Today is a day worth remembering.
PLEASE GO GET TESTED TO KNOW YOUR HIV status.....it saves life.
ZERO AIDS related Death.
HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) infection has now spread to every country in the world. Statistics show that approximately 40 million people are currently living with HIV infection, and an estimated 25 million have died from this disease.
The scourge of HIV has been particularly devastating in sub-Saharan Africa and South Africa, but infection rates in other countries remain higher as well.
Infections in women are increasing. Worldwide, 42% of people with HIV are women.
In order to understand HIV and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), it is important to understand the meanings behind these terms:
HIV stands for the human immunodeficiency virus. It is one of a group of viruses known as retroviruses. After getting into the body, the virus kills or damages cells of the body's immune system. The body tries to keep up by making new cells or trying to contain the virus, but eventually the HIV wins out and progressively destroys the body's ability to fight infections and certain cancers.
The virus structure has been studied extensively, and this has helped scientists develop new treatments for HIV/AIDS. Although all HIV viruses are similar, small variations or mutations in the genetic material of the virus create drug-resistant viruses. Larger variations in the viral genes are found in different viral subtypes. Currently, HIV-1 is the predominant subtype that causes HIV/AIDS.
AIDS stands for the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. It is caused by HIV and occurs when the virus has destroyed so much of the body's defenses that immune-cell counts fall to critical levels or certain life-threatening infections or cancers develop.
