Being Informed About AIDS
... it is invisible to the naked eye and is tightening its grip around the entire world. The enemy is HIV, Human Immunodeficiency Virus. This well-known virus, over a rather long period of time, causes a human to have AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome). The danger of this disease lies in the way at which the virus enters the body and uses the body to replicate and survive. Cellular Mechanism: I. The virus enters the body via exchange of bodily fluids. a. Fluids include blood, from transfusions & sharing needles, and semen/vaginal secretions. b. The most common means of exchange is from sexual encounters. II. Once virus enters the body, it targets the white blood cells. a. White blood cells compose the Immune System and are responsible for fighting off anything that causes infection. III. The virus enters the WBC and unloads its contents into the cell. a. Genetic contents become incorporated into the cell and the virus instructs the cell to make more viruses. b. Once the cell is jam-packed with new viruses, it ruptures, spilling out millions of new viruses into the bloodstream to attack more white blood cells. c. Over time, the viruses can completely destroy the body’s white blood cells, rendering the body helpless to even the most common illnesses. d. A common cold can be a life-threatening infection to some one with AIDS. Prevention: I. Further exchange and spread of the virus can be prevented by taking some simple steps. a. Do not share needles and try not to engage in any high-risk activity such as using hypodermic needles. b. Always find out the sexual history of boy/...