Ever
since the first official full-blown case of Acquired Immune
Deficiency Virus (AIDS) was detected in 1984, the little
known virus the Human Immune Deficiency Virus (HIV) has
emerged one of the greatest threats to humanity.
What
is HIV/AIDS?
Our
body is designed by nature to fight off most infections
with a interplay of various cells that together from the
immune system. HIV is deadly because its attacks our immune
cells the very core of our defence. As the immune system
weakens, the body becomes susceptible to all kinds of infections.
This stage of HIV infection is called AIDS. As the weakness
continues, minor diseases like common cold or flu can become
potentially dangerous. Eventually the victim dies due to
some such secondary infection, not directly due to HIV.
AIDS
can take about 7-10 years to develop after infection with
HIV. No one know for sure when a person with HIV will get
AIDS. It varies person to person. Fortunately, HIV does
not survive outside the body and easily destroy by heat.
It is spread person to person through bodily fluids like
semen and virginal fluids, infected blood and blood products,
infected mother to her baby before birth, during birth or
through breast milk. A person infected with virus is called
an HIV positive person.
How
HIV Spreads
Exposure
to HIV is of two types, direct and indirect contact between
an infected person and a non-infected person is known as
direct exposure. A person indirectly exposed when his or
her partner has sexual contact within HIV positive persons.
The most common method of transmission of HIV is through
sexual contact, when blood semen or vaginal secretions of
the infected person is likely to come into contact with
that of the healthy person. From out of the five cases in
India are caused in this manner. The risk is greater during
and intercourse, as the rectum tears more easily than the
vagina.
A
person suffering from sexually transmitted disease (STD)
is also more likely to contact HIV through sexual intercourse.
This is because they may have sores in their genitals through
which the virus can enter the body.
Blood
transfusion is also a major factor in the spread of HIV.
It accounts for 3.8% of infections in India. Infected blood
can cause HIV Infection through cut, shared needles or unsterilised
syringes. Body piercing with infected instruments can also
lead to HIV. HIV testing is now mandatory in India for blood
donation and professional donors have been banned.
A
baby born HIV positive is one of the greatest tragedies
of this global epidemic. An infected woman can transmit
the virus to her child during pregnancy, childbirth or lactation.
SYMPTOM
There
are three major symptoms of low immunity induced by HIV
infection:
1.
Loss weight:- The patients lose more than 10 percent of
his body weight.
2. Diarrhoea:- Persistent diarrhoea for more than a month.
3. Fever:- Fever, if it is low which lasts for more than
10 days.
Other symptoms include unexplained fatigue, swollen glands,
excessive sweating and skin rashes.
TREATMENT
There
is no cure of AIDS, but there are treatments than can improve
the quality of life:
1.
Antiviral therapy like AZB, suppresses the growth of the
virus.
2. Haematopoietic factors are sometimes to trial anaemia
and low while blood cell counts.
3. Preventive steps include use of condoms disposable needles
and syringes, avoiding multiple sex partners, use of HIV
free blood and proper treatment of STD.
HIV
IN INDIA
HIV/AIDS
presents a serious
public
health problem in the country. The first case of AIDS was
detected in 1986 in Chennai. The end of 2000-estimated India
has 3.86 million HIV infected people. The epidemic has reach-worrying
proportions in Maharastra, Tamil Nadu and Manipur. A survey
in Mumbai found
that as many as 60 percent of the sex workers were HIV infected.
The
major reason for such a dramatic spread of the disease is
heterosexual transmission of the HIV virus. Migrating of
labours, low literacy levels, gender disparities, reproductive
tract infections are some of the factors attributes to the
spread of HIV/AIDS. Increasingly, the disease is affecting
women and youth. Almost fourth of new HIV cases are woman.
This compounds the socio problems associate will HIV the
women are frequently stigmatized by society. The risks of
HIV positive babies are increasing.
PREVENTION
OF AIDS
India
is one of the few countries where HIV preventive activities
were initiated at an early stage of the epidemic. The government
response to the problem was initiated in 1986 and National
AIDS control Organisation (NACO) was established in 1992
at the aim was to " lead and catalyse an expanded response
to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in order to contain the spread
of infection, reduce people's vulnerability to HIV, promote
community and family based care to people with HIV/AIDS
within an enabling environment without any stigmatization
or discrimination and alleviate AIDS, devastating social
and enviroment impact".
Since
1999 the programme has been expanded and decentralized with
the state Govts establishing state AIDS control societies
for a more focused programme addressing the priorities at
the regional and state level. As a result 35 autonomous
societies has been established across the country with adequate
financial and administrative powers to identify and response
to local needs
To
track the epidemic in India a sentinel surveillance system
has adapted to best suit Indian conditions. Few selected
sentinel site representing the various groups of population
are screened for HIV prevalence and its trends are monitored
over a period of time. There were 180 groups are chosen
based on information of behavior risk group. NACO has under
taken several campaigns ( For detail visit www.naco.nic.in)
raging from awareness to prevention, to prevent AIDS from
becoming India's greatest National tragedy. More detail
go to AIDS/HIV lab
