In 1988, on December 1st, the first official World AIDS Day took place. Since then, this date has been used to show solidarity with those affected and their families and to point out the risk of infection and treatment options for HIV.
On Tolfioow.com you get an initial overview of the immune deficiency disease.
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Facts and figures about AIDS
An estimated 73,000 people live in Germany with HIV or AIDS. The two terms are often used interchangeably, but they have one important difference. The human immunodeficiency virus (HI) virus is the virus with which those affected become infected. An AIDS disease (“Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome”), on the other hand, is only present when the virus actually breaks out. There may be years or decades in between. It takes ten years for half of all those who fall ill before AIDS, the last stage of immune deficiency, is reached.
Transmission of HIV
Infection with the HI virus takes place when infectious bodily fluids enter the organism and this can occur in a number of ways. For example, one is unprotected sex. However, there is also a risk of infection in many other situations, such as accidents, operations and blood transfusions. Whether the virus has been transmitted can only be determined by an AIDS test, or HIV test, which delivers results after twelve weeks.
treatment options
Unfortunately, AIDS is still not curable. But there are ways to live a long and almost normal life despite having HIV. The antiretroviral therapy HAART consists of a combination of different drugs and suppresses the replication of the virus. An important prerequisite for this is that the preparations are taken regularly at precisely defined times and that the treatment takes place under medical supervision.
