The fight against AIDS took a big step when a combination of drugs that failed to turn it into a death sentence was achieved. Today the disease is not cured, but it is a pathology in chronic .
While waiting for a vaccine on which all the research in this field is focused, the other great struggle that arises today is its propagation . It is still a disease with a high level of infection.
THE PROOF OF AIDS THAT IS PURCHASED IN PHARMACY
Now the Spanish Government has taken a step to try to stop it. You can already buy without any prescription in pharmacies the test to do a self-diagnosis and see if you have the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which is what causes AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome).
The test is simple and costs 29 euros . Just place a sample of blood or saliva of the person and in twenty minutes tells us if it is positive (infected) or negative.
The manufacturers guarantee a very high efficiency of 99.5% .
In addition, the campaign offers a toll- free telephone number (900,111,000) and a Red Cross website so that people who may be infected can find out what they can do and what steps to take.
HOW TO AVOID MORE CONTAGIOS
With this test it is expected that contagions will stop, which are basically by sexual transmission or through blood , especially in the case of drug addicts who share syringes.
One of the problems is that there are currently 18% of infected people who do not know they are infected . And there are up to 46% who have discovered it, but already too late and have maintained relationships with other people who may have infected.
The number of infections today is much higher than the eighties
With this quick and easy to acquire test, these figures are expected to fall. "Today is a great challenge because the truth is that today the infections are well above the decade of the eighties and nineties" , as explained by Dr. Juan González-Lahoz, head of the infectious diseases service Carlos III Hospital in Madrid .
HOW TO SUSPECT HIV CONTAGIO
The new test is designed for those people who may have signs that they have the virus. The main way of contagion is to have sex without a condom . A practice that returns to be habitual because it has lowered the guard in the disease.
- If you find out that your partner has HIV , you should get tested right away.
- If you do not know if you are infected, but after a month you have an infection , with swollen glands, it is a sign of suspicion. The virus reacts like this at first, although then you heal and it becomes latent and it can be years without giving more signals.
WHAT TO DO IF THE TEST HAS GIVEN ME POSITIVE
" We do not have to wait for the symptoms to appear," explains Dr. González-Lahoz . You have to go to a health center, where you will have another blood test, even more accurate, to confirm the result . "
The AIDS patient must assume a chronic disease such as diabetic or hypertensive
Then a treatment is initiated that guarantees the patient that the disease will not manifest . "It will become chronic, like diabetes or hypertension. The patient must assume that he will be medicated all his life, but he will be able to lead a normal life and his life expectancy will be practically the same as the one he had before he became infected, " explains the doctor.
HOW AN AIDS PATIENT REACTS
People usually go through two phases.
Psychological alienation Before the news they react with a shock, with anxiety and fear. It is convenient to treat those emotions with psychologists.
Acceptance phase. After the first year and begin treatments, 95% of patients assume their condition and start a normal life.
HOW AIDS AFFECTS NORMAL LIFE
For four or five years, there is a new generation of medicines that have greatly improved the quality of life of AIDS patients. Side effects have been reduced considerably , and when a patient reacts badly to a medication, there are now other options that can replace it.
That image of one infected with lipodystrophy (extremely thin) , which was one of the side effects of the retroviral drugs that were administered, has been left behind .
The main problem for the patient is the psychological
Today, the average patient can not only practice sports , but doctors recommend it, as well as doing all the usual guidelines for a healthy life.
The main problem for the patient is psychological . Knowing oneself as a carrier and the fear of being able to infect oneself have an important effect on the quality of life of the person.
WHEN DO THE SIGNS OF AIDS APPEAR?
People with HIV, but who do not know that they are, usually have the first symptoms of AIDS towards eight years on average . But there are patients who present them at two years and others take up to twenty years.
The most common symptoms are:
- A significant weight loss in a few weeks.
- Diarrhea and gastric problems for a month.
- Fiber high , especially night.
The earlier the treatment is started, the better the prognosis and recovery. "What the patient has to be clear about is that there are safe, effective treatments that control the infection in an important way .
However, the best control remains to use condoms .