The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was once considered a taboo disease that appeared in the United States around the late 1970s. Little was known about the virus and it was initially thought to be present only in the gay male community. As more and more research is done, people now understand the virus and realize that it affects men and women, as well as all races, ages, and sexual orientations. HIV is believed to be a mutated form of the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) found in chimpanzees. It most likely transferred to the human population from people who hunted monkeys, came into contact with their blood, and ate their flesh (The Origin of HIV/AIDS, 2014). The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) leads to life-threatening acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). HIV lives only in blood and other body fluids. HIV concentrations are small in vomit, sweat, tears, and saliva and cannot be transmitted by these fluids. Primary transmission occurs through fluids such as semen, vaginal fluids, and rectal mucous membranes during sexual contact, breast milk and amniotic fluid passing to infants, and blood during transfusions and exposure. The initial stages of HIV begin with acute infection. During the first 2 weeks to a month after exposure to HIV infection, most infected people show symptoms of severe flu. Symptoms include fever, swollen glands, sore throat, rash, muscle and joint pain, fatigue and headache. The initial period of infection is known as “acute retroviral syndrome” (Stages, 2013). Once the virus exits the acute phase, it enters the latent phase where it continues to replicate but no symptoms are shown. As the infection progresses and the immune system becomes...... middle of paper......t the actual infection, but instead focuses on the side effects and conditions that arise from the medications and from the disease itself. Some of the problems that can be treated are peripheral neuropathy, myalgia, hypertension, and muscle atrophy (Dudgeon, et al., 2006; Galantino & Kietrys, n.d.). As the disease progresses, it can cause balance problems and slow the body's use of oxygen (Galantino & Kietrys, n.d.). In 2011, the CDC reported that there were approximately 49,273 people newly diagnosed with HIV and approximately 32,052 people newly diagnosed with HIV. affected by AIDS only in the United States. The new diagnoses brought the cumulative total to approximately 1,155,792 people in the United States living with the AIDS virus (HIV in the United States, 2013). With over a million people infected with AIDS and over a million more with HIV, many opportunities remain for treatment options.**