HIV & Pregnancy: Discussing and Evaluating HIV among Pregnant Women and Their Infants
Since its discovery in early 1980s, HIV or human immunodeficiency virus has been noted to kill approximately 39 million people worldwide, with another 1.5 million dying of HIV-related causes, making it the number one deadliest infectious agent worldwide (US Dept. of Health & Human Services, 2014). Attacking primarily the immune system of the body, HIV generally makes the body susceptible to a wide array of diseases that normally do not cause life-threatening complications to an uninfected body. HIV affects people regardless of sex, age, race, and socioeconomic status and it is primarily acquired through sexual activities. As a sexual disease, HIV has ...