William, who grew up in Davao City, was only 18 when he went to Metro Manila to study in one of the country’s most prestigious schools. His parents wanted him to be a lawyer. William was an outstanding student during his first year. But, after meeting some friends, everything changed.
His friends brought William to a pub one evening. There, the young man was introduced to a beautiful guest relation officer. And the rest, as they say, is history. Since then, William was picking up girls here and there.
Lately, however, he started suffering from a chronic cough that lasted for more than a month. He also experienced itching in several parts of his body, aside from having swollen lymph. William decided to see a doctor and told him his problem. After hearing his woes, the doctor asked William about his sexual lifestyle.
Quite surprised at the question, the young man told his story just the same. After conducting several blood tests on William, he was asked to return a week later.
“I am sorry to tell you this, William,” the doctor said when he returned, “but you are positive of HIV.”
The doctor is referring to human immunodeficiency virus, an infectious particle that is too small to be seen with the naked eye or even a conventional light microscope. Bacteria are 1/1000 of a millimeter and can be seen with a light microscope. But with its HIV, it is 1/10000 of a millimeter in diameter and can only be seen with an electron microscope.
HIV causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), the most severe form of HIV infection. “A person with HIV infection is considered to have AIDS when at least one complicating illness develops or his ability to defend against infection significantly declines,” notes The Merck Manual of Medical Information.
Here’s how HIV invades the human body, according to the Merck manual: “The HIV progressively destroys some types of white blood cells called lymphocytes, which are important part of the body’s immune defenses. When lymphocytes are destroyed, the body becomes susceptible to attack by many other infectious organisms.”
The Merck manual claims that many of the complications of HIV infection, including death, “are usually the result of these other infections and not of the HIV infection itself.”
HIV is considered a retrovirus, which like many other viruses stores its genetic information as RNA rather than as DNA. “When the virus enters a targeted host cell, it releases its RNA and an enzyme (reverse transcriptase), and then makes DNA using the viral RNA as pattern,” the Merck manual explains. “The viral DNA is then incorporated into the host cell DNA. This reverses the pattern of human cells, which copy RNA from the pattern of human DNA (thus the term “retro” for “backward”).”
Other RNA viruses, such as polio or measles, do not make DNA copies but simply copy their own RNA.
“Each time a host cell divides, it makes a new copy of the integrated viral DNA along with its own genes. The viral DNA can either lie latent [hidden] and do no damage or activate to take over the functions of the cell, causing the cell to produce new viruses. These new viruses are released from the infected cells to invade other cells.”
The transmission of HIV requires contact with a body fluid that contains the virus or infected cells, according to the Merck manual. Virtually, it is present in all body tissues and organs including the brain and the spinal cord. “HIV can appear in nearly any body fluid, but transmission mainly comes from blood, semen, vaginal secretions and breast milk,” it said.
Although low concentrations of HIV are also present in tears, urine, and saliva, transmission from these fluids is extremely rare. If ever a person gets HIV through kissing, he or she needs to imbibe 32 liters of an infected person’s saliva, according to Health Action Information Network (HAIN). “That would be enough saliva to fill up the gasoline tank of six-by-six truck. And the transfer should happen in one kissing session!” HAIN said.
Generally, HIV is transmitted in the following ways:
- Sexual contact with an infected person, during which the mucous membrane lining of the mouth, vagina, penis, or rectum is exposed to contaminated body fluids. This usually happens when unprotected sex is practiced.
- Injection or infusion of contaminated blood, as occurs with blood transfusions, the sharing of needles, or an accidental prick from an HIV-contaminated needle.
- Transfer of the virus from an infected mother to a child before birth, during birth, or after birth through the mother’s milk.
“Susceptibility to HIV infection increases when the skin or a mucous membrane is torn or damaged—even minimally—as can happen during vigorous vaginal or anal intercourse,” the Merck manual states.
Sexual transmission of HIV is more likely if either partner has herpes, syphilis, or another sexually transmitted disease (STD) that produce breaks in the skin or inflammation of the genitals. “However, HIV can be transmitted even if neither partner has other STDs or obvious breaks in the skin,” it says.
HIV transmission also can occur during oral sex, “although it is far less common than during vaginal or anal intercourse,” the Merck manual informs.
Unknowingly, HIV is relatively fragile and can be easily killed by household disinfectants. But once it is inside the human body, there is no way a person can eliminate the dreaded virus.
An information sheet circulated by the Department of Health (DOH) said HIV antibodies do not kill the AIDS virus. The antibodies and HIV remain in the bloodstream of a person until the rest of his or her life. Only a special blood test can detect whether a person is HIV-positive.
Unlike flu, which already gives you the symptoms the following day after acquiring it, HIV infection can show no symptoms for several years. Studies have shown that it could be as short as three years or as long as 12 years.
Symptoms differ widely from country to country. In most cases, AIDS starts with flu-like symptoms that resemble mononucleosis (the so-called kissing disease). These may persist for two weeks to a few months after HIV enters the body.
“After the first stage,” says The Medical Advisor: The Complete Guide to Alternative and Conventional Treatments, “symptoms may disappear for several years. How the AIDS patient takes care of himself or herself during this time is extremely important, because HIV is multiplying in the body, slowly at first, and then rapidly. As the virus systematically destroys the cells that fight off infection, the immune system begins to fail and the patient becomes vulnerable to various illnesses and tumors.”
Among the diseases that affect people with HIV include tuberculosis (TB), Kaposi’s sarcoma (a tumor primarily affecting the skin), pneumonia, herpes, shingles and weight loss. “Many complications of HIV infection, including death, are usually the result of these other infections and not of the HIV infection itself,” the Merck manual states.
Health experts say condom use is one of the most effective ways of stopping the spread of HIV. But most Catholic priests are against it because they said condom promotion is “dangerous and ineffective.”