What we need to know about AIDS/HIV...

Most people are aware of HIV and AIDS but are to afraid to get themselves checked. Some people think that using a condom will prevent them from getting HIV or AIDS, which is not true. Condoms do not protect people from getting sexually transmitted diseases. Some people are born with AIDS or HIV but most people get it through sexual intercourse. HIV is a virus that slowly attacks the immune system cells and eventually over time causes AIDS. HIV will infect the human cells and will use that energy and nutrients provided by those cells to grow and reproduce. HIV damages the cells in your body, the body then will become more open to the infections, which will make it harder for your body to fight it. It can take many years for HIV to damage the immune system, once th immune system is damaged HIV will turn into AIDS. It is insane that most people living might not even know they have AIDS or HIV for over 10 or 15 years! Someone would be diagnosed with AIDS when they have a symptom called an opportunistic infection, or an AIDS related cancer. Someone can still have AIDS even if they have not developed the opportunistic infection.

There is no cure for AIDS, the only way we can prevent ourselves is to know how HIV is transmitted and try to stay away from any sexual intercourse. Millions of people get diagnosed with HIV or AIDS every year and they do not even know it. Most teenagers are either afraid or embarrased to go to a clinic and get themselves checked. There is absolutly no cure for this disease but most people choose to ignore this fact and put their lives at risk. Many kids need to be more aware about the symptoms and the causes of these diseases. In the U.S., 7 in 10 women have sex before the age of 14. About 30% of males have sex before the age of 15 years old, compared with 66% of 18 years old. This just shows that teenagers are sexually active before graduating high school and they need to be more ware about the symptoms of sexually transmitted diseases. We need to be more informed about sexually transmitted diseases. Most teenagers do not even know all the sexually transmitted diseases. Parents should be more concerned about their children and what their children do. Most kids have sex before graduating high school, however they are not informed about these diseases. There should be classes about diseases that can be spread through sexual intercourse because most teens are clueless when it comes to a topic like this.

Ways you can get AIDS or HIV

The most common ways to get AIDS are:

* Having sex with a person who already has HIV or AIDS

* Sharing drug needles with someone who has HIV or AIDS.

*You can also get HIV from a blood transfusion, if the HIV is in the blood.

* Using steroids and drugs

Sex of adults and adolescents with HIV/AIDS diagnosed during 2007

Age of persons with HIV/AIDS diagnosed

Estimated numbers of AIDS diagnoses, deaths, and persons living with AIDS, 2003–2007

		2003		2004		2005		2006		2007		Cumulativeª
AIDS diagnoses		38,893		37,633		36,127		35,695		35,962		1,018,428
Deaths of persons with AIDS		17,082		16,570		16,249		14,989		14,110		562,793
Persons living with AIDS		372,136		393,200		413,077		433,783		455,636		N/