- AIDS or Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, transmitted via Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) remains the leading cause of death for women of reproductive age. In fact, young women are twice as likely to acquire HIV as their male counterparts.
- The disease alters the immune system, making people much more vulnerable to infections and diseases. This susceptibility worsens as the syndrome progresses.
- Within a couple of months of HIV infection, most people experience Acute Retroviral Syndrome (ARS) which has flu-like symptoms.
- Then comes a latency period that can last up to ten years where only a few (if any) symptoms appear, such as swelling or pain in glands.
- Advanced HIV is marked by constitutional symptoms such as fatigue, weight-loss and dementia.
- Apart from the general symptoms spoken above, women experience some additional vaginal HIV symptoms like vaginal yeast infections, abnormal pap smears, pelvic inflammatory disease, unusual menstrual cycles.
- Psychological symptoms are, however, common for men and women.
- HIV is found throughout all the tissues of the body but is transmitted via the body fluids of an infected person (semen, vaginal fluids, blood, and breast milk). However, it is possible to be infected with HIV without developing AIDS.
- For the most part, the symptoms of HIV are the result of infections caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, and/or parasites. These conditions do not normally develop in individuals with healthy immune systems, which protect the body against infection.
- No effective cure currently exists for HIV. But with proper medical care, HIV can be controlled. Existing treatment for HIV is called antiretroviral therapy or ART. If taken regularly and in the right way, ART can dramatically prolong the lives of many people infected with HIV, keep them healthy, and greatly lower their chance of infecting others.
A Recent Development…
In a recent study, called CRISPR-Cas9 technology, scientists were able to prove that HIV can actually be eliminated from the cells' DNA through the use of state-of-the-art genetic editing. The study is now published in the journal titled "Molecular Therapy." Following the success of their experiment on mice, the researchers now hope to test the same technology in primates. Before 2020, they expect to move to their trials to actual HIV-infected humans.
You are not alone…
Gospel singer Musa ‘Queen’ Njoko has been living with HIV/Aids for 21 years. She had been an asthma sufferer since the age of 12. Ten years later, when the lung disease reached its peak, she was diagnosed as HIV-positive.
“I had to grow up in that moment. I had to think differently compared to other 22-year-olds. I had to mature, I had to grow up and deal with issues that other 22-year-olds didn’t have to think about.”Courtesy: Facebook
At that time, treatment for the virus was not available.
“We had more challenges in those days. You basically had to become your own research. Information back then was complicated, and it was available for scientists and medical practitioners. It slowly started being interpreted into layman’s language.”
It was only in 2009 when the South-African President Jacob Zuma, announced policies for HIV-positive people with a CD4 count of 350 or less to receive free antiretroviral treatment; pregnant HIV-positive women with symptoms getting access to treatment, and HIV-positive pregnant women being put on treatment at 14 weeks to protect the baby.
Today, Nomusa Njoko, fondly known as Musa, is a well-known AIDS activists in South Africa apart from being one of the country’s most sought-after gospel artists. While most HIV-positive sufferers take the virus as a death sentence, she urges to live life to the fullest.
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