World AIDS Day:
Greetings to all the readers, today is the day which is dedicated to one of the dangerous and life threatening diseases ever discovered.
Today is World AIDS Day, and we at GoNirog Healthcare would like to spread awareness about this disease that has made so many people its victim.
World AIDS Day is held on 1st December each year, it brings the opportunity for everyone to unite and fight against the HIV virus.
If our body is infected by this virus then the effect is deadly as the immune system is badly damaged and it interferes the body’s ability to fight infection. It has been declared as a common disease as there have been 1 million cases of HIV AIDS per year in India.
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Transmission:
This disease transmits from body to body via 3 main ways: Sexual Contact, Body Fluids and mother-to-child.
Sexual Contact
This is the most common way this virus gets transmitted. When you have an unprotected sexual contact with an infected person.
The risk of receiving the virus from “oral sex” has been described as “nearly nil” but it is still there. So pay attention when you are in such situations and only perform these activities with full protection.
Body Fluids
HIV virus can also be transmitted through blood and blood products.This is the second most common way the virus is spread.
Blood-borne transmission can be through needle-sharing during intravenous drug use, needle stick injury, transfusion of contaminated blood or blood product, or medical injections with unsterilized equipment. The people have to be aware enough to see that they are not becoming a victim.
Mother-to-child
HIV can be transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy, during delivery, or through breast milk resulting in infection in the baby. This is the third most common way in which HIV is transmitted globally.
Preventive treatment involves the mother taking antiretrovirals during pregnancy and delivery, an elective caesarean section, avoiding breastfeeding, and administering antiretroviral drugs to the newborn.
Antiretrovirals when taken by either the mother or the infant decrease the risk of transmission in those who do breastfeed.
Many of these measures are however not available in the developing world. If blood contaminates food during pre-chewing it may pose a risk of transmission.
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Signs And Symptoms:
The HIV Infection includes 3 main stages: Acute Infection, Clinical Latency and AIDS. The details about these three stages is given below:
Acute Infection
The initial stage of being in contact with HIV virus is known as acute HIV, primary HIV or acute retroviral syndrome. Many people experience influenza-like illness after being exposed to the virus for 2-4 weeks.
The most symptoms in 40-90% cases include- fever, large tender lymph nodes, throat inflammation, a rash, headache, and/or sores of the mouth and genitals. Due to their nonspecific character, these symptoms are not often recognized as signs of HIV infection.
Thus, it is recommended that HIV be considered in people presenting an unexplained fever who may have risk factors for the infection.
Clinical Latency
After the acute HIV comes the second stage commonly known as the chronic HIV, clinical latency or asymptomatic HIV. This stage can last from 3 years to over 20 years (averagely 8 years). During the starting of this stage there are no specific symptoms but near the end of this end the people experience fever, weight loss, gastrointestinal problems and muscle pains.
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
If proper treatment is not provided the people infected with HIV virus develop AIDS within 10 years of their sickness. The most common initial conditions that alert to the presence of AIDS are pneumocystis pneumonia, cachexia in the form of HIV wasting syndrome, and esophageal candidiasis. Other common signs include recurring respiratory tract infections.
People with AIDS have an increased risk of developing various viral-induced cancers, including Kaposi’s sarcoma, Burkitt’s lymphoma, primary central nervous system lymphoma, and cervical cancer.
Additionally, people with AIDS frequently have systemic symptoms such as prolonged fevers, sweats (particularly at night), swollen lymph nodes, chills, weakness, and unintended weight loss.
Diarrhea is another common symptom, present in about 90% of people with AIDS. They can also be affected by diverse psychiatric and neurological symptoms independent of opportunistic infections and cancers.
People suffering from AIDS do not get this disease overnight but they suffer their whole life. And they can actually feel the life getting sucked from their bodies. Bearing this much pain for a single organism is not fair. But all we can do is support them at every point of life and be there for them. A regular humane behavior is what the people living with HIV AIDS expect from their peers and they deserve it too.
So be supportive and aware the people around you and lets hold a red ribbon today!!