, which can be transmitted through bodily fluids from infected people.
According to WHO, expanding the accessibility of antiretroviral therapy to those living with HIV can help prevent 21 million AIDS-related deaths and 28 million new infections by 2030.
Here are some additional facts about HIV:
- Only approximately 54 percent of people living with HIV actually know their status.
- New HIV infections declined between 2000 and 2015.
- AIDS-related deaths also declined by 24 percent as about 7.8 million lives were saved due to international efforts
- People living with HIV tend to be the most infectious during the first few months of contracted the virus.
- In those few first weeks of contracting the virus, symptoms can range from none to fevers, headaches, rashes and sore throat.
- Progressive symptoms include swollen lymph nodes, weight loss, fever, diarrhea and cough
- Without treatment, people living with HIV can develop tuberculosis, cryptococcal meningitis, cancer and other severe illnesses.