AIDS A What is AIDS ? AIDS s tands for: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome AIDS is a medical condition. A person is diagnosed with AIDS when their immune system is too weak to fight off infections. What causes AIDS ? AIDS is caused by HIV. HIV is a virus that gradually attacks immune system cells. As HIV progressively damages these cells, the body becomes more vulnerable to infections, which it will have difficulty in fighting off. It is at the point of very advanced HIV infection that a person is said to have AIDS. It can be years before HIV has damaged the immune system enough for AIDS to develop. The spread of AIDS way 1. Mother-to-child transmission 2. Sexually transmitted 3. Transmitted through blood 1.Mother-to-child transmission through the placenta, childbirth, lactation, etc. 2. Sexually transmitted 3.Transmitted through blood. the same syringe drugs, input containing the AIDS virus blood and products, etc What are the symptoms of AIDS? A person is diagnosed with AIDS when they have developed an AIDS related condition or symptom, called an opportunistic infection, or an AIDS related cancer. The infections are called opportunistic because they take advantage of the opportunity offered by a weakened immune system.opportunistic infection diagnosed with AIDS diagnosed with AIDS It is possible for someone to be diagnosed with AIDS even if they have not developed an opportunistic infection. AIDS can be diagnosed when the number of immune system cells (CD4 cells) in the blood of an HIV positive person drops below a certain level.diagnosed with AIDS Attitudes to AIDS suffers The first person cure of AIDS Scientists believe a little girl born with HIV has been cured of the infection. She's the first child and only the second person in the world known to have been cured since the virus touched off a global pandemic nearly 32 years ago. Doctors aren't releasing the child's name, but we know she was born in Mississippi and is now 2 1/2 years old and healthy. Scientists presented details of the case Sunday at a scientific conference in Atlanta. Like no other plague before, the AIDS epidemic threatens to wipe out an entire generation and leave another without parents. We must not let cultural, racial, or social barriers distract us from the job that must be done. Nor can we let political inefficiency stop us from our task. This is an undeclared war that everyone must sign up for in order for us to win. We simply cannot let people continue to die because we don't feel comfortable talking about AIDS. Everyone must become an educator and learn to live. Thanks for you listenin g