HIV/AIDS Learning

sekhar · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Posts: 89 Location: Calcutta

Ok! Now onwards I will try to make some posts on HIV/AIDS. This is a quite vulnerable disease in the present world now. I got little bit experience to work with the HIV infected and affected people in the earlier stage of my professional career and I think people should learn the danger part of the disease and take part to the discussion in this forum.

sekhar · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Posts: 89 Location: Calcutta

HIV - Human Immune Deficiency Virus

AIDS - Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

So these are the full form of the two terms described above. AIDS is not a disease itself.. it is a acquired form of diseases that cause Death to human. The main purpose to start this particular thread to make people aware of the danger part of this disease. HIV breaks the human Immune system and thats why so many diseases attacks in their full form. To name some of them.... prolonged fever, prolonged diarrihoea, tuberculosis, anemia. And the so called weakness.

sekhar · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Posts: 89 Location: Calcutta

There are three main route for the transmission of this deadly disease.

1. Through blood and other body fluid (mainly spinal)
2. Route of Intercourse
3. From mother to child

We should move forward taking a single stage at a time ok!

Blood transfusion is one of the prime and most important reason for the transmission of HIV/AIDS. HIV infected blood once enter someone's body, almost 100% chance that the new person would be got infected with this. But the blood banks are doing a good check up for the existence of the virus. And it has been mandatory for all of the blood banks that they must perform the ELISA and other related tests.

But there is also a stage called WINDOW period. After got infected if you donate blood within 6 months (you really never know whether infected or not), that particular quantity might and of course pass the elisa test. The only center in India to conduct a test for the window period, is situated in Pune and it is not possible for the blood banks to conduct the test for all of the packets. So the danger lies there.

Example: Suppose a baby born with Thaelasemia. What happens? She obviously needs a regular blood transfusion ans there remains a high chance for that innocent child to got effected with HIV.
Believe me, we did got several cases like this. And the quick call to the inner human/sentiment would tell what? What was her crime? that almighty God gave her such a punishment. Frustration. Doomed. Just think of her parents and family. I coudn't explain that really. Forgive me.

And thus the relation..blood relation and check up whether any of the parents are Thaelasemia carrier or not. Everyone must check this aspect on a mandatory basis before even thinking of conceiving a baby. Baby is the God's most precious gift for the human life.

sekhar · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Posts: 89 Location: Calcutta

Some Misconceptions regarding HIV/AIDS:

1. It never spreads through public Saloons.

2. It never spreads through the bites of Mosquito.

3. It never spreads by the use of public urinals.

4. It never spreads by the general daily living behavior.

oheli · Joined: 09 Dec 2006 Posts: 70

Thank you Shekhar for spreading awareness about AIDS.

One of friend had mailed me some important informations about AIDS. The informations are as follows:

# HIV (virus) requires *ONLY* *Blood or Semen* as medium to transmit
from one body to another.

# HIV *can not* transmit even through *Saliva*(mucous) i.e. even if
HIV-infected patient coughs or smooches and another person is exposed to his sputum (cough) or saliva, the virus still can not transmit because
concentration of virus particles in sputum is almost NIL & exposure to
air anyway kills virus in fraction of seconds.

# In case an HIV-infected person gets an injury (like the cut in below
mentioned story) and he is bleeding, the virus can transmit to another
person only if another person has a cut/wound in his body & that too
when blood from both persons come in contact with each other (this is
also very very rare unless bleeding is very high) and not otherwise.

# HIV can *never survive in any other liquid* medium also other than
blood or semen (& please for God's sake... never in Pani Puri wala pani)

# Even if one drinks an HIV infected blood (or semen) of someone
(ingest through Gastro Intestinal track), the virus can not survive in the
acidic pH of stomach. Highest extent of acidity is 0 (practically not
possible) so imagine 1 as pH which is in our stomach. (This pH can burn
your own finger in less than a second if you dip in that acid).

# Exposure of less than 1 second in AIR KILLS the HIV virus (hence
story of needle pricks in Cinema theatres is a crap). Even if blood from a
wound (of infected person) dries up (*blood clot*), *the virus dies*
and can not infect anyone else

# HIV transmission is *ONLY* an *INFECTION* i.e.entrance of virus in
one's body. It *DOES NOT MEAN AIDS*.

# An HIV-infected person (after entrance of virus) can progress to a
condition of AIDS only after *8 to 10 YEARS *(not in 15 days as in the
Pani Puri story)

# It is *not HIV (virus) that kills a human*... the virus attacks
immune cells (cells that fight against foreign pathogens/antigens) and hence a person's ability to fight against infections & diseases slowly
diminishes and person ultimately dies of a disease which could be as simple as TB.

# Most importantly, HIV is no longer a dreadful disease... it is
"*CHRONIC MANAGEABLE DISEASE*" just like Diabetes or Hypertension.

# If there is anything you need to be careful from to prevent HIV is
Unsafe --*, *Blood transfusion* (check before taking) / Blood donation
(use sterilized needles only) and any *blood contact during an accident*
or so where amount of bleeding is very high.

sekhar · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Posts: 89 Location: Calcutta

Wow a great post Smile

Thanks a lot Oheli to convey the message. Thanks.

payel · Joined: 20 Jun 2007 Posts: 30

Yes AIDS is the accumulation of diseases and zero resistance power. A latest data has been revealed in newspaper that the number of HIV infected persons are increasing in Kolkata and instead of a big budget BULADI, the role and initiative of the State Aids Control and Prevention Society (SAPCS) is not out of the question.

Could anyone tell me, what happens to the patients at the last stage?

sekhar · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Posts: 89 Location: Calcutta

Well before making an answer to the query of payel, I could hardly forgot the day when I was a situation with an HIV infected person. I dont know whether that was the last stage or not. But the person was struggling to get medicines(ART) for the couple of weeks. He was then suffering from a bad headache. I know that was not a headache...he couldn't able to describe the situation. Something bouncing ball feeling was there both in head and in the stomach. Something was bubbling there.

Oh! I got terrified. We arranged the medicine by the next day itself.

payel · Joined: 20 Jun 2007 Posts: 30

It might be a nightmare for you. Sorry!
You mentioned about ART. what's that?

zinia mitra · Joined: 22 Jul 2007 Posts: 5 Location: Kolkata

Anti Retroviral Therapy ?

sekhar · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Posts: 89 Location: Calcutta

Yes, Anti Retroviral Therapy.

These are called line of drugs. So far my knowledge is concerned there is three lines of drugs or applicability of ART. When normal protective drugs or what is called opportunistic infection protective drugs fail to increase the in build capacity of an infected person, ART comes into the question.

The specialty of this drug is once it starts, you have to continue without a single break. ART is some combination of Neva rapine, lamivudine, Zidovudine etc. This drug has been designed to protect the reduction of the white blood cells or immune system. But unfortunately the HIV virus change their forms and chemical compositions against the drug so that they could hit the body in a more destructive way.