International Efforts to Control the Pandemic (From AIDS Cases and Materials, P 907-953, 1989, Michael L. Closen, Donald H. J. Hermann, et al. -- See NCJ-126507)

• NCJ Number: 126521
• Author(s): M Wojcik
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 47 pages
• Sale Source: John Marshall Publishing Co
• Publication Type: Best Practice/State-of-the-Art Review
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The HIV virus has entered and spread within various populations and subpopulations at different times and rates.

Abstract

Three broad yet distinct patterns of HIV-1 infection and AIDS can be identified in the world. Pattern 1, occurring principally among homosexual and bisexual men, is predominant in North America, Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and many urban areas in Latin America. Pattern 2, predominantly heterosexually transmitted, is found in sub-Saharan Africa and increasingly in Latin America, especially in the Caribbean. The Pattern 3 areas include North Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Asia, and the Pacific, where HIV-1 has resulted from contact with people in Pattern 1 and 2 areas or from exposure to imported blood. The apparently lifelong duration of infection may permit HIV-1 to have a tremendous, if gradual, cumulative impact on virtually any population. It appears that several hundred million people around the world engage in behavior that creates immediate vulnerability to this infection. Just as risk behavior may vary greatly during a person's life, so cultural evolution, political unrest, and economic disruption may alter the social context within which risk behavior and HIV-1 transmission flourish or recede.