HIV is a deadly infection, which can progress to an even deadlier stage of AIDS. It is wreaking massive havoc around the world by claiming millions of lives, and leaving millions of innocent children struck with this deadly disease or orphaned.
Health organizations all over the world are putting in all their efforts to deal with this scary epidemic.
We can protect the world from HIV by prevention of new HIV cases,and early detection and appropriate treatment of the existing cases, and spreading awareness about the disease. This can be achieved by understanding more about HIV and AIDS, and following the appropriate measures of prevention and treatment.
HIV is spread through some of the body’s fluids, like blood, semen, vaginal fluids, breast milk, and rarely through other body fluids like synovial fluids, spinal fluids, the latter of which are more likely to spread infection to health workers dealing with them.
Therefore, the most common ways through which HIV spreads are:
a. Sexual: most common route of spread. Homosexual and anal sex have a specially high risk of HIV transmission. Also higher rates of spread are found if one or both partners suffer from any sexually transmitted diseases, because these diseases cause more CD4 cells to be accumulated at the infection site, thereby making it easier for the virus to enter. Transmission is also higher at the times of menses because of direct exposure to blood.
Thus, in order to prevent HIV, we should campaign aggressively for adherence to the following sexual practices:
1. having safe sex with use of a condom always.
2. limiting oneself to a single sexual partner.
3. avoiding indiscriminate sex.
4. avoiding anal sex and homosexual practices.
5. avoiding sex if either partner affected with an STD, until fully treated.
b. Needle sharing: This is again an increasingly common route of spread among drug-users, and also sometimes in persons getting tattoos, etc.
It is needed that all concerned be extremely cautious about the following:
1. The best way is to encourage people to stop using drugs.
2. For those who continue to do so, they should never reuse or share syringes or other preparation equipment.
3. More needle exchange programs should be established.
4. People should safely dispose the used syringes.
If new, sterile syringes are not available, it is highly recommended to boil and then use the older ones.
While going for any other treatment that involves needle injection also, everyone should make sure that the source is a safe one and uses sterile, good quality equipment and proper safety measures.
c. Mother to infant transmission: Occurs during pregnancy, child-birth or during breastfeeding.
It is important that women at risk of HIV get screened for it as soon as they conceive, and get started on anti-retro viral medications, at least Zidovudine. It alone reduces the transmission to baby by 80%. It should also be given to newborns of infected mothers during the first 6 weeks of life. Other measures are not to breastfeed the baby.
Since millions of children are already suffering from HIV, it is imperative that children at high – risk be screened for HIV, so that treatment can be started
as soon as possible.
d. Blood transfusion: This route is very common in developing countries where appropriate facilities for blood screening for HIV before transfusion are not available, although the situation has been improved substantially as compared to previous years.
Anyone exposed to HIV through needle stick, like health care workers or blood transfusion must take Zidovudine plus Lamivudine plus Nelfinavir or a similar regimen for at least 4 weeks, immediately to prevent infection.
Worldwide campaigning to spread awareness regarding the above-mentioned measures for protection from HIV, sincere efforts on the part of the people themselves to adhere to these measures, actively treating any case of HIV, and finding newer lower cost methods of screening and treatment will help us to combat this calamitous epidemic.
Let us join together in this fight with all our strengths and we will win.
