Medical
Research Papers - on STD and AIDS
Introduction
The common phrase ‘As you so shall you reap’ is particularly
applicable to human beings. The chronic diseases rampant in many
parts of the world bring sorrow and untold miseries to millions
of people around the world. The reason being we have altogether
let loose ourselves in pursuit of cheap pleasures. The modern
society is infested with such diseases, which we have not come
across in the olden times. We, if want to have a true pleasure
of life and enjoy ourselves fully must have to follow the divine
injunctions, the Almighty God revealed through Prophets and His
Books, mainly the last one The Holy Quran. Otherwise, we shall
be acting like the animals and nay, worse than that.
Order your custom
medical research papers now!
Order Now
About the STDS & AIDS
At the end of 1994, a cumulative total of 1,025,073 AIDS cases
(adults and children) worldwide had been reported to WHO. The
actual number of AIDS cases is unknown because of
under-diagnosis, incomplete reporting and reporting delays.
However, an estimated 4.5 million AIDS cases have occurred in
adults and children since the beginning of the epidemic.
An estimated 18 million adults (13-15 million alive) and 1.5
million children have been infected with HIV. Of the adults, 7-8
million are women (most of childbearing age). WHO forecasted
that, by the year 2000, 30-40 million HIV infections would have
occurred, 90% in developing countries? Moreover, an estimated 5
million children under 10 years of age will be orphaned, losing
one or both parents. The proportion of women with HIV and AIDS
has increased dramatically. By 1994, women represented 40% of
all new AIDS cases; up to 50% of all new HIV infections were in
women, mainly those aged 15-24 years. Female vulnerability has
become increasingly clear in Africa and Asia. By the year 2000,
an estimated 14 million women will have been infected with HIV
and about 4 million will have died of AIDS.
HIV is transmitted predominantly through sexual intercourse
(70-80% of infections). Mother-to-child transmission and
needle-sharing by drug users each account for 5-10% of all HIV
infections, while needle stick accidents among health workers
account for less than 0.01% of reported cases. Higher
proportions of young women than young men acquire HIV infection
through sex. Their exposure to the virus at an earlier age,
coupled with physiological factors, increases their risk. In
countries with high HIV prevalence, the greatest numbers of
reported AIDS cases occur among women aged 15-34 years and men
aged 25-44 years. HIV infection due to blood transfusion is more
common in women than men. Women more often have blood
transfusions because of anemia and complications during
pregnancy and childbirth. Prenatal transmission occurs during
pregnancy, delivery or breast-feeding. The chance that a child
of a seropositive woman will also be infected with HIV-1 is 33%
overall, with transmission reported to be as high as 48% in some
developing countries.
Order your custom
medical research papers now!
Order Now
Regional Patterns
In regions where initially more men than women were infected,
there are now a marked increase in infections transmitted
through heterosexual intercourse. In Europe, 15.4% of new
infections in adults in 1993 were due to heterosexual
transmission. In France, heterosexual transmission increased
from 19% in 1991 to almost 25% in 1993. In 1993 in the USA, AIDS
cases in women were almost 10% higher than in 1992; in nine
major cities AIDS has become the leading cause of death among
women of childbearing age.
In sub-Saharan Africa, HIV has been transmitted predominantly
through heterosexual intercourse since the beginning of the
epidemic. More than half of newly infected adults are female.
The annual number of infections is still increasing. In Francis
town, Botswana, for example, HIV prevalence in pregnant women
rose from 8% in 1991 to about 35% by 1993. In some countries,
e.g., Cote d'Ivoire, Zaire and Uganda, AIDS has become the
leading cause of adult death. Sero-prevalence rates in North
Africa and the Middle East appear relatively low but are
increasing. In Djibouti, for example, HIV prevalence has reached
14% among men attending STD clinics and 4% among women seeking
antenatal care.
In Latin America and the Caribbean region, a shift from
transmission through primarily homosexual intercourse to
bisexual and heterosexual transmission as well as injecting drug
use has taken place since the early 1980s. In Brazil, one woman
was infected with HIV for 100 men in 1984; by 1994 this was one
woman for four men.
Half of the newly infected adults in Asia are women. In a border
town in Shan State, Myanmar, 6-10% of women registered at public
maternal and child health centers were already sero-positive in
early 1995.
Order your custom
medical research papers now!
Order Now
Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDS)
STD rates remain high in much of the world. Each year about 330
million new cases of STDs occur, of which more than 90% are in
developing countries. Overall infection rates for STDs are
higher in women than men. Ulcerative STDs, including syphilis
and chancroid, and STDs causing inflammation, such as gonorrhea
and chlamydial infection, facilitate transmission of HIV in both
women and men. Women, however, are disproportionately affected.
As with HIV, women often acquire STDs at an earlier age than
men. Gonorrhea and syphilis are asymptomatic in 50-80% of women
against less than 10% of men. In women, they often go untreated,
especially in countries with inadequate STD programs. The
secondary health consequences of STDs are more serious for women
as they may contribute to infertility, ectopic pregnancy,
cervical cancer, premature delivery, stillbirth, low birth
weight and neonatal infections.
Order your custom
medical research papers now! |
