HIV Causes and Prevention
HIV Causes and Prevention
HIV is short for Human Immunodeficiency Virus, the root cause of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or AIDS. Basically, AIDS is a failure of the immune system and not a separate disease. Today, it has become an epidemic that takes millions of lives across the world.
HIV is a grave problem for several reasons.
It can replicate itself and spread easily within the body.
The body does not get much time to recognize and develop a vaccine against this virus.
HIV attacks the T-helper lymphocyte cells, an important part of the immune system.
Causes of HIV
Direct exchange of HIV happens through blood, semen, pre-ejaculate, breast milk and vaginal fluid. The reasons for HIV infection include use the contaminated needles, unprotected sexual intercourse, blood transfusions or blood products, vertical transmission (from the mother to baby) and breast milk.
Symptoms of HIV
Fever
Swollen glands
Sore throat
Rash
Painful muscles and joints
Headache
Nausea and vomiting
Ulcers
Flu-like symptoms
Prevention of HIV
Till now, no cure or vaccine has been developed to eradicate HIV or AIDS completely. This is due to the rapid mutation of the virus in the patient’s body, resulting in multiple strands. Even if there is vaccine for one strand, the others may be resistant and continue to infect people.
At best, you can take adequate measure to prevent HIV infection and avoid exposure to the virus. There are several ways to do this:
Using condoms and avoiding unprotected sexual intercourse
Not breast-feeding your children if you are HIV+
Not sharing needles or other drug paraphernalia
Using sterile equipment, for purposes like surgery, tattooing and body piercing
People at high risk include:
Male homosexuals
Prostitutes
Injecting drug users
Sexual partners of infected people
In view of the rising HIV infected patients, blood and blood products in many countries are screened and heat-treated to kill any infections before using them for patients. However, such practices are mostly used in developed countries only while the developing countries often neglect verification before blood transfusion or operations.
By conducting blood tests, doctors can detect antibodies for HIV and identify infected people. However, antibodies to HIV can take as long as three months to appear in the blood after infection. So, many people may test as negative but may actually be infected with HIV. Thus, this is no confirmation whether a person is HIV infected or not.
The long latent stage between HIV infection and development of AIDS makes it difficult to control the spread of this disease. Moreover, HIV can be asymptomatic, which implies that people may be unaware that they are infected till they reach a critical stage.
Recently, a technique called contact tracing has been introduced in US and UK. This involves people diagnosed with HIV who are willing to identify people they may have put at risk of infection or may have infected so that those people can be recommended to take HIV tests. This allows wider testing for potential HIV patients and reduces chances of further transmission of the disease.
HIV Causes and Prevention
HIV Causes and Prevention
HIV is short for Human Immunodeficiency Virus, the root cause of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or AIDS. Basically, AIDS is a failure of the immune system and not a separate disease. Today, it has become an epidemic that takes millions of lives across the world.
HIV is a grave problem for several reasons.
It can replicate itself and spread easily within the body.
The body does not get much time to recognize and develop a vaccine against this virus.
HIV attacks the T-helper lymphocyte cells, an important part of the immune system.
Causes of HIV
Direct exchange of HIV happens through blood, semen, pre-ejaculate, breast milk and vaginal fluid. The reasons for HIV infection include use the contaminated needles, unprotected sexual intercourse, blood transfusions or blood products, vertical transmission (from the mother to baby) and breast milk.
Symptoms of HIV
Fever
Swollen glands
Sore throat
Rash
Painful muscles and joints
Headache
Nausea and vomiting
Ulcers
Flu-like symptoms
Prevention of HIV
Till now, no cure or vaccine has been developed to eradicate HIV or AIDS completely. This is due to the rapid mutation of the virus in the patient’s body, resulting in multiple strands. Even if there is vaccine for one strand, the others may be resistant and continue to infect people.
At best, you can take adequate measure to prevent HIV infection and avoid exposure to the virus. There are several ways to do this:
Using condoms and avoiding unprotected sexual intercourse
Not breast-feeding your children if you are HIV+
Not sharing needles or other drug paraphernalia
Using sterile equipment, for purposes like surgery, tattooing and body piercing
People at high risk include:
Male homosexuals
Prostitutes
Injecting drug users
Sexual partners of infected people
In view of the rising HIV infected patients, blood and blood products in many countries are screened and heat-treated to kill any infections before using them for patients. However, such practices are mostly used in developed countries only while the developing countries often neglect verification before blood transfusion or operations.
By conducting blood tests, doctors can detect antibodies for HIV and identify infected people. However, antibodies to HIV can take as long as three months to appear in the blood after infection. So, many people may test as negative but may actually be infected with HIV. Thus, this is no confirmation whether a person is HIV infected or not.
The long latent stage between HIV infection and development of AIDS makes it difficult to control the spread of this disease. Moreover, HIV can be asymptomatic, which implies that people may be unaware that they are infected till they reach a critical stage.
Recently, a technique called contact tracing has been introduced in US and UK. This involves people diagnosed with HIV who are willing to identify people they may have put at risk of infection or may have infected so that those people can be recommended to take HIV tests. This allows wider testing for potential HIV patients and reduces chances of further transmission of the disease.
source:
http://www.hivsymptom.org/about/