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10 years ago
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30th Commemoration of HIV/AIDS
Thirty years ago this June, an article reporting the first known cases of what we now call AIDS was published in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). Since then, extraordinary progress has been made in treating and preventing HIV, and annual new infections have fallen by more than two-thirds since the height of the epidemic.
National HIV Testing Day (NHTD): June 27
Despite this progress, HIV remains a crisis in our country. Over the last three decades, prevention efforts have helped reduce new infections and treatment advances have allowed people with HIV to live longer, healthier lives. But as these improvements have taken place, our nation's collective sense of crisis has waned. Far too many Americans underestimate their risk of infection or believe HIV is no longer a serious health threat, but they must understand that HIV remains an incurable infection. Today, the most infections are among people under 30—a new generation that has never known a time without effective HIV treatments and who may not fully understand the significant health threat HIV poses. The reality remains that about 50,000 new infections occur each year in the U.S. and, today, more than one million people are living with HIV in our nation. Reducing HIV rates in the U.S. is not only possible – it’s imperative – and new advances in HIV prevention hold promise in changing the course of this epidemic.
How can I find out more about HIV and AIDS?You can call CDC-INFO at 1-800-CDC-INFO (232-4636); TTY access 1-888-232-6348. CDC-INFO is staffed with people trained to answer your questions about HIV and AIDS in a prompt and confidential manner in English or Spanish, 24 hours per day. Staff at CDC-INFO can offer you a wide variety of written materials and put you in touch with organizations in your area that deal with HIV and AIDS.
On the Internet, you can get information on HIV and AIDS from www.AIDS.gov or www.cdc.gov/hiv
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Sources:
http://www.cdc.gov
http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/brochures/at-risk.htm
http://www.actagainstaids.org more -
Featured Condtion/Disease: HIV/AIDS
We are featuring a childhood/infant disease or condition informational post every other Friday. Today's topic is HIV/AIDS.
Definition
HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is a disease that attacks and destroys the body's immune system. The immune system is the body's defense against diseases and sickness. If the immune system does not work well, a person can develop deadly infections and cancers.
AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is the most serious stage of HIV infection. This stage means the immune system of the infected person has been destroyed.
Being infected with HIV does not mean a person has AIDS, but rather that the person's immune system may be damaged, leading to AIDS.
Effects on a Child's Health
How HIV infection will affect a child's health differs with each child. Some children show symptoms of the infection as early as the year they are born; others may not show any signs of disease until much later. How old the child is when symptoms start to show is an important clue to how your child's health may be affected.
HIV makes your child's immune system weak and hard to fight off infections or cancer, and it can make your child more vulnerable to other problems and diseases. Sometimes it can even cause strokes. The medicines used to treat HIV can have many side effects. Medicine used to treat HIV can help, but not cure the disease. Some possible side effects of the treatment include:
- Fever.
- Nausea or being sick to the stomach.
- Fatigue or tiring often and easily.
To get more information about HIV/AIDS, click here.
*Most of the information provided here is from the Teach More/Love More site, click here to visit their site.
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Showing posts with label HIV/AIDS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HIV/AIDS. Show all posts
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