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What are HIV
and AIDS?
Over the last fifteen years a new disease spread by a family of viruses, HIV, has spread
globally. HIV stands for Human lmmuno-deficiency Virus. HIV has been given this name
because its long-term effect is to attack the immune system of the body, making it weak
and deficient. We live virtually in a sea of microorganisms and at every moment an
enormous number of them are entering our body. It is the immune system that normally
fights off these microorganisms and keeps us healthy. Any compromise with the working of
the immune system has profound effect on our body.
After about 5 to 10 years of contracting the HIV infection, the virus has weakened the
immune system of the patients so much that they develop a number of different illnesses
such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, persistent diarrhea, fever and skin infections. This
condition is called AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.
Why do you need to know about it?
At the moment it is estimated that 13 million people in the world may have HIV. Every day
there are thousands of new cases of HIV infections in the world and these occur in every
country. People who have HIV may have no symptoms for many years, and infected people may
not even be aware that they have the virus. They look and feel well, but can infect other
people during this time.
The most difficult aspect of HIV/AIDS is that though there are medicines, which can help
them, cope with these illnesses, there is no vaccine, and no cure for the HIV, so almost
all the infected people become more and more ill and eventually die. It is important that
we all know and understand about this infection, so we can protect ourselves and our
families.
We have responsibility not only towards ourselves but also towards our children who are
growing up in a very different world from that of our childhood. They will have many new
opportunities, but also may sometimes be faced with new relationships, standards of
behavior and new risks. It is up to us to explain the truth of the situation to them in an
honest and informed way, so they may have the knowledge to take the necessary steps to
protect their health.
We have to understand that presently prevention is the only cure of HIV/AIDS and that can
come about only if we are adequately informed about it. Following are some frequently
asked questions about HIV/AIDS:
How does HIV affect the body? Is it the same as AIDS?
When HIV gets into a persons blood it attaches itself to a special type of white blood
cells called as helper T-Lymphocytes. These Helper T- cells are crucial in defending the
body against many infections. during all this the persons have no symptoms at all. They
look and feel well. They may not know they now have the virus, but could pass it on to
someone else through having sex, or by sharing needles or syringes.
Being HIV Positive is not the same as having
AIDS. The HIV actually goes inside the white blood cells and lies their quietly. After
about 5 to 10 years the HIV virus tricks the cell to start making the viral proteins, this
results in the formation of a huge number of viral particles inside the white cells and
eventually the cells burst releasing thousands of new viruses in the blood. The released
viruses infecting new white cells This cycle goes on and on, and eventually the immune
system of the body is overwhelmed and is no longer capable of fighting the infections.
Eventually the infected person may lose weight and become ill with diseases like
persistent severe diarrhea, fever, or pneumonia, or skin cancer. He or she has now
developed AIDS. People with AIDS can be helped with medicines for the different
infections. At the moment though, in spite of much research, there is no cure for HIV or
for AIDS and so, sadly, it is almost certain that people diagnosed with AIDS will die.
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