Rachel Morgan

Health #3

4/17/05

HIV/AIDS

 

HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is the virus that causes AIDS.  The virus invades the immune system’s white blood cells, also called T cells.  It hides inside the cells so that it remains out of reach of the immune defenses.  Then the virus will start using the cells to create more of them while at the same time destroying them.  Eventually the immune system would become very weak and vulnerable.  The virus itself does not kill the person, but the diseases that come because of the weakened immune system do.  AIDS is only when the virus has destroyed nearly all of the white blood cells.

The age group twenty to twenty-four is about twenty percent of the infected population.  There are approximately 18,000 people who are within that age group that have AIDS.  Studies have shown that the majority of them got the disease while in their teenage years, whether it be by infected needles or sexual activity.  Most of them probably did not know that they had it while in their teen years for it did not show symptoms until their twenties.  In fact, AIDS is the 6th leading cause of death for people from the ages of fifteen to twenty-four.  Even more shocking is that it is the leading cause of death for men ages twenty-five to forty-four.

The people who have the least resistance to the virus HIV are Native Americans Africans, East Asians, and African-Americans.  Europeans and American-Caucasians seem to have the most resistance.  Apparently, the scientists have found that the genetic mutation LCR5-delta32 which helped people from getting the black plague is doing the same thing for people from getting AIDS.

The symptoms of having the HIV virus include weight loss, frequent fevers and sweats, lack of energy, swollen lymph glands in the armpits, groin, or neck, persistent skin rashes, severe herpes infections that cause mouth, genital, or anal sores, and short-term memory loss.  Still, just because you have some of those symptoms does not mean that you have the HIV virus, it may be that you have a different illness.  If a person has a lifestyle that might expose him or her to the virus, the best way to know is to be tested.  Types of tests include blood, urine, oral, rapid, and home access. 

            AIDS is an epidemic currently. Don’t just think ‘oh, I am just a teenager and I can do whatever I want and be safe’ or ‘my friend always tells me the truth, it won’t hurt to have sex or share needles’.  In fact, in 2004 it was estimated that approximately 2.2 million kids age 15 and younger had AIDS.  How would it feel if your friend who always told you the truth was part of that group?  What is even more alarming is that every hour another teen becomes infected.  Also according to statistics teenagers are more liable of getting the HIV virus than full grown adults.  In fact, about half of the newly infected people are younger than twenty-five.

            What is also extremely challenging is that teens are between childhood and adulthood, and are often not as well-informed about risky behavior as they need to be.  They want to act like adults, but are often considered children.  So, they start participating in adult activities like sex and drugs.  Adults sometimes unwittingly think that the best way to keep their children safe is by not telling them anything.  If anything, that just makes things worse.  When adults don’t tell their children about the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases, especially about AIDS, the children think that the action will cause them no harm; when in reality their actions could cause death.

            Slowly, but surely, adults and parents are starting to get the idea that children need to know about these things.  They may think that it is too early, but studies have shown that children as young as fifth or sixth grade have been participating in sex.  Even scarier is that is about the same time they start checking out drugs.  Kids that age don’t know that they are not supposed to be doing such things.  Sometimes parents are probably know less than the kids do, and think their children are innocent, and underestimate their curiosity.  Parents probably also did not have as much peer pressure when they were kids.  They don’t understand the dangers, and don’t realize that sometimes saying no is often quite hard.  It should be easy to do, but there is a lot of pressure to be a part of the crowd and they want to try to fit in as much as possible.  The best idea to counteract this epidemic is to start teaching children while they are young, about our lives and choices.  A good influence and example from adults will help teens become leaders in the fight against these frightening statistics.