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COMMUNITY HEALTH PROJECT
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HIV / AIDS disease OUTLOOK
By:
Members of Technical Staff
Computer Sales & Service Company 11/30/1998
There are innumerable stories available on the Web about HIV/AIDS infections. HIV is a fatal disease for which no cure has yet been found. The alternative medicine community has developed protocols which buoy up the immune system and resist the disease. Mainstream medicine has adopted AZT and other drugs, along with a so-called 'cocktail' aimed to fight the terminal aspects of the disease.
How do you catch HIV/AIDS? How long can you live with it? What are its symptoms? What is its growth rate?
a) You catch it from exposure to blood or semen or vaginal fluids, either to an open wound, which can be microscopic, or to tissues which are very thin, like vaginal linings or anal linings. Cold Sores, Herpes and Scabies are rampant entry zones. Infection takes only seconds and once infected, the infection is permanent AND terminal.
b) You can live with HIV/AIDS for as little as 6 months or as long as 10-12 years. It is inevitably fatal. No one has survived for more than 15 years once infected. You will die of it.
c) The symptoms start with chronic fatigue and symptoms similar to Epsteins Barr syndrome. They extend to chronic influenza and bronchial pneumonia, outset lesions of the skin, chronic diarrhea and innumerable persistent infections. Ultimately, they turn into extreme symptoms like cancers of the lungs and brain, skin cancers such as caposi's sarcoma, extreme dehydration, extreme gamma and blood infections, and then, after significant weight loss, loss of energy and inability to consume nutrients, to ultimate failure of the entire system and death. The process of death after infection 'turns' to roaring symptomatic aids, usually about 6 months.
d) Aids/HIV's growth rate today is estimated to be reported at 10% larger number of new infections each year. That amounts to about a 300% increase per decade. At that rate, Humanity could die out in 50 to 60 years if nothing is effective at stopping the epidemic.
What can be done? Right now no matter HOW MUCH FINANCIAL AID we throw at the problem, unless people actually cease sexual contact in all situations except marriage with blood tests in place, AIDS will continue to spread. Condoms are not necessarily fully effective, they are a deterrent... and NO ONE should engage in other forms of sexual intercourse, neither heterosexual nor homosexual, WITHOUT USING CONDOMS and taking great care to protect themselves and their partner from infection. Also, Safe Sexual practices need to be carefully scrutinized by everyone, or the ultimate price could be paid with your life.
Don't take chances. If you are an IV drug user or seeking a blood transfusion in a medical emergency, make certain you are not sharing a needle with anyone, and make certain your blood supply is either family donated or carefully screened. If you have HIV and are pregnant, you should consult your local physician for assistance in determining if there are steps you can take to protect your unborn child from contracting the disease. It IS possible.
Here is a valuable article taken from CNN (without their express permission):
Scientists note rise in HIV infections
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| This baby is among HIV-positive children at an African orphanage | |
Web posted at: 1:38 a.m. EST (0638 GMT)
UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- Leading scientists, health officials and economists gathered at the annual World AIDS Day symposium Monday to discuss the latest obstacle in fighting the pandemic -- complacent attitudes.
An estimated 33.4 million people around the world are now infected with HIV, according to the American Foundation for Aids Research, which hosts the annual conference.
The new figures also indicate a 10 percent increase in HIV infections from last year -- most notably in sub-Sahara Africa -- at a time when more Americans say they are less worried about the disease.
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| Quilt panels honoring the memory of those who have died from AIDS are hung in recognition of the 11th annual World AIDS Day. | |
A Harris poll scheduled to be released in 1999 finds that the perceived risk of contracting AIDS ranks behind 11 other illnesses and accidents among Americans. Portions of the survey were discussed at the conference.
Respondents were asked to rate, on a scale of 10, what they thought their chances were of contracting HIV.
Nearly 60 percent of all respondents answered zero. Among people 18 to 24, 46 percent rated their chances as zero.
Most Americans think they are more likely to be shot by a total stranger or go completely deaf, the survey found.
"Diseases like HIV don't need visas, so with globalization I think there is great potential to be transmitted around the world ... HIV anywhere is HIV everywhere," said Dr. David Bloom of Harvard University.
Sub-Saharan Africa in crisis
AIDS has most rapidly crept up in sub-Saharan Africa, which accounts for two-thirds of all HIV infections. |
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| At least 20% of adults in four sub-Saharan African countries are HIV positive | |
South Africa, which accounted for half of the region's new infections last year, is fast catching up on its neighbors. Leaders who once fought apartheid are now desperately trying to contain some 1,500 new infections each day.
Archbishop Desmund Tutu joined scientists and economists at the conference to draw attention to the human aspect of AIDS.
"These are not statistics. Imagine if it was your son, your mother, your wife ... then you realize we are talking about people of flesh and blood, " he said.
South Africa also faces potential damage to its economy, as AIDS is threatening to kill off a generation of skilled workers. Much of Asia -- already battered by a financial crisis -- also may face a shortage of productive workers.
"Many countries are in great danger of having their economic backs broken by the epidemic," Bloom said.
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