Useful Information About HIV Virus
AIDS was first discovered in 1980s in North America. Its cause was a virus known as HIV. Since then it has become widespread in the world. There is a lot of information about HIV virus. It is mainly found in body fluids such as semen, breast milk, vaginal fluid as well as blood.
It is also present in sweat, saliva and tears. However in these fluids it is in trace amounts that cannot be transmitted from one person to another. The most common ways of getting infected with this virus are through sharing needles and having unprotected sex. It may be transmitted through oral, vaginal, anal, homosexual and heterosexual sex. In oral sex the chances are lower but it is still advisable to use protection.
Protection is usually provided by using condoms. Mothers also stand the risk of passing it on to their children during birth. However with new treatments this risk is being minimized. Breast feeding can transmit HIV. Once it enters the bloodstream it destroys the immune system by taking over cells. It inserts its genes in the cells and thus reproduces itself. With time the amount of cells with this virus increases as the number of CD4 cells reduces. This means that the body is no longer able to fight off diseases and infections.
Symptoms of this disease start to appear after 2 to about 12 weeks from exposure. The symptoms begin with flu. They include diarrhea, joint pains, weakness and fatigue, sweating at night, fever, headache, nausea, swollen glands, rashes and yeast infections in the genitals and mouth region. Individuals who are infected also lose weight considerably. Excessive weight loss is a problem that is experienced by about 20% of all people who are infected. These symptoms are known to disappear after some time. In some people they return occasionally.
These symptoms are similar to those of other diseases and they are therefore likely to be assumed as signs of other infections. The only way to confirm whether you are infect with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus is to go for a test. It takes about 3 months from the time of expose for the antibodies to be identified in the blood.
After the initial symptoms go away the body usually tries to fight off HIV. Finally the immune system becomes very weak and AIDS develops. If one is not treated it can take up to ten years before AIDS develops. People who have this disease usually take drugs to reduce chances of opportunistic infections.
People with AIDS stand a higher chance of developing cancer. Cancers such as Kaposis sarcoma and those of the immune system are especially common with AIDS patients. Children who have this disease have a higher rate of infection with childhood diseases such as tonsillitis and conjunctivitis.
Many people die as a result of diseases that AIDS makes them susceptible to. It is important to know about HIV virus. This knowledge will help you to avoid getting infected. Most causes of this condition are avoidable by changing behavior.
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