AIDS i.e. Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome:
Acquired i.e. you can get infected.
Immune Deficiency i.e. weakness in the Body System that fights Diseases.
Syndrome i.e. group of health problems that makes disease.
A virus called HIV i.e. Human Immunodeficiency Virus causes AIDS. If someone gets infected with HIV, his/her body tries to fight with the infection and make “Antibodies” i.e. special molecules to fight HIV.
In a blood test for HIV, If it looks these antibodies then it means that there is HIV infection in that person body. Person who has the HIV antibodies is HIV Positive infected.” Being HIV positive is not the same as having AIDS. Many people are HIV-positive but don’t get sick for many years. As HIV disease continues, it slowly eats into the complete immune system.
How someone gets HIV infected?
None get AIDS directly. You might get infected with HIV, and later you might develop AIDS. You can get infected with HIV from anyone who’s infected, even if they don’t look sick and even if they haven’t tested HIV-positive yet. The blood, vaginal fluid, semen, and breast milk of people infected with HIV has enough of the virus in it to infect other people. Most people get the HIV virus by:
· Having sex with an infected person;
· Sharing a needle (shooting drugs) with someone who’s infected;
· Being born when their mother is infected, or drinking the breast milk of an infected woman.
If HIV Positive?
You might not know if HIV infects you. Some people get fever, headache, sore muscles and joints, stomach ache, swollen lymph glands, or a skin rash for one or two weeks. Most people think it’s the flu. Some people have no symptoms.
The virus will multiply in your body for a few weeks or even months before your immune system responds. During this time, you won’t test positive for HIV, but you can infect other people.
When your immune system responds, it starts to make antibodies. When this happens, you will test positive for HIV. After the first flu-like symptoms, some people with HIV stay healthy for ten years or longer. But during this time, HIV is damaging your immune system.
Is There a Cure for AIDS?
There is no cure for AIDS. There are drugs that can slow down the HIV virus, and slow down the damage to your immune system. There is no way to “clear” HIV from the body.