To an average individual, HIV means AIDS. However, that is not the case. HIV and AIDS are not very different, but the difference, discreet as it may seem, is there. Maybe that’s why they usually go hand in hand. However, it is important to point out the differences. HIV is a virus; a lentivirus actually, which is a subset of viruses called retroviruses or slow viruses; the virus that leads to AIDS. Scientific research shows that AIDS is the last of the four stages of HIV, with the first three being the window stage, the seroconversion stage, and the symptom-free stage, respectively. HIV is called a retrovirus because it is a progressive virus. It invades the body through mucous membranes and the bloodstream (via blood-to-blood contact) and exists in body fluids: semen, vaginal fluid, precum, or breast milk. Once inside, the virus begins its journey into the body by attacking and destroying immune system cells, causing the immune system to deteriorate. This inevitably leads to AIDS.
HIV is said to have originated in African non-human primates and was transferred to humans in the 20th century. There are 2 subtypes; HIV-1, which is a more virulent and easily transmitted type and is the cause of most HIV infections worldwide, and HIV-2, which is less transmissible and largely confined to West Africa . These strains were found to originate from Cameroon and Guinea Bissau/Gabon, respectively.
HIV can be transmitted in many ways, but the main ones are infected needles (or sharps), unprotected sex, breast milk, and vertical transmission (also known as mother-to-child transmission).
However, it cannot be spread through handshakes, hugs, sharing the same cup or spoon with an infected person, or sitting in the same chair.
HIV is a deadly virus that infects the most vital cells of the immune system, such as CD4+ T cells and macrophages. The infection causes a rapid drop in the number of CD4+ T cells by killing the cells and causing an increased rate of apoptosis (programmed cell death).
When the count of these cells (CD4+ T cells) drops below 200 and 2 or more opportunistic infections occur, then the individual can be diagnosed as having AIDS.
So how can HIV be treated?
Currently, there are some drugs to treat the virus that are called antiretroviral drugs or anti-HIV drugs.
However, these drugs require total commitment and must be taken throughout an individual’s life and at the right time too, because the virus can easily develop resistance to these drugs. They are also known to cause serious side effects that can now be reduced.
HIV can take about ten years or more to develop into full-blown AIDS in the average person. However, this time interval varies from individual to individual and depends on having a reasonable diet.
Symptoms to show the presence of this deadly virus?
The most effective way to know if a person has the virus is to get tested. However, some people develop flu-like symptoms such as rashes and swollen glands for a short period of time, but these symptoms do not necessarily represent the presence of HIV. Most of the time, people are asymptomatic and feel healthy, but they can spread the disease to other unsuspecting people. Therefore, it is important for a person to get tested if he thinks he might have a chance of getting the virus. The test may not be accurate if it is taken less than three months from the last exposure.
HIV has no current cure, but it CAN be prevented. as the saying goes
”Prevention is better than cure.”
The best way to prevent infection as recommended by the World Health Organization is ABSTINENCE. However, practicing safe sex (latex condoms are only 85% effective when used correctly) when one cannot abstain from sexual intercourse, it is also recommended to avoid sharing sharp objects with others. These are some of the many ways to prevent the spread of this pandemic disease that affects about 0.6 percent of the world’s population.
However, being diagnosed with HIV is not the end of the world. You can still have a full, normal, long and happy life with the virus being just a footnote in your existence. The first step to this life is to get tested. A pregnant woman who has tested positive does not necessarily have to pass it on to her unborn child. Antiretroviral drugs are known to reduce this risk from 25 to 2 percent. There have been stories of private individuals with HIV having normal children AND leading fairly normal lives.
Being HIV positive doesn’t make you less human than anyone else, it just means you have a virus that CAN be treated. People have been known to survive with this disease for more than thirty years with good treatment. The key is early detection.
Different societies have different non-required ways of ‘treating’ HIV patients. Some go so far as to burn them. Other less serious consequences of suffering from the disease include alienation from all forms of human life, including exile from the community. All this is not necessary, these patients are human like everyone else and alienation is not the way to banish the disease from society. Each and every one of the societies should be more considerate of people living with this disease, you cannot contact them by talking to them, sharing with them and making them feel accepted. HIV is real, and people need to be aware of that fact. The sooner we all learn that we have to come together and fight it, the better.
A person can live a normal life with HIV. It’s JUST a virus.
