World Aids Day PNG

World Aids Day PNG

HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is a virus that is transmitted through blood and unprotected sexual contact and can settle in various tissues of the body, but shows its main effects on the immune system.

HIV basically destroys white blood cells called CD4 T lymphocytes (CD4 cell for short), suppressing the immune system and leaving the body vulnerable to infections. As a result, diseases such as tuberculosis, diarrhea, meningitis, and pneumonia, which can be treated under normal conditions, cause serious damage to the body, and in some cases, cancers can be seen.

Today, drugs developed for HIV prevent the virus from multiplying in the body and its immune-suppressing effect, allowing HIV-positive people to live a long and healthy life. For this, it is important to start treatment early and continue regularly under the control of a doctor.

What is AIDS?

AIDS is an abbreviation for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. AIDS, caused by the HIV virus, is the stage in which the immune system is vulnerable to infections and cancers and is life-threatening. Contrary to misconceptions, not every HIV-positive person develops AIDS.

Thanks to antiretroviral drugs developed against the HIV virus, the immune system can fight infections without serious damage, that is, body resistance does not decrease. After being infected with HIV, in addition to drug treatment, AIDS may not occur depending on the living conditions and body resistance of the person, and there is a possibility that it will occur 5-15 years or more.