Understanding Aids/HIV: Unveiling the Hidden Facts

AIDS/HIV has become a significant cause of death worldwide. AIDS/HIV affects everyone we know at some time in our lives. Having HIV is a nightmare, as it causes the infected individuals and the related families to immerse into grief, pain, and despair for much longer than those may expect.

When talking about diseases, we always focus our attentions on cancers, hypertension, stroke, coronary heart disease, diabetes, but not many of us want to talk about AIDS/HIV. Whilst having known that these modern-day diseases have intruded human’s life, one “silent” disease called AIDS/HIV has taken millions lives of housewives, children, hawkers, technicians, lawyers and people from other social status worldwide. Most people unaware that they’ve been infected with AIDS/HIV as they don’t either check with a doctor or get themselves a medical examination done.

Yesterday, 1st December 2008, was a World AIDS Day. It is celebrated annually on 1^st of December to raise people’s awareness towards AIDS/HIV. World AIDS Day is also served as a “terminal stop” for people to come togather to focus on raising awareness and highlighting the reality life with AIDS/HIV.

What is AIDS/HIV?

HIV, or scientifically known as Human Immunodeficiency Virus, is a type of virus that attacks the cells of living organisms by making new copies from the original “codes” (means make up the human body and replicate within those infected cells), weakening immune system (a natural defence against disease), while attacking a particular immune system cell called CD4 lymphocyte. When the immune system is weakened, it leads to chronic and progressive illness. The HIV then advances to a stage of illness called AIDS, or Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, causing the infected individuals vulnerable towards other infections and illnesses. As it is regarded as an opportunistic disease, it may also lead to death.
The virus is commonly transmitted via sexual contact to get into the bloodstream or it might pass through delicate mucous membranes (such as lining in the vagina, rectum or urethra if there’s bleeding, sore, cut and etc.), and also via a deadly virus called HPV (more details about HPV on my previous article here). In a nutshell, HIV can be transmitted from one person to another, if one of them gets in touch with each other with the bodily fluids that have been infected with HIV.