BALIKPAPAN, investor.id – Coinciding with the celebration of AIDS Day (Acquired Immunodeficiency syndrome) Internationally, on December 1, 2021, Siloam Hospitals Balikpapan held a health talk education about HIV-AIDS entitled ‘Stay away from the disease, not the person’.
Doctor Liliana Handranatan, VICITY clinic doctor or Voluntary Counseling Testing doctor specifically for HIV-AIDS at Siloam Hospitals Balikpapan said HIV is still a frightening specter for some people, lack of education and understanding about HIV makes people with HIV-AIDS (PLWHA) often get discriminatory treatment.
“HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a virus that damages the immune system by infecting and destroying CD4 cells. If more and more CD4 cells are destroyed, the body’s immune system will weaken so that it is vulnerable to various diseases,” said Dr. Lili in a press statement, Friday (12/3).
According to him, HIV that is not treated immediately will develop into a serious condition called AIDS. AIDS is the final stage of HIV infection. At this stage, the body’s ability to fight infection is completely lost.
“So HIV is the virus, while AIDS is a collection of symptoms caused by decreased immunity,” added Liliana.
The most advanced stage of HIV infection is Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), which can take years to develop if left untreated, depending on the individual condition. However, not everyone who has HIV will develop AIDS.
“Broadly speaking, there are four ways this virus is transmitted. The first is through blood transfusions, the second is through semen or pre-ejaculate fluid, the third is through vaginal fluids, and the last is through breast milk. So transmission is not as easy as we think,” said doctor Lili who also serves as MCU doctor at Siloam Hospitals Balikpapan.
He added that HIV is not transmitted through saliva but through blood and semen and breast milk, so it’s not from eating contact, so families don’t have to worry about eating together with AIDS sufferers. The first symptoms of HIV that appear are fever, headache, diarrhea, and canker sores. Usually for people with HIV positive to become AIDS it takes a long time with a duration of more than 10 years.
“There, when AIDS appears, the symptoms of a lowered immune system such as opportunistic infections will be able to enter the body, so it can cause TB infection, then significant weight loss, then can cause fungal infections and so on. ” said Doctor Lily.
Furthermore, Dr. Lili said that risk factors are things that the public must know so that prevention can be carried out optimally. At the educational opportunity at the end of the session, Doctor Liliana Handranatan explained that these factors were obtained through the use of alternating needles as is commonly found in injecting drug users, unsafe sex as is usually found in certain groups, such as same-sex relationships. Or breast milk that has been exposed to HIV AIDS.
“The transmission of this virus is commonly obtained from these three factors,” said Liliana reminding.
Regarding the management of patients with HIV-AIDS, the VCT clinic at Siloam Hospitals Balikpapan, so patients can have confidential consultations. The results are confidential, so for those who feel they have risk factors for HIV-AIDS, please come for a consultation so that a test / examination can be carried out. “Tests are usually carried out through blood collection and examination, and it is advisable to come alone. So even for couples it is confidential,” concluded Dr. Lili.
Editor : Mount Kunjana ([email protected])
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