HIV

HIV Derrick Bookman

HIV infection is preventable you may not know when your partner has HIV infection because symptoms are not always noticeable. Anyone who is sexually involved should have regular medical checkups. Barrier methods condoms, dental dam with sperimicides can reduce the risk of getting HIV infection, but only sexual abstinence can prevent it 100 percent of the time. The use of alcohol and drugs influence your involvement in risk behaviors for HIV infection or aids. There is no cure, vaccine, or immunity to HIV infection or aids.

HIV, the virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome aids is member of a family of viruses. The first member of this family, HTLV-I was found in Africa, South America, and the Carribbean it was related to STLV-I a virus found in African monkeys. Researchers believe that both viruses came from a common ancestor in Africa date to the early 1970’s the Antibodies to this virus HTLV-3 were found in stored food. That’s why researchers think that this disease originated in Africa this disease is wide spreaded in Uganda, Zaire, Awanda.

As of mid-1993 more than 4 million people world wide were believed to have been infected with the virus. HIV is now found in every country around the world it is truly pandemic, meaning that it’s a disease epidemic that has spreaded around the world. In Africa and the Carribbean Hiv infection spread mainly through heterosexual contact (sex between males and females). HIV infection spread by infected blood, semen, and vaginal fluid and breast milk. The virus is a blood borne pathogen something that causes a disease which means it needs blood to survive but the virus dies quickly soon as it comes in contact with air. And you do not catch HIV the way you catch a cold or the flu. You don’t get it by hugging, kissing, or shaking hands, dancing, sharing food, drinking from a fountain, or sitting on a toilet seat or swimming in a tub. And you can’t get it in a restaurant even if the waitress or cook is infected. HIV is spreaded in three ways from the exchange of infected fluids during sexual intercourse, from an infected mother to her child and from the sharing of infected needles. The ways that you could be safe that you don’t want to do that then get you a partner and both of yall get tested before yall decided to have sex so that both of yall are sure that neither one of yall has any kind of disease because most sexual disease could lead to aids. Twenty five years ago before HIV medication and treatments were available people were dying from aids in large numbers. They were only diagnosed after HIV had ravaged there immune systems and infection occurred in 2000. During 2000 HIV and aids associated illnesses caused deaths of an estimate 3 million people including 500,000 children under age 15.