HIV/Aids Q&A
In July, 190 world leaders and thousands of non-governmental organisations met at the United Nations to discuss ways to stop HIV infection and how to care better for those infected. This month, the Teacher continues its monthly HIV/Aids column as its contribution in the fight against the disease.
Q: Dear Charlene
We are teaching HIV/Aids in school but I am not really sure how to explain it. Joseph K, Pretoria
A: One of the simplest and best explanations for children or the illiterate is in a booklet published by GlaxoSmithKline called How HIV Works in Your Body. (Write to Box 3388, Halfway House 1685.) HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. It makes the immune system (the part of your body that fights illness) weak. HIV is passed from person to person through body fluids – this includes sex, sharing a toothbrush or razor, blood, injecting drugs with a needle, or being born to an HIV-infected mother. HIV invades the body’s fighter cells, also known as CD4 cells. HIV disguises itself as a CD4 cell worker and gets into the fighter cell. Here it begins telling the body to destroy itself, by killing its own defence system. It is a bit like an army refusing to fight the enemy and instead killing its own soldiers – that is what HIV does in your body. The Aids Consortium in Johannesburg (185 Smit Street, Braamfontein) has excellent information on HIV and so does the Department of Health.
Q: I’ve started noticing signs that I think might mean I am HIV-positive, and I want to go for a test. Where can I go and what will happen? Portia M, Springs
A: You don’t mention your symptoms but HIV usually begins showing itself as flu-like symptoms about one to three weeks after exposure. Symptoms can include fever, sore throat, skin rash, diarrhoea, unexplained and rapid weight loss, swollen glands, ulcers in the mouth or on the genitalia, or excessive tiredness. But as quickly as the symptoms appear, they disappear, and the infected person can put on weight again and appear well for years afterwards.
In most cities there are places to go for free counselling and testing. If you don’t have a family doctor and a medical aid, then go to your local large hospital for a test. Very few clinics have voluntary counselling and testing services.
Do not buy a home test kit from a chemist, as these are often unreliable and you don’t want to go through the terror of a false result.
Aids experts say only about 10% of South Africans who are infected know they are positive. The other 90% are infecting other people and re-infecting themselves with other strains of the virus. Already, more than five million people are said to be infected in South Africa.
The most reliable HIV test is the Elisa (enzyme linked immunosorbent assay). Blood will be taken from your arm and sent to a laboratory. Results of the Elisa will be given to you within three to seven days.
The PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test can be done to give either a qualitative result (positive or negative) or quantitative (this tests if you have HIV in your blood). The results will be ready in one to three days, but they are not as accurate as the Elisa, which is 99% accurate. There are new, rapid tests available. They are as reliable as a PCR, and results are usually available within three to four hours.
In the United States, HIV tests are most often done with mouth swabs – a small stick inserted into the mouth takes a very thin layer of skin from the mouth; it produces quick and reliable HIV results.
If you go for a test and have a negative result, stay that way by protecting your body. If HIV-positive, contact an Aids support organisation where people will give you the help you need to live positively with HIV and to extend your life.
If you have questions for Charlene Smith, or comments, please write to the Teacher/HIV Positive, PO Box 91667, Auckland Park, 2006. All letters will be treated as confidential unless you say you want your name used.
– The Teacher/M&G Media, Johannesburg, August 2001.