When the AIDS virus has passed into the blood of the recipient, any of the following may occur:
1. The virus may be destroyed by the body's defenses and disappear, leaving no trace of it's existence. This does actually occur, though infrequently.
2. The organic defenses may be strong enough to delay the development of the virus, but not yo destroy it. The person is apparently well, but he eliminates the virus through his body secretions. Yet his blood reads positive when tested for anti bodies. In the United States there are an estimated 1 to 3 million people in this category. A large percent of these will suffer the AIDS illness in coming years, after a period of incubation.
3. The illness may become obvious, but not in it's most serious form. There are an estimated 100,000 to 500,000 persons with the disease in this stage in the United States. Many of them will eventually suffer the full effects of AIDS. The most obvious symptom at this stage is the swelling of lymph glands in the neck, armpits, and groin.
4. AIDS may fully develop in it's most incurable form. Nothing will stop it. The first symptoms usually imitate minor infections, followed by strong, incurable diarrheas. Serious infections drive the patient to see his physician. But there is little the doctor can do to treat the illness. The invading virus destroys the organism's defenses and the antibiotics are ineffective. The unfortunate AIDS victim now feels that others are rejecting him-which is often a sad truth and his mental anguish is still more severe when the fully realizes that he is victim of a deadly, incurable disease.
By 1986 more than 25,500 such cases had already been diagnosed in the United States and more than 2,000 in Europe. More than 13,000 of these patients have already died. The rest are still alive, but they know they are condemned to death. More victims did each day.
Persons who have exposed to the AIDS virus can transmit it to others even though they themselves have no symptoms. For this reason public health officials fear that only the tip of the iceberg has been seen thus far. It is almost certain that the number of cases will continue to grow rapidly.
2. The organic defenses may be strong enough to delay the development of the virus, but not yo destroy it. The person is apparently well, but he eliminates the virus through his body secretions. Yet his blood reads positive when tested for anti bodies. In the United States there are an estimated 1 to 3 million people in this category. A large percent of these will suffer the AIDS illness in coming years, after a period of incubation.
3. The illness may become obvious, but not in it's most serious form. There are an estimated 100,000 to 500,000 persons with the disease in this stage in the United States. Many of them will eventually suffer the full effects of AIDS. The most obvious symptom at this stage is the swelling of lymph glands in the neck, armpits, and groin.
4. AIDS may fully develop in it's most incurable form. Nothing will stop it. The first symptoms usually imitate minor infections, followed by strong, incurable diarrheas. Serious infections drive the patient to see his physician. But there is little the doctor can do to treat the illness. The invading virus destroys the organism's defenses and the antibiotics are ineffective. The unfortunate AIDS victim now feels that others are rejecting him-which is often a sad truth and his mental anguish is still more severe when the fully realizes that he is victim of a deadly, incurable disease.
By 1986 more than 25,500 such cases had already been diagnosed in the United States and more than 2,000 in Europe. More than 13,000 of these patients have already died. The rest are still alive, but they know they are condemned to death. More victims did each day.
Persons who have exposed to the AIDS virus can transmit it to others even though they themselves have no symptoms. For this reason public health officials fear that only the tip of the iceberg has been seen thus far. It is almost certain that the number of cases will continue to grow rapidly.
Source:"AIDS"(Special Issue)
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