Stop HIV/AIDS!

Stop HIV/AIDS!

          Hello, this is IGL and this post is about AIDS. AIDS starts with the HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). The virus attacks your immune system. People believe that it started when people in Western Africa hunted infected monkeys for food. Later, it spread on. The virus attacks your T cell, a type of white blood cell. It makes more copies of the HIV. When it attacks too much of your T cells, you get AIDS (Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome).

          Technically, AIDS doesn’t kill you. It’s not a disease, but a syndrome. A syndrome is when a group of symptoms occur together that affects your body. It just damages your immune system. So it is involved in killing you. What does kill you is some small disease that you don’t really care about after twenty years, like influenza.

          The HIV is present in your body fluids, including blood and sexual fluids. Saliva, vomit, poop, pee, and tears contain HIV, but isn’t strong enough to affect someone else, except when containing blood. You could receive the HIV by sexual contact, drug injection, pregnancy, exposure during occupation, and body transplant. By sexual contact, unprotected intercourse could lead to HIV. During drug injection, people insert needles into their body with drugs. Sharing needles with someone who has HIV could lead to AIDS. An infected mother could give birth to an infected baby. Also, blood and a fluid called amniotic fluid come in contact with the baby during pregnancy. Breast milk could also contain the HIV. If you are a doctor, when caring for babies, the amniotic fluid around the baby could also infect you by transmitting into your body. Infection through body transplant is very rare because doctors scan or diagnose the body part or blood to check for HIV. But doctors probably wouldn’t do that.

          If you are HIV+, in the beginning, there aren’t any symptoms. But about 2-4 weeks later, you could get ARS, or the “worst fever in the world”, but not everyone gets ARS. Other symptoms include fatigue, rashes, muscle pains, night sweats, fever, chills, ulcers in the mouth, sore throat, and swollen lymph nodes.

          There are no cures for HIV/AIDS. But treatments include therapy and staying extra healthy.

          Most people with AIDS are in southern Africa. Approximately thirty-three million people are living with AIDS. Since 1981, twenty-five million people have died. One out of five people are infected without knowing.

          If you are affected with HIV or not, it is best to stay safe during sexual intercourse, avoiding drug injection, eating clean and healthy foods, being careful and staying sanitary. Remember, if you have HIV, any small virus could kill you, even a cold. So when doing everything, wash your hands and when you eat, clean it extra well.

          There are many awareness days for AIDS, but the worldwide one is World AIDS Day on December First. The ribbon color for World AIDS Day is red. You could take action on World AIDS Day. You could:

1.     Wear the red ribbon

2.    Spread awareness by holding up signs

3.    Helping the infected

Help spread awareness and caution for HIV/AIDS!

Idea+Gift=Love IGL