FAQs on HIV: Current AIDS Information Revisited

What is Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS):

This sexually transmitted disease is both chronic and life threatening. The disease attacks the immunodeficiency virus (HIV). When this attack occurs, you will have no ability to fight any colds or infections. In addition, you have no immune system. The term AIDS is commonly used in reference to a person experiencing the later stages of the HIV infection. This infection is not limited to sexual partners. Those who share drug needles are at risk. Unborn children are also at risk if their mother has the disease. It can be passed to the baby through the umbilical cord as well as breast milk.

It is not so easy to pinpoint the symptoms of either HIV or AIDS as they vary depending on the state of the disease. You may not experience any symptoms. Then again, you may feel like you came down with a bad case of the flu approximately two to six weeks from the time of infection. It should be obvious by the symptoms that this disease is not easily diagnosed because most people do not enter into a sexual relationship thinking they are going to contract HIV/AIDS. That is not the first thought on their mind when they experience “a cold” and will very rarely connect that “cold” with a sexual encounter.

One of the difficulties with this disease is that even if you do not experience symptoms you may be infected and you can still infect those that you have been in a sexual relationship. The HIV virus will begin attacking your immune system and will not stop. Eventually you will experience the following symptoms:

Swollen lymph nodes
Diarrhea
Weight loss
Fever, coughing, and shortness of breath
When your immune system has been severely compromised, you will be susceptible to an opportunistic infection and experience:
Night sweats
Chills/fever that is increased for several weeks in a row
Dry cough and shortness of breath
Chronic diarrhea
Lesions on your tongue or mouth
Headaches
Distorted vision
Weight loss
Unexplained fatigue
Swelling of the lymph nodes
Cancers run rampant when you are infected with HIV

Ways in which you can become infected with HIV include:

Sexual intercourse either vaginally or anally with an infected partner
If you share sexual devices that have not been cleaned of covered with some sort of barrier
Sharing of needles if you are a drug user
The virus may also be transmitted through blood products that you may receive in transfusions
A rare type of contraction is through organ or tissue donation
Dental instruments or surgical equipment

Here are the ways that HIV is not transmitted:

Normal human contact such as hugging or shaking someone’s hands
Contact with the sweat or tears of an infected person
Sharing food and utensils
Bedding or towels
Enjoying the pool together
Using the same telephone
Sitting on a toilet seat that an infected person also has also sat on
By a mosquitoes bite
Through donating blood

What are the complications of HIV:

This infection severely weakens your immune system, which will leave you at an increased risk to contracting a number of other infections. With a suppressed immune system, you may also be susceptible to certain types of cancers. There are new drugs developed all the time, which are helping those infected with HIV/AIDS and research will not stop in this area.

Bacterial infections:

Bacterial Pneumonia: this is the most common type of bacterial infection and may develop after you have had a cold or completely on its own.

Tuberculosis (TB): This is one of the leading causes of death in those infected with the HIV/AIDS virus.

Viral infections:

Cytomegalovirus (CMV): This herpes virus is quite common and is transmitted through bodily fluids. For those who have the HIV/AIDS virus this infection can cause eye problems and damage to your digestive tract, lungs, and other organs. If this infection is not treated, it can lead to blindness.

Viral Hepatitis: this is an infection of the liver. There are different types of hepatitis: A, B, and C. Hepatitis B and C can lead to chronic infection and can have long-term complications. If you are infected with HIV/AIDS, it is possible that you build up toxins in your liver from your medications. Hepatitis A can be contracted from contaminated food and water.