CitationsAIDS.org - news, treatment information and other resources. www.aids.org/ HIV and AIDS Activities - information from the FDA Office of Special Health Issues. www.fda.gov/oashi/aids/hiv.html Specialized Information Services Home Page - United States National Library ... - ... The Library of Medicine (NLM) is responsible for the resources and information services in toxicology, environmental health, chemistry, HIV/AIDS, and specialized… www.sis.nlm.nih.gov CDC-NCHSTP-Divisions of HIV/AIDS Prevention Home Page (DHAP) - …CDC - Divisions of HIV/AIDS Prevention Homepage; logo: National HIV/AIDS Prevention Center for HIV/AIDS Prevention, STD and TB Divisions of HIV/AIDS Prevention. ... www.cdc.gov/hiv/dhap.htm AIDSinfo - federally approved information on AIDS research, clinical trials, and treatment from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Created by the merger of the AIDS Clinical Trials Information Service (ACTIS) and the HIV/AIDS Treatment Information Service (ATIS). www.hivatis.org/ HIV InSite – comprehensive and reliable information on HIV/AIDS treatment, policy, research, epidemiology and prevention from the University of California, San Francisco. hivinsite.ucsf.edu/ HIV and AIDS The AIDS virus – acquired immunodeficiency syndrome – was first reported in the United States in 1981 and has since become a major global epidemic. AIDS is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). By killing or damaging immune system cells, HIV gradually destroys the body's ability to fight infections and certain cancers. People diagnosed with AIDS can get life-threatening illnesses called opportunistic infections, caused by microbes such as viruses or bacteria that do not usually make healthy people sick. More than 790,000 cases of AIDS have been reported in the United States since 1981, and as many as 900,000 Americans may be infected with HIV. This epidemic is growing most rapidly among minority populations and is a leading cause of death among African American men ages 25 to 44. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), AIDS affects nearly seven times as many African Americans and three times as many African Americans. Hispanics than whites. Transmission of HIV Having unprotected sex with an infected partner most often spreads HIV. The virus can enter the body through the lining of the vagina, vulva, penis or mouth during sexual intercourse. HIV is also transmitted through contact with infected blood. Before blood donations are screened for signs of HIV infection and before heat treatment techniques to destroy HIV in blood products are introduced. HIV has been transmitted through transfusions containing contaminated blood or blood components. Today, thanks to blood screening and heat treatment, the risk of contracting HIV from such transfusions is extremely low..