Posted on March 23, 2010.
What is the difference between HIV and AIDS?
Since the first cases of AIDS were identified more than 25 years, millions of people worldwide have been infected with HIV and the epidemic has claimed millions of lives. Overall, there are 33 million people living with HIV / AIDS, including over one million U.S.. If there have been successes in the fight against the epidemic on many fronts, many challenges remain in areas of prevention, care and treatment, research, infrastructure and capacity development and financing.
The most advanced stage of HIV infection is acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It can take 10-15 years for a person infected with HIV develop AIDS, antiretroviral drugs can slow the process even further.
HIV spreads through unprotected sex (anal or vaginal), transfusion of contaminated blood, sharing of contaminated needles, and between a mother and her child during pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding.
What is the difference between HIV and AIDS?
HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. HIV means' human immunodeficiency virus and AIDS is cons for "acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. AIDS is a serious disease in which the body's defenses against some illnesses are broken. This means that people with AIDS can get many types of diseases that the body of a healthy person would normally fight fairly easily.
Once the immune system weakens, a person infected with HIV can develop the following symptoms:
ยท Lack of energy
ยท Weight Loss
ยท Fever and sweats frequent
ยท Persistent or frequent yeast infections
ยท Skin persistent redness or flaky skin
ยท Loss of short-term memory
ยท For painting shops infections, genital, or anal sores from herpes.
How HIV is transmitted
You can be infected by HIV in several ways, including:
ยท The sexual transmission. You can be infected if you have vaginal, anal or oral sex with an infected partner whose blood, semen or vaginal secretions enter your body. You can also become infected by shared sexual devices if they are not washed or covered with a condom.
Transmission through infected blood. In some cases, the virus can be transmitted through blood and blood products you receive in blood transfusions.
Transmission through needle sharing. HIV is easily transmitted through needles and syringes contaminated with infected blood. Sharing injecting equipment by intravenous puts you at high risk of HIV and other infectious diseases like hepatitis.
Transmission through accidental needle injections.
Transmission from mother to child. Each year nearly 600,000 children are infected with HIV, either during pregnancy or childbirth or breastfeeding.
Three means of HIV prevention
Doing his part in the campaign, Damienne met a group of high school students excited by the opportunity to have an open conversation about HIV / AIDS. The students took turns asking questions Damienne and engaged in a discussion of the three recommended means of HIV prevention: abstinence, fidelity and condom use.
Protect yourself
"This is not passing the test you get infected. You get infected by not protect you. Regarding mystical beliefs, if these herbal potions can heal, there would be more HIV / AIDS in Africa! Protect yourself, it is of course! "She said.