Aids

6 Pages 1577 Words

The AIDS and HIV viruses are getting worse in the United States and the rest of the world. Although more people die of heart disease and cancer each year, AIDS has become the health problem people fear the most. Much of the fear comes from ignorance and misunderstanding. Education is the most effective tool against AIDS. It is important for young people to learn the facts about AIDS. It is a fact that the incidence of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases is on a rapid rise among teens and people in their early twenties. HIV & AIDS, are rapidly increasing all over the United States. HIV is spread through the exchange of bodily fluids, primarily blood, semen, and blood products. HIV that is present in the sexual secretions of infected men and women gains access to the bloodstream of an uninfected person as a result of unprotected sex. Another way that a person can be infected is by sharing needles or syringes that results in direct exposure to the blood of an infected individual. This is common among people using drugs that are injected in the veins (Folks 4). HIV can also be transmitted from an infected mother to her baby, before or during childbirth, or through breast-feeding. Studies also show that only 25 to 35 percent of babies born to HIV-infected mothers worldwide actually become infected. This type of transmission accounts for 90 percent of all cases of AIDS in children. To me, this is the worst type of transmission because babies are defenseless and have no idea what is happening to them when they are so young (Treto). Even when the children of HIV-infected mothers are fortunate enough to avoid the virus, there is still yet another incidence of heart problems 12 times that of the children in the general population (Folks 4). Practices such as open mouth kissing, sharing toothbrushes, and sharing razors should be avoided. Researchers have recently identified a protein in saliva that prevents HIV from infecting white bloo...