HIV/AIDS I SS1 Civic Education Lesson Note

Meaning of HIV/AIDS

HIV means Human Immunodeficiency Virus. It is a virus that attacks the immune system. The immune system protects you from germs that cause infection and makes you sick. If HIV is in your system, over time it lowers the number of healthy immune cells (CD4 cells) that you have to fight infections

AIDS on the other hand is called Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. It is the chronic stage of the infection HIV and occurs when many healthy cells (CD4) in the body continue to decline and get to a certain amount whereby the CD4 cells cannot fight back. It takes a prolonged time for AIDS to come into place (10-12) years if HIV is diagnosed early or less.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HIV AND AIDS

1. AIDS is the final, most advanced stage of an HIV infection.
2. HIV is a virus or infection while AIDS is a condition.
3. A person could become HIV positive but never develop symptoms.
4. You can have an HIV infection without acquiring AIDS. Thanks to modern treatments and medicine, people can live with HIV infections for years or even decades without acquiring AIDS.
5. In other words, someone with AIDS has to have HIV, but someone with HIV doesn’t have to have AIDS.
6. HIV has no cure. The infection never goes away even if the patient never develops AIDS.
7. Like other viruses, HIV can be transmitted from person to person. AIDS, on the other hand, is a syndrome that is acquired only after a person gets infected with HIV.
8. Many people live for many years with HIV without ever developing AIDS. But if you have AIDS, you have to have HIV.

Causes, Drivers and Modes Of Transmitting HIV/AIDS

1. Blood transfusion
2. Unprotected sex
3. Breast milk from mother to child
4. Sharing contaminated sharp instrument
5. Occupational hazards during the treatment of HIV/AIDS
6. Open sore contact with the fluid of an infected person
7. Using unsterilized equipment such as blades, clippers, needles, syringes
8. Vaginal and Rectal fluids

Symptoms of HIV/AIDS 

1. Fever
2. Swollen glands
3. General body aches and pains
4. Cough:
5. Skin Rashes
6. Loss of Appetite and weight for a long period
7. Loss of memory
8. Loss of hair
9. Fatigue/Persistent severe tiredness
10. Vomiting
11. Dizziness and fainting
12. Persistent diarrhoea 
13. Sexually Transmitted Infections
14. Weight loss
15. Skin rashes
16. Sore Throat
17. Headaches
18. Dry Cough
19. Easily prone to diseases such as pneumonia
20. Night Sweat
21. Menstrual Irregularities

EFFECTS OF HIV/AIDS

1. Damages the immune system: The body’s immune system of the victim is completely damaged, paving the way for numerous diseases to enter. Thus the body cannot fight against infections because the body soldiers have been destroyed.
2. Draining financial resources/Increase in the medical bill: It may drain the financial resources of the infected person because a huge amount of money is spent on treatment.
3. Loss of appetite: It may lead to loss of appetite and affect the metabolic system of the body.
4. Poor parental care
5. Increase in the dependency ratio
6. Reduction in productivity/manpower
7. A high rate of school dropouts
8. Increase in social vices
9. Depression/emotional instability
10. Increase in the number of orphans and vulnerable children
11. Increase in the level of poverty
12. Loss of livelihood due to the inability to work
13. Loss of lives/Untimely Death- AIDS results in the untimely death of the victim.
14. It leads to broken homes/family
15. It leads to psychological problems
16. Stigmatization- It may lead to stigmatization of the person living with HIV/AIDS which may affect their social and emotional status