Zimbabwe nurse and health worker. Image credit icrc.org
ZIMSEC O Level Combined Science Notes: Disease:Immunity and Immunisation
HIV and Its effects
- HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus
- It lives in the body fluids including blood, saliva, semen, tears etc
- It enters the body in the following ways:
- during unprotected sex with an infected person
- through sharing contaminated (by HIV) needles when administering drugs
- during blood transfusion if the blood is contaminated by the virus
- from infected mother to child during pregnancy, at birth and during breastfeeding
- The virus reduces the body’s ability to fight infection and disease by destroying the body’s white blood cells responsible for producing the antibodies
- A person is deemed to be HIV positive if that person’s blood is tested for the HIV virus and it is found to be present in his/her blood
- A person can look healthy and yet be HIV positive
AIDS
- Stands for Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome
- It is a stage during the HIV infection when the HIV has destroyed the body’s defence ystem, causing the individual to become susceptible (vulnerable) to multiple infections and failing to recover
- This stage can (and will likely) lead to death
- There is no cure for AIDS
- Exercising a healthy diet, maintaining a positive attitude, seeking early treatment when an opportunistic infection surfaces and
- Taking Antiretroviral drugs (ARVs)
- All significantly prolong a person’s life
To access more topics go to the Combined Science Notes page
