AIDS is the short form of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
which is a disease that is brought on by HIV virus which is known as
Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Such an illness is characterized by the
immune system becoming compromised. People become more vulnerable to
diseases as well as infections. As the disease progresses the
susceptibility worsens.
Nature Of The Disease Or The Virus
The infected person has the virus in the body fluids.
- The body fluids include semen or vaginal fluids, breast milk as well as blood.
- The virus is transferred from person to person through sexual contact as well as through blood transfusion.
- If women are infected and are pregnant, they will pass on the virus to the babies.
- They can even transfer the disease to the children while breast feeding.
- The virus is also spread by the use of hypodermic needles.
Those who are carrying the virus are known to have a HIV infection.
They might develop AIDS or not. If the AIDS patient develops different
kinds of infections they might suffer fatal consequences. The origins of
the virus come from west central Africa. It was first detected in the
late nineteenth or the early part of the twentieth century. Today there
are several treatments available to slow down the course of the disease
and that allows many people to lead relatively healthy lives even if
they carry the virus in them.
Difference Between AIDS And HIV
There are several differences between the two:
- HIV is a virus that attacks the T-cells which form the immune system
while AIDS is a syndrome that comes up in the advance stage of HIV
infection
- AIDS is a medical condition while HIV is a virus that causes it
- Even though HIV brings on AIDS, it is possible that one infected with HIV will not develop AIDS.
- If HIV infection is undiagnosed or untreated it can progress into AIDS as it does in majority of cases in the advanced stages
- The testing for HIV infection is possible to be done in the early
stages. Even if AIDS symptoms are absent, one will be able to use
prophylactic drugs in order to slow down the rate of replication of the
virus, that in turn delays the onset of AIDS
It is necessary to understand the signs and symptoms of AIDS. One
needs to know that such a patient still carries the virus in them and
will still have the infection in them.
- Symptoms of HIV are apparent when infections caused by different
pathogens start appearing in a person. Such infections are usually
warded off in a healthy person but not by someone who is inflicted with
HIV
- A common symptom of HIV is flu which comes on about two or six weeks after the virus comes into the system
- Early symptoms of HIV infection include fever, chills, muscle ache,
joint pain, sore throat, enlarged glands, rashes, weakness and weight
loss.
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