If you ask most people of South Asian descent (especially those with immigrant parents), you’ll hear that sex was not a casual topic. Many of my friends, myself in included, with this background hardy got any sexual education at home. I was “lucky” enough to be told the general purpose of a condom – birth control – and that a Plan B pill does exist. What I didn’t learn about until later was that condoms also protect against sexually transmitted disease.
This month’s post will focus on HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). In brief, this virus exists in high (contagious) concentrations in blood, semen, vaginal fluids, rectal fluids, and breast milk. If HIV is allowed to develop without treatment, the person who has it can get AIDS, a stage of the infection in which the person cannot resist many infections and some cancers. This is not a disease that gets casually transmitted. It’s quite easy to protect yourself against getting HIV, but with low education and awareness, the risk increases. Also, if people don’t know their status, they cannot take measures to protect themselves against HIV by seeking antiretroviral treatment (ART) or other therapies.
This month’s post will focus on HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). In brief, this virus exists in high (contagious) concentrations in blood, semen, vaginal fluids, rectal fluids, and breast milk. If HIV is allowed to develop without treatment, the person who has it can get AIDS, a stage of the infection in which the person cannot resist many infections and some cancers. This is not a disease that gets casually transmitted. It’s quite easy to protect yourself against getting HIV, but with low education and awareness, the risk increases. Also, if people don’t know their status, they cannot take measures to protect themselves against HIV by seeking antiretroviral treatment (ART) or other therapies.