AIDS has been spoken of as the plague of the 20th century, but do we really know as much as we think we do about this deadly disease?  HIV is a virus that once in the body it flows through the blood stream and it is the cause of AIDS.  A common myth is that once you have HIV that you automatically have AIDS, that is not the case, there is a possibility to be HIV positive and not have AIDS.  AIDS itself is not the direct cause of death; it is the infections that break down the body's immune system that leads to the death of the patient.  

At this time there is no cure for the deadly virus only by education on prevention can we stop this deadly trend.  

In the following information we will be discussing several areas on the topic such as prevention, transmission, symptoms, treatment, fighting the disease and other related links.  As always we here at GTR are always here to discuss subject matter such as this or anything else feel free to email me info@gayteenresources.com or submit a question to the Ask Adam – adam@gayteenresources.org  

Ryan

Prevention:  

Since there is currently no cure for HIV the biggest thing is to spread the word on prevention of the disease.    

There is many ways that HIV can be prevented but it is spreading so quickly because people aren't safe and prevention techniques are not followed.  There are three main ways that HIV can be spread.  HIV can be spread through sexual intercourse, intravenous drugs, and blood transfusions which are very rare now since all blood is now tested.  

HIV is currently spreading like wildfire, especially through the youth population and most of it can be prevented.  Most people feel that it could never happen to them and don't realize that it can until it is too late.  Over 61% of 14-21 year olds are engaging in sexual activities.  In order to stop the spread of this disease we must deal with this problem among our generation.  

Even with the use of condoms a smaller percentage of people still get HIV because they don't act smart.  They misuse the condom, use of alcohol and/or drugs which can impair judgment or proper use, and the condom could be defective (you should always check first).  

If you are engaging in sexual activity you should always get tested on a regular basis.  As always the safest way to avoid the disease is to abstain from sexual intercourse.  

Transmission:  

The AIDS virus can be spread in many different ways.  It can be transmitted by direct contact of bodily fluids from an infected male or female through the infected blood contaminating uninfected blood. 

The most common forms of transmission are: sexual activity such as sexual intercourse (blood to semen contact), oral or anal sex, blood transfusions of infected blood; and the sharing of intravenous needles that may have contaminated blood still in them.  

There are some common myths on the contracting of HIV/AIDS, it cannot be contracted in some ways that people think it can.  There is a very low concentration of the virus in tears and saliva, so these cases are very rare and few and far between.  There are no known cases of transmission through mosquitoes or any other animals.  

Pregnant mothers can pass the virus onto their children before or even during the delivery of the baby.  It can also be passed through the breast milk that is fed to the child during the early stages of the child's life.  

Symptoms:  

Sometimes there can be no symptoms.  In the first stages of HIV the symptoms just don't show up.  People can live with HIV/AIDS for years and not even know about it.  If think you have slept with an infected person and get a blood test it might not show immediately.  Blood tests at the doctor will show antibodies after they form to fight AIDS, but it can take the antibodies around three months to show up.  That means if you get a blood test immediately after sex the virus will not show up for around another three months.