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Hiv/Aids Publication

In: Social Issues

Submitted By ranger37309
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How many people are familiar with HIV/AIDS? Not nearly enough would be the answer. Knowledge of this virus can change your outlook in a constructive way and help to eliminate any misconceptions or myths about the virus. HIV/AIDS is a retrovirus that breaks down the immune system, allowing other opportunistic infections such as pneumonia to attack the body. The greatest difference in HIV and AIDS is T-cell (or white blood cell) count. Once this count goes below 200, the person is classified as having AIDS regardless of what the count may go back up to. People who are considered having HIV have never had a T-cell count below 2002 (1). Now that we have the definitions out of the way, let’s go over some of the symptoms of the virus. At the first sign of these symptoms, you should schedule an HIV test. The symptoms include, but are not limited to: swollen lymph nodes in neck, underarms, or groin; constant diarrhea; unexplained weight loss; chronic fatigue; fever, chills, or night sweats; vision problems; frequent pneumonia or shortness of breath; rashes; and/or chronic flu-like symptoms [ (2) ]. Despite common misconceptions, you can NOT get HIV/AIDS from water fountains, toilet seats, hugging or touching an HIV/AIDS infected person, or sharing eating utensils with them. You CAN; however, contract the virus through blood, semen, and vaginal secretions. Needle-sharing is an extremely high-risk route for transmission as are unprotected sex of ANY nature. Accidental needle-sticks (health profession, tattoo/piercing industry), blood transfusions if not properly screened, and vertical pregnancy (a mother with HIV/AIDS passing it to the unborn child or passing it through breast-milk) [ (2) ]. Here are some statistics just to illustrate how massive this issue is: 1) In 2006 it was estimated that 1,106,400 people in the US were living with the virus, 21%

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