It is the 1st of December 2018 and today, marks the international day known as World AIDs day. This is an international awareness day which is used to bring awareness to the pandemic caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). World AIDs Day is one of 8 official global awareness days for topics of public health, with the other days being;
But, this year in particular is a special year for World AIDs Day as it marks the 30th year of the international day starting - the 1st of December 1988. For this year, the theme is know your status. This is because currently an estimate 3/4 of people with HIV actually know their status. Now, that number is rather good. But, there is still ages to go before everyone with HIV knows their status. That not just going to happen by reaching these remaining people who have HIV and don't know. It is also about breaking those barriers such as stigma and discrimination which prevents certain people from undergoing the HIV test. This then leads to people only being diagnosed to when they have become ill and symptomatic (Meaning they have medical symptoms and signs which can be diagnosable).
By the way.... The HIV testing kit is free on the NHS. The main one is a blood test. Some can be done at the comfort of home too. Many places such as clinics will give you the result on the very same day as the test.
So... What is HIV/AIDs? & How does HIV turn into AIDs?
The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a virus which damages a certain cell, known as the T helper cells, within the immune system. By damaging this particular cell, the body is weaker to attacks from normal infections and diseases. This is due to the T helper cell playing a vital role in the adaptive immune system - a subsystem of the immune system where the cells are custom built for certain diseases. The adaptive immune system is more advanced and therefore, speeds up the healing process. The T helper cell role would be interact with all of the different immune cells. For example, it will wake up (activate) the B cells (the ones which make and release antibodies), tells the macrophage to destroy any cell it eats as well as activating the T killer cells to destroy the target cells.
So without the T helper cell, which is virus targets, any other infection is harder to get rid of. They can become more worrisome as we can't defend ourselves.
The virus is called AIDs happens at a crucial point when the body's immune system has been damaged too much by the HIV virus. It is basically the failure of the immune system. This allows opportunistic infections to become life-threatening. Not to mention, an AIDs sufferer is more likely to get cancers due to the immune system not working.
How does HIV get pass on?
Don't worry. AIDs can not pass from person to person. You can not get AIDs as the condition of AIDs is only happens when the immune system is broken (Remember the above question).
However, HIV is different. This one can be passed from person to person. Worryingly, you can pass the virus without realised that you have any symptoms. It can be passed on by;
There is treatment! But, you must go to the doctors very quickly if you think that you have got the virus. This is because the emergency HIV drug will only work if started around 72 hours (2 and a half days) since when the believed infection came into your body. It's called post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), has to be taking every day for a month and is available at hospitals along with sexual health clinics. Want to know more?
If this doesn't happen, then the other course of treatment is just to manage the illness. You might be given anti-retroviral drugs which stops HIV replicating. Therefore, allowing the immune system to repair itself. Although, a combination of these sorts of drugs may have to be taken as HIV adapts quickly and can get resistant... According to the NHS website, HIV diagnosed patients take from as little as 1 to 4 in one day.
So maybe... Prevention is better than cure. How do I do that?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK26827/
https://undark.org/article/new-research-suggests-optimism-for-hiv-aids/?utm_source=Global+Health+NOW+Main+List&utm_campaign=a9840177ac-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_11_27_01_30&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8d0d062dbd-a9840177ac-2936393
- World Health Day - 7th April
- World Blood Donor Day - 14th June
- World Immunization Day - 27th April
- World Tuberculosis Day - 24th March
- World No Tobacco Day - 31st March
- World Malaria Day - 25th April
- World Hepatitis Day - 28th July
To mark World AIDs Day, everyone is encouraged to wear a red ribbon - similar to hope we wear poppies on the 11th of November otherwise known as Armistice Day. But, the red ribbon is special. It was the first awareness ribbon. A symbol to simply show awareness and support of those living with HIV or AIDs. But, the symbol hasn't always been there. The red ribbon started as a plan drafted up in a classroom within the spring of 1991. In this classroom, twelve artists took around a hour to come up with such a simple idea - a red ribbon 6 inches long, looped once over a finger before attached by a pin to your clothes. The chair of that meeting, Patrick O'Connell mentioned (Available on the BBC news article - here) that he wanted to make something that was self-replicating... It's extremely simple... Everyone can make one.
This ribbon was a project of Visual Aids - A New York organisation which raises awareness of HIV/AIDs. They were highlighting that people were dying of an illness which they weren't telling their closest family or friends why. A few weeks after they sent a box containing 3,000 of these ribbons to Minskoff Theatre on Broadway which was the venue for the Tony Awards. The actor Jeremy Irons came on stage with the red ribbon visible. It was from there that this small red ribbon of HIV/AIDs awareness snowballed. Hollywood was contacting these 12 artists, 10,000 ribbons where sent for the Oscars and they made 1.5m of them in the coming years.
But, this year in particular is a special year for World AIDs Day as it marks the 30th year of the international day starting - the 1st of December 1988. For this year, the theme is know your status. This is because currently an estimate 3/4 of people with HIV actually know their status. Now, that number is rather good. But, there is still ages to go before everyone with HIV knows their status. That not just going to happen by reaching these remaining people who have HIV and don't know. It is also about breaking those barriers such as stigma and discrimination which prevents certain people from undergoing the HIV test. This then leads to people only being diagnosed to when they have become ill and symptomatic (Meaning they have medical symptoms and signs which can be diagnosable).
By the way.... The HIV testing kit is free on the NHS. The main one is a blood test. Some can be done at the comfort of home too. Many places such as clinics will give you the result on the very same day as the test.
So... What is HIV/AIDs? & How does HIV turn into AIDs?
The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a virus which damages a certain cell, known as the T helper cells, within the immune system. By damaging this particular cell, the body is weaker to attacks from normal infections and diseases. This is due to the T helper cell playing a vital role in the adaptive immune system - a subsystem of the immune system where the cells are custom built for certain diseases. The adaptive immune system is more advanced and therefore, speeds up the healing process. The T helper cell role would be interact with all of the different immune cells. For example, it will wake up (activate) the B cells (the ones which make and release antibodies), tells the macrophage to destroy any cell it eats as well as activating the T killer cells to destroy the target cells.
So without the T helper cell, which is virus targets, any other infection is harder to get rid of. They can become more worrisome as we can't defend ourselves.
The virus is called AIDs happens at a crucial point when the body's immune system has been damaged too much by the HIV virus. It is basically the failure of the immune system. This allows opportunistic infections to become life-threatening. Not to mention, an AIDs sufferer is more likely to get cancers due to the immune system not working.
How does HIV get pass on?
Don't worry. AIDs can not pass from person to person. You can not get AIDs as the condition of AIDs is only happens when the immune system is broken (Remember the above question).
However, HIV is different. This one can be passed from person to person. Worryingly, you can pass the virus without realised that you have any symptoms. It can be passed on by;
- Sexual Contact (Including sharing things used in sexual contact)
- Sharing Needles
- Mum to Baby by breastfeeding
- Health Professionals accidently catching a needle
- Blood Transfusion - Very, very rare within the UK
There is treatment! But, you must go to the doctors very quickly if you think that you have got the virus. This is because the emergency HIV drug will only work if started around 72 hours (2 and a half days) since when the believed infection came into your body. It's called post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), has to be taking every day for a month and is available at hospitals along with sexual health clinics. Want to know more?
If this doesn't happen, then the other course of treatment is just to manage the illness. You might be given anti-retroviral drugs which stops HIV replicating. Therefore, allowing the immune system to repair itself. Although, a combination of these sorts of drugs may have to be taken as HIV adapts quickly and can get resistant... According to the NHS website, HIV diagnosed patients take from as little as 1 to 4 in one day.
So maybe... Prevention is better than cure. How do I do that?
- Using protection for when you have sexual contact
- Avoiding touching a HIV infected person
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK26827/
https://undark.org/article/new-research-suggests-optimism-for-hiv-aids/?utm_source=Global+Health+NOW+Main+List&utm_campaign=a9840177ac-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_11_27_01_30&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8d0d062dbd-a9840177ac-2936393
Comments
Post a Comment