Background

The immune deficiency AIDS was first identified during the early 1980s due to the loss of T4 helper cells in infected patients. The virus HIV was swiftly recognized as the cause. HIV has spread rapidly in both the developed and the developing world and is one of the most significant health concerns in the 21 st century. Figure 1. The prevalence of HIV infection around the world. Dark red countries are those with an infection rate over 15.0%, red countries are those with an infection rate over 5.0 % and orange countries are those with an infection rate over 1.0%. There are approximately 39.4 million people infected with the HIV virus worldwide (Figure from the WH