DO YOU KNOW YOUR HIV STATUS?
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Key Points Summary 📝
- ✅ Know your HIV status - it's essential for a healthy life!
- ✅ Regular testing is the best way to stay in control 🧑⚕️
- ✅ Early detection helps in better treatment options 🌱
- ✅ Use protection, stay safe, and prevent the spread 🛡️
- ✅ Keep track of your health and ask for support when needed 🤝
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Key Advice & Tips from Our Experts 💡
- 💬 Don't be shy—ask your doctor any questions!
- 💬 Stay informed and keep learning about HIV 🌍
- 💬 Talk openly with your partner about your health 🗣️
- 💬 Regular check-ups can save lives. Make them a priority 📅
- 💬 Empower yourself with knowledge and take control of your health 💪
There is a huge possibility that most of us do not know our HIV statuses. Being aware of your status enables you to keep you and your partner safe and healthy. Knowing your status helps you in a lot of ways.
If you are infected with HIV, you may begin treatment with anti-HIV drugs. If you take your HIV medicines as directed, your viral load may drop to such a low level that a blood test will not be able to pick it up. The greatest way to remain healthy is to achieve and maintain a viral load that cannot be detected. The danger of transferring HIV via sex is almost eliminated as long as your viral load remains undetectable. If you're negative, there are much more resources than ever before to help you stay healthy in the future. Tests for HIV should be performed while pregnant so that treatment may begin if the results are positive. According to Townsend et al. (2008), HIV transmission to a newborn is exceedingly low if a pregnant woman with HIV receives early treatment in her pregnancy (1 percent or less). Before getting tested for HIV/AIDS, you ought to know what it is, what causes it, and how it is spread.
AIDS
AIDS is the short form of the Human immunodeficiency virus. HIV destroys the human body's immune system and results in AIDS, a serious illness. According to Greene (2007), more than 25 million people have died as a result of AIDS. Since the discovery of AIDS, the disease has spread like wildfire over the globe. De Cock, Jaffe & Curran (2012) stated that in 1981 HIV turned into a pandemic and persisted into the 21st century. People throughout the world now know about AIDS because of the relentless efforts of governments and non-governmental groups to curb it.
The Causes and How it is Spread
HIV, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, is mostly to blame for AIDS. This virus spreads throughout the body by infecting cells with a duplicate of its DNA. The virus is also called a retrovirus because of this trait and potential. White blood cells, a component of the human immune system, serve as HIV's primary host cell. The body's immune system is decreased as a result of HIV's destruction of white blood cells. A weakened immune system impacts an individual's capacity to fight off illness in the early stages. For example, a wound or a cut takes a long time to recover or for the blood to clot. This scenario may happen in circumstances when the wound never completely heals. HIV is mostly spread by one of three routes: blood, prenatal, or sexual contact. Blood transfusions were a typical occurrence during the early stages of HIV transmission. Still, presently, all the industrialized and developing nations have severe processes to examine the blood for contamination before transfusing. HIV may also be spread from an infected individual to a healthy person via a shared needle. Moreover, it spreads from one person to another through the exchange of sexually transmitted bodily fluids. Unprotected sex may readily transfer HIV from an infected individual to a healthy person through oral, genital, or rectal regions. A woman who is HIV positive throughout pregnancy, nursing, or even after the birth of her kid may readily transmit the infection to her child.
Signs and Symptoms
A weaker immune system makes an infected person more susceptible to various illnesses and mild infections, such as flu and bacterial infections. When it comes to AIDS, the incubation time is much longer than that of other illnesses. In most cases, symptoms begin to develop within a few years. Hecht et al. (2002) highlighted the most frequent AIDS symptoms which include fever, exhaustion, weight loss, diarrhea, enlarged nodes, fungal infection, and herpes. Prolonged fever, nocturnal sweats, skin rashes, and sores in the mouth are symptoms of a compromised immune system.
Treatment and Prevention
AIDS is a life-threatening illness since there is no medication or cure. Antiretroviral treatment, more often known as ART, is the most effective in limiting virus transmission. Treatment with antiretroviral drugs stops HIV from reproducing and inhibits its spread. To prevent immune system harm, it is best to begin therapy as soon as possible. However, this is a temporary solution and does not promise an AIDS cure. Stopping the spread of AIDS is the best way to avoid it. Getting tested for HIV should be done regularly. Before engaging in any sexual activity, a person should be aware of their own and partner's HIV status. You should always practice safe sex. When having sex, men should always use condoms, and they should also restrict the number of mates they have. The use of illegal substances and narcotics should be avoided at all costs. One should also avoid non-sterilized needles and razors. Multiple UN, local government, and non-profit awareness campaigns have helped curb the spread of AIDS by educating people about the disease's transmission and prevention.
Is there a Need for Frequent Testing?
One should do an HIV test at least once for everyone between 13 to 64 years of age. You may want to consider being tested again if your previous activity puts you in danger. It is recommended that those with a greater risk of developing cancer and other opportunistic diseases get checked more often.
An HIV antigen examination that can identify infection sooner than normal antibody testing is recommended for anybody who was sexually abused or had a high-risk HIV encounter. It is feasible to prevent HIV infection if PEP is begun within three days of likely exposure to HIV.
Conclusion
A person's life is turned upside down the moment an AIDS test results positively. Social stigma and prejudice and the feeling of being unloved and disliked function as a slow poison in the body of those with mental illness. We must inculcate in them the concept that HIV-positive persons may still live a long and healthy life by showing them our love and care. Do not the afraid of knowing your HIV status, for it is for your best. Lastly, those infected should not give up; you still have a life to live.
References
De Cock, K. M., Jaffe, H. W., & Curran, J. W. (2012). The evolving epidemiology of HIV/AIDS. Aids, 26(10), 1205-1213.
Greene, W. C. (2007). A history of AIDS: looking back to see ahead. European journal of immunology, 37(S1), S94-S102.
Hecht, F. M., Busch, M. P., Rawal, B., Webb, M., Rosenberg, E., Swanson, M., ... & Kahn, J. O. (2002). Use of laboratory tests and clinical symptoms for identification of primary HIV infection. Aids, 16(8), 1119-1129.Townsend, C. L., Cortina-Borja, M., Peckham, C. S., de Ruiter, A., Lyall, H., & Tookey, P. A. (2008). Low rates of mother-to-child transmission of HIV following effective pregnancy interventions in the United Kingdom and Ireland, 2000–2006. Aids, 22(8), 973-981.