Other+Questions

Questions from Other Learning Circle Participants & Our Answers

1. If you found out that one of your friends is infected with AIDS, would you still remain friends with him/her, and how would that affect your relations? Please elaborate your answer? How can you help a HIV infected person retain and regain its status in society? 2. What do you know something about the progress of finding a cure for AIDS? _
 * AIDS 2**

//Response:// 1) yes I would 2) There is still not cure for AIDS. Although scientist continue to research the desease, there isn't a vaccine yet either- there probably won't be for another 10 or 20 years. Once infected there is no way to get the virus out of your body. However, there are still some drugs which help to slow down the damage HIV does to your immune system and therefore slow down the onset of AIDS. There are also other drugs to prevent or treat some of the opportunistic infections (OI's) that affect people with HIV/AIDS) JS

**AIDS 3**  People know about HIV, but why does there appear to be an annual increase in new HIV infections? Why people don't care about? //Response:// Some important reasons to the annual increase of (HIV,AIDs) would be that there is less education and most people from Africa will not wear a Condom therefor the desease is easely trasmitted. That has a great effect on the annual increase of (HIV,AIDs). Also sleeping with a lot of women really does not help one bit.

**AIDS 4**  Will you remain friends with a person who is suffering from AIDS? If your answer is yes, how can you help him?

//Response:// 1) If my best friend became ill with AIDS, I would defiantly remain friends with that person. I would because the last thing that they need in their life is gossip and to lose a friend who should be there to help them through it all. I would treat them the same way everyday because I couldn't catch it by hugging them, and shaking their hand. The only way I would be eligible to catch is to have sexual intercourse of exchange bodily fluids with the person.

2) To help them, I would help them stay strong with positive encouragement. I would also research the topic to see how they could get treatment or if they don't feel comfortable doing something to help them with their problem. I would even consider going to therapy with them to help them ease the pain. If they became bullied or pushed around, I would stand up for them. Also, I would defiantly give donations to them personally or to UNISEF or the Clinton Organization.  How would you and your classmates react if you found out that you were HIV positive ?
 * AIDS 5**

//Response:// If my classmates and I found out that we were HIV positive, our reaction would probably be that we would be worried. Some symptoms of HIV infection appear 2 to 12 weeks after exposure at this point the virus begins rapidly taking over the body's immune system. The symptoms of this phase are flu-like and could be diarrhea, fatigue or weakness, fever, headache, joint pain, night sweats, rash, swollen glands and weight loss. When any of these symptoms begin to appear the person with HIV is very infected, these symptoms usually go away between a week and a month then the person will feel fine again, these symptoms can return from time to time. After infection it could take 3 months for the antibodies for the virus to be detectable. The only way to know if you are infected with this virus is to be tested because these symptoms can also occur from other diseases.   Imagine that a very close friend and even someone from your family has been infected with HIV and you're going to deal with this situation. Which is your first reaction when you have just heard this bad news? Will you keep this news as a secret? Explain why if so? How would you help him/her to get over this / to make it easier to accept and to regain their self confidence? //Response:// 1) I would be shoked. But after I would probably tell them to research more information on HIV/AIDS, to se what he or she can and can not do and also what they can to to protect temselves and others around him or her.
 * AIDS 6**

2) Yes, I would keep it a secret, this is not something that I would go and tell anyone about. That person only has to tell the ones that need to know . Ex: Partner or girl friend/boy friend.

3) I would tell that person that he or she can talk to me anytime about how they are feeling. I could try to educate them more about HIV/AIDS or get somone to educate him or her. If he or she is in a hospital I would visit that persone regularly, I could also read them inspioring books and stories about oher people who are infected and how they made it through.

 1. In case you realised that your friend was HIV positive from an protective sex in marriage and lost their wives from suspected HIV virus but still wishes to marry, What advice would you give to such a friend? Can they still go ahead to marry?
 * AIDS 8**

2. In case they married too, what advice would you give to their new spouse?

//Response:// If I realized my friend was HIV positive, I would explain to him everything I know about HIV/AIDS. For the fact that he's already lost wives because he's transmitting it to them, he's most likely a carrier of the disease. The virus is present in his body yet he has no symptoms and can pass the disease on to anyone. For some people, AIDS develop after 7-10 years of being HIV positive. For others, they don't progress AIDS although being infected with HIV for many years. These people are called long-term non-progressors. If this friend of mine has lost many of his wives already, he's certainly a long-term non-progressor. If he's going to marry again, he should learn a bit more about his disease. I would not forbid him to marry because it's his own choice but I would tell him not to have unprotected sex. He needs to know that AIDS can be caused by simply exchanging body fluids with people who are HIV positive. Most ways of exchanging body fluids are by sexual activity, sharing needles or receiving blood transfusions. If he's not ready to take precaution about his disease and protect himself before having sex, he's not ready for another marriage and he's going to end up losing another wife. I think the most important thing he should do is talk to this woman and tell her everything he knows before marrying her.

//2) If they did marry, what advice would you give the spouse?//

I would tell the spouse everything I know about my friend and his disease. She should know that she is not safe if she has unprotected sex with him for he is an HIV positive. It is her choice whether she wants to have sexual activities with him or not, knowing he's carrying the virus. If my friend chooses to forbid protecting himself before sexual activity, she should leave him. It would be the best decision for herself. I couldn't do much to stop them, but at least I've told them everything I knew.

 **AIDS 9**  1)what should we do to stop the hiv infection???

2)do you belive that people can prevent the hiv infection? How?

3)can we do something for children infected with the hiv? What? //Response:// 1) I think we should use protection when having sex and we should have a type of medication that would get rid of AIDS. 2) Yes, I believe that people can stop HIV from spreading if they use condoms and when having an open cut, people should make sure that it is covered. 3) yes we can do something for kids that are infected with HIV. We have to raise money to cure it so others don't have to suffer.

<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">We were reading in some magazines that the HIV virus could be an artificial virus. An army experiment escaped from the control of the scientists. We would ask you what do you think about that?
 * AIDS 10**

//Response:// I could not find anything on my question saying that they could inject you with the AIDS like a flue shot so that your body could learn to fight off HIV. If there were such a think and it didn't give you AIDS, I would get it. I don't know if there is any such thing but I couldn't find anything on any website. 1. How can we take AIDS? 2. Why do you think people aren't more carefully about?
 * AIDS 11**

//Response:// 1. Unprotected Sex - the #1 transmitter of AIDS and HIV, though that is being disputed currently. Unprotected Sex with anyone can lead to HIV, but also remember that it won't always lead to it. Generally, the rule with STD's is that one person is usually the infected carrier...regardless, always use protection when having sex. Most particularly, oral sex will DEFINITELY transmit the disease...the genitalia of both men and women are among the most germ-ridden areas of the body...oral sex will transmit the infection faster than most other methods, since there is no real contraceptive that can be used.

2. Drug Use - this is being disputed currently against Unprotected Sex as the #1 transmitter of AIDS. Sharing of drug needles is the most common transmission...needless to say, the needle goes into the blood stream of one person, and then if the needle is shared with other people, germs and infections from one person are spread to the other. While the direct cause of HIV is still not currently known(beleive it or not), it is a fact that sharing of drug needles seems to breed HIV among users.

3. Blood transfusion/mixing - It is never safe to touch someone's open wound...you don't know if the person has AIDS or HIV. A popular thing for kids to do way back when was to pick their scabs off and rub the sores together so that they would become 'blood brothers'. It is things like that which can cause AIDS...the direct contact of one person's open wound to an infected or potentially infected person' blood. In the 80's blood reserves were not checked for AIDS, since AIDS was still a young and relatively underestimated disease...many blood transfusions led to infection. Now, all hospitals and blood banks are required to screen donors for infections, but there is always the possibility that a blood transfusion will cause AIDS.

4. Kissing - disputed, but AIDS and HIV CAN be carried by saliva...kissing an infected person is dangerous. While a simple kiss on the cheek or non-mouth kiss is fine, open mouthed kissing can lead to the transfer of the disease. Also remember that when you brush your teeth, you create hundreds of tiny cuts on your gums...kissing an infected person who brushed their teeth recently is inviting a transmission.

5. Sharing hygiene tools - as stated above, sharing a toothbrush is a very bad idea...whether infected with HIV or not, the cuts created in the mouth of the person do bleed, and are open cuts...blood and infection will get caught in the bristles of the brush. Sharing shaving razors is also ill-advised...especially manual razors, as opposed to electric, since you are more prone to bloody cuts while shaving.

What you should remember is that you won't get AIDS or HIV by sitting next to someone with the disease, holding their hand, touching them or talking to them. Although it is easy to transmit, it is difficult to catch, but you must make sure that you are careful at all times...when you meet someone, namely a new friend or a date, it is important that you know their sexual history before you get romantically involved. If you trust the person, and they are open with their relationship history with you, then you can rely on that, but always remember that if you have doubts, ask your partner or friend (and you, for that matter) to get tested.

Why do you think people aren't more careful about this illness?

A lack of basic knowledge about HIV/AIDS is widespread, despite public awareness campaigns about the disease. Without being aware of such a deadly illness, the contraction risk rises dramatically. Even in the case of being aware, some think they can't be infected, thinking they're above such a thing. For most the idea of practicing protected sex, or even abstinence, isn't very appealing or pleasurable.

However, avoiding such an illness would bring much benefit. Often the resources to treat such ones infected with HIV/AIDS are either unavailable or too costly. In some cases they're even overburdened (or aren't well developed).

Then there's simply lack of education on the matter. Resources for educating the public about risky behavior (which often leads to HIV infections) are equally limited. People and societies in general are often reluctant to talk about risky behavior because it touches upon societal taboos and often goes against societal norms.

Links: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/96283.php

http://answerbag.com/q_view/1634

http://youthink.worldbank.org/issues/aids/