If you want to know about myths and facts about AIDS and HIV, you are in the right place. You must have come across the chapter Reproductive Health in your 12th biology textbook if you are pursuing science. Now you must have come across the topic AIDS too right? In this article, today I’m gonna share few myths and facts about AIDS which every student has the right to know.
Now let me tell you something. I’m sharing these out of topic things from your core syllabus because there are few things that you must know but your teachers are never going to teach you. Maybe you have not faced such situations but I’ve seen a lot of people facing such situations as their teachers are not comfortable to teach few topics in spite of being from a practical background.
But before starting let’s know something basic. Though you will get it from your textbook, in case you still haven’t read the chapter and reading this article before then here are a few basic things. Read till the end so there is no doubt left in your mind about HIV and AIDS.
What is AIDS?
AIDS stands for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome and is caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus or simply HIV. It is a disease in which there is a severe loss of the body’s cellular immunity, greatly lowering the resistance to infection and malignancy.
What is HIV?
Human Immunodeficiency Virus is a virus that attacks cells that help the body fight infection, making a person more vulnerable to other infections and diseases.
How it spreads?
- By blood products (unclean needles or unscreened blood).
- By having unprotected vaginal, anal or oral sex.
- By mother to baby by pregnancy, labour or nursing.
Symptoms
A. Acute –
Fever
Headache
Muscle aches and joint pain
Rash
Sore throat and painful mouth sores
Swollen lymph glands, mainly on the neck
Diarrhoea
Weight loss
Cough
Night sweats
B. Chronic –
Though HIV is present mainly in white blood cells but there’s no such specific symptoms.
C. Symptomatic –
Fever
Fatigue
Swollen lymph nodes — often one of the first signs of HIV infection
Diarrhoea
Weight loss
Oral yeast infection
Shingles
Pneumonia
D. Severe Progression to AIDS –
Sweats
Chills
Recurring fever
Chronic diarrhoea
Swollen lymph glands
Persistent white spots or unusual lesions on your tongue or in your mouth
Persistent, unexplained fatigue
Weakness
Weight loss
Skin rashes or bumps
So here I am going to share few myths and facts about AIDS –
HIV can transmit through the air
Well, this is just a myth. HIV cannot even survive in air. Once it leaves the body fluid and gets exposed to air, it starts drying up and thereby gets damaged and inactive.
Kissing can transmit HIV
This is again a myth. Saliva contains very little amount of HIV in a person having it. So kissing can transmit HIV to other partner but he/she cannot get infected.
Touching / Contact with a person having HIV can transmit the virus
This too is a myth. HIV can only be transmitted through some specific body fluids and not by touch.
HIV can be transmitted through sweat
Of course not. This is just a myth. HIV can only be transmitted through some specific body fluids but not sweat.
Sex is safe when both partners have HIV
This is a dangerous myth. No way. I mean just no. You still need to take precautions. You may just end up providing each other with more infections.
These are very commonly asked myths. But the fact is that they are just myths.
Facts about HIV and AIDS
You can get HIV while having oral sex
Maybe the risk is quite lower than others but there’s still risk. So always take precautions if your partner is HIV positive.
Having HIV and AIDS are not the same thing
HIV can stay in a person for years without ending up into AIDS.
HIV can never be cured
No matter which type of medications you try, you can’t cure it totally.
So now if someone close to you still believes in the myths or doesn’t know about the facts then do educate them. There’s nothing wrong to educate people but carrying to wrong information and spreading it to others is very dangerous. So whenever any new question pops up on your mind which is related to a topic but not exactly in your core syllabus, you can always check from Google.
Disclaimer – Please don’t take this article in any other way. This is completely for your knowledge purpose. Read your textbook to know thoroughly about the topic. These are a few basic things that you need to know because they wouldn’t be probably taught in your school. So I hope this article helped you.
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