Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is a medical diagnosis by a physician of a set of symptoms or conditions based on specific criteria established by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO). These criteria include infection with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and either the presence of one or more defined AIDS indicator diseases or other indicators of a suppressed immune system based on certain blood tests (CD4+ counts). The “opportunistic” diseases associated with AIDS occur following the depression of an individual’s immune system, allowing susceptibility to unusual infections or malignancies.
AIDS, the end stage of HIV disease, is caused by the infection and spread of HIV within the body. A positive HIV test result alone does not mean that a person has AIDS, only that HIV infection has occurred. HIV destroys CD4+ T blood cells which are crucial to the normal function of the human immune system. Most HIV-infected...
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Suggested Readings
Sanchez, M. A., Lemp, G. F., Magis-Rodriguez, C., Bravo-Garcia, E., Carter, S., & Ruiz, J. D. (2004). The epidemiology of HIV among Mexican migrants and recent immigrants in California and Mexico. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, 37(4), S204–S214.
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The AIDS InfoNet, New Mexico AIDS Education and Training Center, University of New Mexico School of Medicine. (2010). Albuquerque, NM. Retrieved March 5, 2010, from http://www.aidsinfonet.org/
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2010). HIV/AIDS. Atlanta, GA. Retrieved March 5, 2010, from http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/
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Latino Commission on AIDS. (2010). HIV/AIDS has no borders: The impact of HIV/AIDS in our Latin and Caribbean nations, New York. Retrieved March 5, 2010, from http://www.latinoaids.org/docs/hiv_has_no_borders.pdf
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O’Shea, D.J. (2012). Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. In: Loue, S., Sajatovic, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Immigrant Health. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5659-0_14
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