World AIDS Day!!!!!!!!!!!!

AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) is the final stage of HIV disease, which causes severe damage to the immune system.

Important facts about the spread of AIDS include:

• AIDS is the sixth leading cause of death among people ages 25 - 44 in the United States, down from number one in 1995.
• The World Health Organization estimates that more than 25 million people worldwide have died from this infection since the start of the epidemic
• In 2008, there were approximately 33.4 million people around the world living with HIV/AIDS, including 2.1 million children under age 15.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) causes AIDS. The virus attacks the immune system and leaves the body vulnerable to a variety of life-threatening infections and cancers.

Common bacteria, yeast, parasites, and viruses that ordinarily do not cause serious disease in people with healthy immune systems can cause fatal illnesses in people with AIDS.

HIV has been found in saliva, tears, nervous system tissue and spinal fluid, blood, semen (including pre-seminal fluid, which is the liquid that comes out before ejaculation), vaginal fluid, and breast milk. However, only blood, semen, vaginal secretions, and breast milk generally transmit infection to others.

The virus can be spread (transmitted):

• Through sexual contact -- including oral, vaginal, and anal sex
• Through blood -- via blood transfusions (now extremely rare in the U.S.) or needle sharing
• From mother to child -- a pregnant woman can transmit the virus to her fetus through their shared blood circulation, or a nursing mother can transmit it to her baby in her breast milk

HIV infection is NOT spread by:

• Casual contact such as hugging
• Mosquitoes
• Participation in sports
• Touching items previously touched by a person infected with the virus

People with AIDS have had their immune system damaged by HIV and are very susceptible to these opportunistic infections. Common symptoms are:

• Chills
• Fevers
• Sweats (particularly at night)
• Swollen lymph glands
• Weakness
• Weight loss

Note: Initial infection with HIV may produce no symptoms. Some people, however, do experience flu-like symptoms with fever, rash, sore throat, and swollen lymph nodes, usually 2 - 4 weeks after contracting the virus. Some people with HIV infection stay symptom-free for years between the time they are exposed to the virus and when they develop AIDS.

Get the facts and LIVE life!!!!!!!

Essay provided by the New York Times written by: By ABIGAIL ZUGER, M.D.

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