Essay, Research Paper: Aids Prevention

AIDS Prevention
Since many people have the HIV virus or at least heard of it, everybody should
know what it is and what it does. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. HIV is not spread
through kissing, sneezes, sweat, mosquito s, eating utensils and drinking fountains. HIV
is spread by having vaginal, anal, or oral sex, sharing needles, and through the contact
of body fluids from an infected person. HIV infected people usually look and feel healthy
and may not even know that they are infected. Only a blood test can tell if someone is
infected with HIV or not. It can take up to 10 years for symptoms to appear and the
symptoms are like many common illnesses: swollen glands, coughing, and fevers. It s
not who you are, but what you do that puts at risk for HIV. There are many ways to
reduce the risk and try to prevent yourself from being infected with HIV.
One way to prevent yourself from getting HIV is to not use needles. Many people
injects drugs into themselves by means of needles. Drugs are very dangerous, and
using needles carries the chance of being infected with HIV from someone else who
used the needle. There is a chance of getting HIV from blood transfusions, too, but the
hospitals disinfect needles for the safety of their patients. Although it's not safe to do
drugs, if using needles, do not share them with anyone. If you were to let someone else
use a needle that has been used already by another person, you are just putting them at
risk to be infected.
Another way you can be infected by the HIV virus is by vaginal, oral, or anal sex.
One way to keep yourself from not getting HIV is abstinence. You can also help prevent
the transmission of HIV with a condom. Although condoms are not 100% effective, they
can be safe to help reduce the risk of giving or receiving HIV to or from your partner.
Even if condoms aren't 100% effective, it is a lot better than using nothing. When you
use condoms you are respecting your partner and yourself, trying to prevent both of you
from getting a deadly disease. There are many different kind of condoms, rubber or
polyurethane, for example. Condoms are sold at most pharmacies and many stores.
They can also be found in some restrooms in dispensers.
There is also a chance of getting infected with HIV if you come in contact with
another person's bodily fluids. You should be careful to come in contact with other's
bodily fluid. If somehow you touched someone's blood, there is chance that their blood
can get in your body, and if they have HIV then you could become infected. The same
way with coming in contact with any other bodily fluid, there is always a chance of getting
infected.
A very important way to prevent people from getting HIV is by teaching about
AIDS in school. By teaching the youth about HIV and AIDS, we can prevent people from
getting it. If you can teach young people about AIDS, there will be a better chance that
they won't get AIDS. Students should have the chance to learn about how to prevent
AIDS, so they know what they are up against and what it can do to their life. It can show
what can happen to them if they are sexually active.
In conclusion, there are many ways to prevent yourself from HIV and AIDS. A
condom is one way to prevent yourself from being infected, but what works even better
is abstinence. Also, if someone would do drugs with needles, a very important way to
keep yourself from getting AIDS would be to not share needles, and not reuse needles
either. Also, another big way to prevent the transmission of HIV and AIDS would be to
teach students in school, so they knew what it was and how to prevent themselves from
getting this life-threatening disease. If people could just be careful wherever they are,
and know how they can prevent themselves from the disease, there could be a
decrease in the number of people infected with HIV. The thought of that can make a lot
of people feel happy, and maybe after a many years, AIDS could be gone for good or
there will be a cure.
Work's Cited
Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia, 1995.