Jan. 7-20 . 2012 qnotes

Positive PostingsKnowledge is POWER!by Dale Pierce ~ Practice Manager/Ryan White Program DirectorIn this installment of our series we thought itwould be good to go back to a basic HIV 101 forall of us. If you are reading this and you don’t knowyour status, if you are sexually active, if you havebeen positive for a long time, this article is still foryou. Knowledge is power. When battling a diseaselike HIV, we all have to get back to the basicssometimes and remember that this is a disease thatis 100 percent preventable. Share this article withfriends and family and let’s educate and re-educatethe community.Thanks to the CDC, HRSA, and AMFAR fortheir resources in gathering this information foryou all.What is HIV?HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus.It is the virus that causes AIDS. A member of a groupof viruses called retroviruses, HIV infects human cellsand uses the energy and nutrients provided by thosecells to grow and reproduce.What is AIDS?AIDS stands for Acquired ImmunodeficiencySyndrome. It is a disease in which the body’s immunesystem breaks down and is unable to fight offinfections, known as “opportunistic infections,” andother illnesses that take advantage of a weakenedimmune system.When a person is infected with HIV, the virusenters the body and lives and multiplies primarily inthe white blood cells. These are immune cells thatnormally protect us from disease. The hallmark ofHIV infection is the progressive loss of a specifictype of immune cell called T-helper, or CD4, cells. Asthe virus grows, it damages or kills these and othercells, weakening the immune system and leaving theperson vulnerable to various opportunistic infectionsand other illnesses ranging from pneumonia tocancer. A person can receive a clinical diagnosisof AIDS, as defined by the U.S. Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention (CDC), if he or she hastested positive for HIV and meets one or both ofthese conditions:• The presence of one or more AIDS-related infectionsor illnesses;• A CD4 count that has reached or fallen below200 cells per cubic millimeter of blood. Alsocalled the T-cell count, the CD4 count ranges from450 to 1200 in healthy individuals.How many people are affected byHIV/AIDS?The Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS(UNAIDS) estimates that there are now 33 millionpeople living with HIV/AIDS worldwide. Mostof them do not know they carry HIV and may bespreading the virus to others. In the U.S., approximately1.1 million people are living with HIV/AIDS;about 56,300 Americans became newly infectedwith HIV in 2006. And the CDC estimates that onefifthof all people with HIV in the U.S. do not knowthey are carrying the virus.Since the beginning of the epidemic, AIDS haskilled more than 25 million people worldwide, includingmore than 583,000 Americans. AIDS rankswith malaria and tuberculosis as one of the top threedeadliest infectious diseases among adults and is thefourth leading cause of death worldwide. More than15 million children have been orphaned by HIV.How is HIV transmitted?• Unprotected sexual intercourse (either vaginalor anal) with someone who has HIV. Anal sex(whether male-male or male-female) poses a highrisk mainly to the receptive partner, because thelining of the anus and rectum is extremely thin andis filled with small blood vessels that can be easilyinjured during intercourse.• Sharing needles or syringes with someone whois HIV infected. Laboratory studies show thatinfectious HIV can survive in used syringes for amonth or more. Other types of needles, such asthose used for body piercing and tattoos, can alsocarry HIV.• Infection during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding(mother-to-infant transmission). Anywoman who is pregnant or considering becomingpregnant and thinks she may have been exposedto HIV — even if the exposure occurred years ago— should seek testing and counseling. In the U.S.,mother-to-infant transmission has dropped to justa few cases each year because pregnant womenare routinely tested for HIV. Those who test positivecan get drugs to prevent HIV from being passedon to a fetus or infant, and they are counseled notto breast-feed.• Unprotected oral sex with someone who has HIV.There are far fewer cases of HIV transmissionattributed to oral sex than to either vaginal or analintercourse, but oral-genital contact poses a clearrisk of HIV infection, particularly when ejaculationoccurs in the mouth. This risk goes up when eitherpartner has cuts or sores, such as those causedby sexually transmitted infections (STIs), recenttooth-brushing, or canker sores, which can allowthe virus to enter the bloodstream.It is our hope at Rosedale Infectious Diseasesthat this article sparks conversations around thecommunity and by educating the population, wecan decrease stigma and the spread of this disease.If you need an appointment to find your status, thelocal health department and almost any primarycare doctor can run an HIV test for you. If you findyourself in need of HIV services, PLEASE call us atRosedale ID at 704-948-8582 or visit or website atwww.rosedaleid.com.Don’t forget to visit on Facebook forcommunity and clinical updates.— Sponsored Content —18 qnotes Jan. 7-20 . 2012