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
