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. |
|
|
