The AIDS virus laid bare in layman's language

The AIDS virus laid bare in layman's language

AIDS
By Dr. Sally Halim Msc. (OM)
Published by Yayasan Obor Indonesia, 1995
pp. 41

JAKARTA (JP): Categorized as a rapidly spreading disease for
which no cure has been found, AIDS is a topic that fills people
with dread the world over.

Books have been written in every language, including
Indonesian, but the bulk of them make sense only to people in the
medical world and are rarely targeted at or easily understood by
the layman. This is the main reason why the writer wrote this
book.

AIDS makes informative reading because it is written in an
easily digestible form made all-the-more interesting because of
the revealing illustrations.

Through reading it readers will learn that the disease
progresses in three stages. The first is known as HIV positive,
so called because a person has been infected with the HIV virus.
The condition comes to light only after a blood test. Stage two
is when the infected person shows signs indicative of AIDS. Stage
three, or the terminal state, is reached when the patient is
suffering from full-blown AIDS.

In general AIDS patients display the following symptoms:

1. Severe weight loss, up to 10 percent within a three-month
period.

2. Chronic diarrhea lasting more than a month for no
apparent reason, irrespective of medication.

3. Frequent fevers, with temperatures rising to 38 degrees
Celsius or more, lasting for a lengthy period and accompanied by
nightly sweating for no apparent reason.

4. Fatigue, shortness of breath, and coughs lasting more
than a month.

5. Swelling of neck glands, armpits, and thigh glands for no
apparent reason.

6. Reddish blue spots on the skin.

7. Spreading skin rash.

8. White spots on the mouth, or the contraction of sprue.

9. Repeated bouts of herpes zoster.

10. Chronic herpes simplex, progressive and aggressive.

11. Lung infections typical of a reduced immune system, also
known as pneumocystis carinii.

12. Toxoplasmosis of the brain (pp. 22,23)

HIV is usually contracted in four ways. First, through sexual
contact. Eighty-seven percent of reported cases are caused by
sexual contact. Second, through unsterilized needles or other
sharp objects like acupuncture and tattoo needles, or other
cutting objects used by an HIV-infected person. Third, through a
transfusion of HIV-contaminated blood, and fourth, through an
HIV-infected mother.

Therefore, AIDS cannot be spread by sharing a home with an
AIDS sufferer for instance, or by a kiss on the cheek, a
handshake, sharing a meal, body contact or exchange of clothes.
The disease cannot be spread by the presence of an AIDS patient
either, or through sneezes, coughs, nor by swimming in the same
pool, eating the same food, having the same drink, or by an
insect bite.

Persons very vulnerable to AIDS are:

1. Those engaging in promiscuous sexual activity, frequent
change of partners, in either homosexual, bisexual or
heterosexual partnerships.

2. Drug addicts sharing the same needles;

3. Spouses of HIV-infected people;

4. Babies born of HIV-infected mothers

5. Recipients of HIV-contaminated blood

6. People receiving injections using unsterilized needles
(p.27)

The book recommends dissemination of information as the most
effective method of preventing AIDS. In advanced countries the
number of AIDS cases reportedly decreased after intensive
information on the disease was made available, making an expert
quip that the most effective vaccine against the disease had to
be information.

According to the author, such information could be spread
through the press and electronic broadcasters. These two powerful
media could rightly inform the public of the dangers that
epitomize AIDS. One of the most popular broadcasting media in the
country is television, with accessibility to a majority of the
population. Through this channel, information about the
prevention of AIDS could be driven home to every Indonesian.
Instructions should underscore morals, it should strongly promote
a lifestyle of steady partnerships to fight the rapid spread of
AIDS.

It would be supportive if the mass media started an
informative column on AIDS and its prevention in a way that would
whet the audience's interest, says the writer.

Sensationalism should be kept out of the information,
particularly if it deals with the subject of HIV-positive cases.
Information should also be of a highly instructive quality and
easily comprehensible to the average people. It should be
effective as well as being up-to-date with the latest
developments in the search for a cure. It might even be more
effective if such efforts were to reflect cultural and religious
values, the author notes.

-- Daniel Samad