AIDS
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- HIV is acronym for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
- HIV virus causes AIDS
- HIV by itself is not an illness and does not instantly lead to AIDS
- An HIV infected person can lead a healthy life for several years before he/she develops AIDS.
- HIV is found only in human beings and not in any other living organism
- The person infected with HIV is said to be ‘HIV+’ or ‘HIV positive
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Aids is acronym for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
A-stands for ACQUIRED i.e.; contracted not genetic or inherited.
I-stands for IMMUNE i.e., power to resist disease
D-stands for DEFICIENCY i.e., insufficiency
S-stands for SYNDROME, i.e., a number of complaints and signs indicative of a particular disease.
HIV attacks the human body by breaking down its immune system that is meant to fight diseases. Over a period of time, the immune system weakens and the body loses its natural ability to fight diseases. At this stage, various diseases affect the infected person.
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There are two types of HIV, HIV-1 and HIV-2. Worldwide the predominant virus is HIV-1, and generally when people refer to HIV without specifying the type of virus, they will be referring to HIV-1.
Both HIV-1 and HIV-2 cause the body to produce antibodies within 3 to 6 months.
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A person can get infected with HIV through the following routes.
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Unprotected Sex
If a person engages in sexual intercourse with an HIV infected person without using a condom, he/she can get infected.
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Sharing of improperly sterilized needles and hospital tools
If surgical devices like syringes and scalpels, or even certain instruments, used on the infected person, are used on another person without proper sterilization, they can transmit the infection.
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Unsafe blood transfusion :
A person can get the infection; if he/she is given blood transfusion of HIV infected blood.
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Infected parent to child : An HIV positive mother can transmit the virus to child during pregnancy or at birth. Breast-milk can also act as a transmission medium..
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- Shaking hands
- Eating along with HIV infected person
- Light kiss
- Through air or by coughing and sneezing
- Through food or water
- Through sweat and tears
- By sharing cups, plates and utensils with an infected person
- By touching, hugging an infected person
- By sharing toilets and bathrooms with an infected person
- By sharing clothes with an infected person
- By living with an infected person
- By mosquitoes, fleas, or other insects
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HIV and other STIs can impact upon each other. The presence of STIs in an HIV infected person can increase the risk of HIV transmission.
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For HIV infection to take place in this way, the needle would need to contain infected blood with a high level of infectious virus.
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If instruments contaminated with blood are not sterilized and used on another person there is a risk of HIV transmission. However, people who carry out body piercing or tattoos should follow procedures called ‘universal precautions ‘which are deigned to prevent the transmission of blood borne infections such as HIV and Hepatitis B.
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The risk to health care workers being exposed to HIV is extremely low, especially if they follow universal health care procedures. The main risk is through accidental injuries from needles or other sharp object that may be contaminated with HIV.
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Transmission of HIV in a health care setting is extremely rare. All health professionals are required to follow infection control procedures when caring for any patient.
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Research suggests the risk of HIV infection in this way is extremely small. A very small number of people, usually in a health care setting, have become infected with HIV as a result of blood splashes in the eye.
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Infection with HIV in this way is unusual. There have only been stray cases of HIV transmission resulting from biting. In these particular cases, severe tissue tearing and damage were reported in addition to the presence of blood.
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There is a possibility of becoming infected with HIV if you share injecting equipment with someone who has the virus. If HIV infected blood remains within the bore (inside) of the needle or in the syringe and someone else then injects themselves with it, that blood can be flushed into the blood stream. Sharing needless, syringes can pass on the virus.
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An infected pregnant woman can pass the virus on to her unborn baby either before or during birth. HIV can also be passed on during breast-feeding. If a woman knows that she is infected with HIV, there are drugs that she can take to greatly reduce the chances of her child becoming infected, as well as other options such as choosing to have a caesarean section delivery and not breast-feeding, as HIV is found in breast milk.
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Some people have been infected through a transfusion of infected blood. However, nowadays, all the blood used for transfusions is being tested for HIV. Hence, HIV infection through blood transfusions is becoming rare.
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While HIV may live for sometime outside the body, HIV transmission has not been reported as a consequence of contact with spillages of blood, semen or other bodily fluids. Just because someone comes into contact with tiny quantities of HIV in dried blood, it does not follow that infection will occur. Scientists agree that HIV does not survive well in the environment, making the possibility of environmental transmission remote. Drying of HIV- infected human blood or other body fluids reduces the theoretical risk of environmental transmission.
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Research has shown that circumcised men are up to 70% less likely to contract HIV through sex. This is because the inner lining of the foreskin is thought to be particularly vulnerable to HIV. However, circumcision does not mean you cannot get HIV, it just means it’s less likely. Circumcised men can also pass on the virus just as easily as those whose foreskin has not been removed.
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Even if you are on treatment or your tests show that you have very low levels of HIV in your blood, the virus is never totally eradicated and you are therefore still capable of infecting others.
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Zero New HIV Infections, Zero Discrimination and Zero Aids-Related Deaths
