The Concepts of Epidemiology and Nursing Research to a Communicable Disease

Epidemiology of Communicable Diseases – HIV/AIDS
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Describe the chosen communicable disease, including causes, symptoms, mode of transmission, complications, treatment, and the demographic of interest (mortality, morbidity, incidence, and prevalence). Is this a reportable disease? If so, provide details about reporting time, whom to report to, etc. Causes HIV is Human Immunodeficiency Virus. According to the CDC, HIV is a zoonotic disease that came from chimpanzees in central Africa when humans hunted them for meat (CDC, 2021). HIV is similar to SIV Simian immunodeficiency virus, which is the chimpanzee version of the disease (CDC, 2021). The disease spread to the rest of the world, and it has been in America since at least the mid to late 1970s. Symptoms Some of the known symptoms of the disease are; sweating at night, mouth ulcers chills. Muscle aches. Fatigue, rashes. Fever and swollen lymph nodes. Mode of transmission Sexual contact is one of the modes of transmission of the disease. Needles and sharing of sharp personal objects like nail clippers etc., can lead to transmission. Mothers can also infect their children during pregnancy, at birth, and through breastfeeding. Blood transfusion with infected blood though proper screening and testing of donors has reduced this mode of transmission.  Complications HIV causes AIDS. AIDS is Acquired immune deficiency Syndrome. As HIV attacks the immune system. It weakens the immunity of the individual, which causes AIDS. The patient becomes susceptible to other diseases as he/she has a diminished ability to fight off other disease agents. However, it is important to note that there is a window between when an individual is infected and the onset of AIDS. Treatment Once you contract HIV, it is almost impossible to get healed from it. Fe individuals around the world have been healed, but their experimental treatment regimen has not been approved for public use. However, there are Anti-HIV drugs in the market that can help improve the quality of life and restore healthy immune levels. However, there is no vaccine or cure for HIV/AIDS. Mortality, morbidity, incidence, and prevalence of HIV/AIDS HIV/AIDS-related deaths have reduced by 50% since when they peaked in the early 2000s (Gona, et al., 2020). Infection and transmission rates continue to fall. About 38 million people live with the disease globally, and about 680,000 people died from it in 2020 from AIDS-related illnesses (UNICEF, 2021). There are approximately 1.2 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the US, and nearly 13% of them do not know their status. It disproportionately affects racial and ethnic minorities and the LGBTQ (HIV.gov, 2021). Reporting of HIV/AIDS Many countries and governments have reporting structures of the disease to track and understand the development of HIV/AIDS in their respective communities. Each new infection is reported to the government, and in most cases, the individual is linked to care. Hospitals and agencies focus on different facets of tracking and reporting on the disease report and share the information with other partners and the governments to continue developing data on the diseas...