hiv
by alex rockvam
what does hiv stand for
human.
immune.
virus.
immune.
virus.
how is it spread
HIV is spread when infected bodily fluid enters the bloodstream of someone who is not HIV positive. After exposure to the virus, the risk of infection depends on the type of exposure and the amount of virus in the infected bodily fluids. Both men and women can spread the HIV virus.
Sexual intercourse (anal, oral or vaginal) without protection (male or female condoms) with someone who has HIV. The virus can be transmitted through any of the following bodily fluids: blood, preseminal fluid semen, and vaginal fluid.
Sharing needles or syringes with someone who has HIV. This may result from the injection of drugs or through use of a dirty needle for tattooing or body piercing.
Pregnancy, birth or breastfeeding: women who have HIV can transmit the virus to their babies before, during or after the child’s birth.
Sexual intercourse (anal, oral or vaginal) without protection (male or female condoms) with someone who has HIV. The virus can be transmitted through any of the following bodily fluids: blood, preseminal fluid semen, and vaginal fluid.
Sharing needles or syringes with someone who has HIV. This may result from the injection of drugs or through use of a dirty needle for tattooing or body piercing.
Pregnancy, birth or breastfeeding: women who have HIV can transmit the virus to their babies before, during or after the child’s birth.
how to prevent hiv/aids
It is very important that you avoid activities that can put you at risk of getting HIV. Key steps in preventing HIV include:
- Staying educated about HIV and AIDS
- Using latex or polyurethane condoms (male or female) when engaging in any type of sex (anal, oral, vaginal).
- Avoiding condoms made from animal products (e.g., lambskin), which do not offer the same level of protection as latex condoms
- Limiting the number of sexual partners you have
- Knowing the sexual history of all new partners before engaging in sexual activity
- Avoiding sharing needles with others and using only clean, sterile needles
- Not sharing any personal instruments with blood residue (e.g, razors)
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome – AIDS Defined
The last stage of HIV virus is Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, or AIDS. people with aids have extremely damaged and weak immune systems. Healthy individuals have anywhere between 500 and 1,500 CD4 cells in each milliliter of blood. A person with a CD4 count below 200 is considered to have AIDS. As a result, HIV-positive people with AIDS are especially susceptible to other infections, even certain cancers. Bacteria, parasites, and fungi that may not have affected individuals when they were healthy can make HIV-positive individuals very sick. These infections are called opportunistic infections (OIs) because the compromised immune system creates an “opportunity” for the infection to take place. By definition, if you have HIV and develop an OI, you have AIDS. Additionally, people with AIDS are much more susceptible to certain cancers that are often prevented by a functioning immune system. These include Kaposi sarcoma, some types of cervical cancer, and lymphoma.
who is at risk for hiv infection
Anyone can be infected with HIV. However, there are certain groups that experience HIV more frequently than others. In the United States, sexuality and ethnicity are risk factors for being infected with the virus. Gay and bisexual men (also known as men who have sex with men, or MSM) are at particularly higher risk for infection. Additionally, African Americans, Blacks, Latinos and Hispanics of any gender have higher rates of HIV. Individuals who use abuse drugs intravenously, as well as babies of HIV-positive mothers, are also at risk.
That is a map of people infected with aids/HIV
History
AIDS was at first considered a disease of gay men and drug addicts, but in Africa it took off among the general population. As a result, those involved in the fight against HIV began to emphasize aspects such as preventing transmission from mother to child, or the relationship between HIV and poverty, inequality of the sexes, and so on, rather than emphasizing the need to prevent transmission by unsafe sexual practices or drug injection. This change in emphasis resulted in more funding, but was not effective in preventing a drastic rise in HIV prevalence.
According to the UNAIDS, the number of HIV positive people in Africa receiving art rose from 1 million to 7.1 million between 2005 and 2012, an 805% increase. Almost 1 million of those patients were treated in 2012.The number of HIV positive people in South Africa who received such treatment in 2011 was 75.2 percent higher than the number in 2009.
Why is aids higher in Africa
Botswana seems an unlikely place for an aids epidemic .Vast and underpopulated, it is largely free of the teeming slums, war zones, and inner-city drug cultures that epidemiologists say are typical niches for the human immunodeficiency virus. Botswana is an African paradise. Shortly after gaining its independence from Britain in 1966, large diamond reserves were discovered, and the economy has since grown faster—and for longer—than that of virtually any other nation in the world. Education is free, corruption is rare, crime rates are low, and the nation has never been at war. Citizens are loyal A visitor quickly learns that even mild criticism of anything related to Botswana is considered impolite. Yet this country, with all these advantages, has the highest HIV-infection rate in the world.