Anyone can get it. Most people who get it die. The AIDS virus now infects over 35 million people worldwide (Haney 1A). And about 1 in every 300 Americans is HIV positive (150 Basic AIDS Facts). What if you were one of those people? This virus takes over 8,200 lives per day and is more contagious than you might think. Nearly 80% of the people in my survey underestimated the worldwide AIDS population by more than 15 million (Mansfield). A University of Michigan study found that in the fist 60 days after bring infected, a person could transmit the AIDS virus in as many as three out of every ten sexual encounters (Anstett 6). Without certain precautions, the HIV and AIDS virus population could make another horrendous jump from the already 72% increase from last decade. (AIDS cases increase 72%). With this in mind, the number of AIDS cases is becoming a problem and is substantially growing in the United States and around the world, which is caused by lack of knowledge and protection.
             AIDS stands for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (Majure AIDS). Although you don't die from AIDS. AIDS rapidly attacks your immune system. Patients typically suffer numerous debilitating illnesses, including pneumonia and cancer (Majure AIDS). Once a person obtains the HIV virus, it starts killing the CD4 lymphocytes (also known as helper T cells), a kind of white blood cell that is an important component in the body's immune system (Majure AIDS). Then it rapidly produces itself using a protein called reverse transcriptase (Majure AIDS). When it starts producing itself rather than the CD4 cells to fight disease, the patient is vulnerable to numerous infections (Majure AIDS). An example of this is the purplish skin splotches of Kaposi's sarcoma. This disease is an extremely unusual cancer among the general population, but it is very common among people with AIDS (Majure AIDS).
             But this disease didn't just come out of ...