Stay Further From HIV/AIDS; Keep in Touch with the Sufferer

Have you ever heard about HIV/AIDS? I guess yes. AIDS is one of the infectious diseases, which is diseases that can be passed between one person and another (communicable), they are caused by pathogens. Before that, we need to know what pathogen is. According to Cambridge Advance Learner’s Dictionary, pathogen is any small organism, such as a virus or a bacterium which can cause disease.

AIDS stands for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. Based on what have been written in www.m.kidshealth.org, AIDS is a disease that makes human’s body difficult to fight off infectious disease. It is caused by HIV, Human Immunodeficiency Virus, which is a retrovirus that contains RNA.Moreover, the meaning of retrovirus is a type of virus that includes some cancer viruses and HIV (Cambridge Advance Learner’s Dictionary).

HIV can be found in the blood, semen, vaginal fluid, and breast milk of infected people. So, can you guess how this virus is entering our body? The processes are actually simple if we notice to the role of immunity in our body. The virus enters T-Lymphocytes which are located in the thymus (glands that lies in the chest beneath the sternum), it is different with B –Lymphocytes which are spreading out in our body, even though they are actually the same as they act as antibody. After it entered to the T-Lymphocyte, it takes them over and multiplies. It makes the T-Lymphocyte destroyed. When the number of T-Lymphocyte falls to a very low level, people who have been suffering from HIV become more susceptible to other infections that come from any germs or bacteria.

We have to be aware and worried if there is something wrong in our body such a symptom of this disease. So, what are the symptoms? The symptoms are usually common diseases which have been attacking your body for a long time. The diseases that could be the symptoms of AIDS are diarrhea, fatigue or weakness, fever, headache, joint pain, night sweats,  rash, swollen glands, weight loss, years infections of the mouth or vagina. These symptoms seem normal; however, we need to take more care to these as we do not know the real disease (www.bodyandhealth.canada.com). In order to take it safe, contact your doctor immediately.

Now, we really need to comprehend how the virus is transmitted? There are some activities that allow HIV transmission such as unprotected sexual contact with the sufferer, direct blood contact (including injection drug needles, blood transfusions, accidents in health care settings or certain blood products/menstrual blood), contact of mother to baby (before or during birth, or through breast milk) (www.aids.org).

Nowadays, AIDS has spread throughout worldwide. Logically, we will think how is the global distribution of this virus? According to www.news.bbc.co.uk, almost 39 millions of all of the world population are suffering AIDS and two-third of them is living in Sub-Saharan Africa. Another fact is 2.8 million of 39 million sufferers killed in 2005.

Based on the epidemiologic studies research there are three broad yet distinct geographic patterns of transmission.

Pattern I is typical of industrialized countries with large numbers of reported AIDS cases, such as North America, Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and parts of Latin America. In these areas, most cases occur among homosexual or bisexual males and urban (Intravenous) IV drug users. Heterosexual transmission is responsible for only a small percentage of cases but is increasing.

Pattern II is observed in areas of central, eastern, and southern Africa and in some Caribbean countries. In these areas, most cases occur among heterosexuals; the male to female ratio is approximately 1:1 and prenatal transmission is relatively more common than in other areas. IV drug use and homosexual transmission either do not occur or occur at a very low level.

Pattern III is found in areas of Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and most of the Pacific. HIV appears to have been introduced into these areas in the early to mid-1980s, and only small numbers of cases have been reported. Homosexual and heterosexual transmission has only recently been documented. Generally, cases have occurred among persons who have traveled to endemic areas or who have had sexual contact with individuals from endemic areas, such as homosexual men and female prostitutes.

The reasons above can make this disease categorized as worldwide importance, because it will pose public health problems for now and for the foreseeable future. By knowing this reason,we cannot reject that the roles of social-economic-biological factors in the prevention and control are very important in preventing the spreading of this disease. We can see the social roles in our daily life like a good circumcision, here means where the circumstance makes stigma and discrimination associated with AIDS it can delay the treatment and care for AIDS-positive people, and prevents people coming forward for testing. People can be so afraid of being stigmatized that they are unwilling to admit they have this disease; therefore, they cannot take the steps necessary to overcome it.

As a reaction of the information written above, we can conclude that public awareness must be increased in order to reduce the stigma to the sufferer. So all people can understand the facts and they will not make a judgment to them.Anyway, condom promotion is also having an important role in AIDS prevention and control because it can prevent the disease spread out during sexual contact. The way to prevent the spreading of this virus does not stop here, another way to reduce the number of AIDS sufferer is early identification and treatment by expanding and strengthening voluntary counseling and testing centers and also reduction in poverty development of primary prevention interventions such in India and drug de-addiction programs.

Beside social-economic roles, there is also biological role of AIDS prevention and control such as blood transfusion safety, vaccine and microbicides injection.

As we know that there is a possibility of finding obstacles in fighting that disease. The lack of prevention, care coverage, and rigorous evaluations are the examples of the obstacles in the eradication of HIV/AIDS.

AIDS Ribbon

As juvenile, it is a must for us to know this disease well as we are global people. By knowing this disease earlier, we can prevent that disease comes, either in our body itself or others’ body. For addition and obligation, we should have a role in increasing the public awareness about HIV/AIDS. To sum up, the most important thing is we can save our world from HIV/AIDS by reduction of sufferer in each second. Stay further from HIV/AIDS; keep in touch with the sufferer!

*This article is created by Riska Larasati and Tri Nency in order to fulfill Biology's assignment. Comments and Likes are very helpful. Any suggestions and comments are permitted :D Thank You