Essay on AIDS

Essay on AIDS ! Find high quality essays on ‘AIDS’ especially written for school, college and university students. These essays will also guide you to learn about the causes, effects, symptoms and prevention on AIDS.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection or HIV /AIDS as it is popularly called is a disease which is caused by a virus and affects the immune system in a person. It is one of the deadliest diseases we have on earth today and as on date, there is no cure available for this disease. That is why it is all the more important for the students to understand this disease so as to keep themselves protected and guide others as well. Keeping this in mind; we have prepared short essays for students so as to make them understand what AIDS is all about, how it is transmitted and what steps that can be taken to prevent this disease from further transmission.

Audience: The below given essays are exclusively written for school students (Class 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10) and college students. Furthermore, those students preparing for IAS, IPS, UPSC, Civil Services and other competitive exams can also increase their knowledge by studying these essays.

List of Essays on AIDS

Essay on AIDS – Short Essay (Essay 1 – 200 Words)

Introduction:

AIDS is a global healthcare concern and most people are aware of it. It is not a disease but it is a syndrome that is associated with the infection named  HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), hence the disease is termed as HIV or AIDS.

What is AIDS?

AIDS is an acronym that stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. AIDS affects the immune system and that is why an individual shows symptoms of immune deficiency. The advancement of AIDS is usually in stages and the individual may deteriorate as symptoms worsen. There have been formulation of drugs that are being used to minimize the symptoms because the condition is incurable.

Symptoms of AIDS:

In the last stage of HIV infection i.e., full-blown stage, is when the person presents with symptoms of AIDS. An individual presents with severe weight loss, opportunistic infections like Tuberculosis due to destruction of the immune system, and in some people Kaposi’s sarcoma, which is cancer affecting blood vessels, may develop.

Conclusion:

AIDS is a killer syndrome that is why it occurs in the last stage of HIV infection. It can be prevented for a long time if an individual with HIV infection adheres to medication and proper diet.

Essay on AIDS (Essay 2 – 250 Words)

The human immunodeficiency virus or AIDS is often described as the disease of the modern age and to some extent that is true. One other thing that is interesting about AIDS is the fact that it is associated with a person’s sexual practice and therefore often used as a cause for discrimination. Let us look at the issue from a different perspective.

First of all, consider all the different epidemics that took over the earth in recent centuries, first among them is plague. We can see that every age or civilization has its own set of particular diseases that it struggles with. Sometimes they are controlled in small parts of the population while at other times they expand rapidly and get out of our control. When such events happen, people tend to panic and the same happened with AIDS.

Once fear gets a grip of us, we stop looking at things rationally and start acting according to instinct that is the moment when most people search for someone to blame for what is happening. When people meet someone with AIDS, they not only isolate the “infected” person from the normal people but they also  judge their moral character. The fight against AIDS needs to be led on two fronts. The first is medicine and a lot has been done after the initial panic of the 80s. The other front is social and all of us play an equal part in that struggle.

Essay on AIDS – Written in English (Essay 3 – 300 Words)

Introduction:

AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. When a person has AIDS, it simply means that his immune system is unable to fight diseases or ailments. A person fighting this virus falls sick with every attack on his immune system. In severe cases, these diseases can lead to the death of the carrier.

How AIDS Develops:

AIDS is not a standalone disease but a later stage of another disease. Nobody contracts this disease unless he has first contracted HIV. Hence, to understand how the disease develops we must first examine how people contract HIV.

HIV is a virus and it is contracted when a person comes in contact with a person already carrying the virus. Specifically, this contact can be from sex, sharing sharp object like needles or breast milk in the case of a child.

When a person acquires HIV, he can live a full life since his immune system is strong enough to resist diseases. However, where HIV goes untreated, the immune system gradually gets weaker until it becomes AIDS. At this stage, the body has no defenses against any disease. Such a person can die even due to simple fever.

Prevention of AIDS:

In examining the preventive measures for AIDS we must approach it from two folds. From the perspective of a person who has not contracted HIV. Then, from the perspective of a person who has HIV but doesn’t want it to become AIDS.

In preventing the infection of HIV, one must do the following:

1. Avoid multiple sex partners and unprotected sex.

2. Do not share sharp objects like needles with anyone.

3. Keep your environment clean and hygienic.

When a person has already contracted HIV, he needs to prevent it from growing into AIDS. To do this, he or she needs to have a healthy diet, live in a clean environment and most importantly take antiretroviral drugs as prescribed by a medical practitioner.

Conclusion:

Though there is no cure for HIV/AIDS yet, the scientist is getting closer as the days go by. In the meantime, we must limit and reduce the spread of this deadly virus.

Essay on AIDS – For Students (Class 9, 10, 11 and 12) (Essay 4 – 400 Words)

AIDS or Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome is a syndrome affecting a person’s immune system of the body, causing the person to catch any infections or other diseases too quickly. This condition is caused due to a virus called Human Immunodeficiency Virus or HIV.

What does HIV do to you?

AIDS is caused as a result of HIV attack. HIV is a virus that directly affects the immune cells of our body and infiltrates them. These white blood cells are the ones that travel our body to find if there is any type of defects or faults in any part. Attacking this cell will reduce our body’s ability to detect and combat any type of diseases.

This will eventually lead to catching any kind of infections, from the small fever to the dangerous infections, from the surrounding or from a person with any kind of infectious disease, etc. AIDS is the last stage for this disease where the person affected will completely lose the ability to cop up with the disease.

Symptoms:

Starting stage of AIDS will be of a simple illness along with vomiting or weakness. It is very difficult to find AIDS in the early stage as it does not have any unique symptom. Whenever there is a fever or any other kind of infectious diseases seems to continuously affect a person, they should get the tests done for finding out whether they have AIDS or not.

Spreading of AIDS:

AIDS was detected in Africa mostly in the western and central part in the twentieth century by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). AIDS was known to be a life-threatening one and almost affected and killed more than 30 million people in the initial years. This number was found to be increasing as the years passed.

The main ways of AIDS from passing on is through actual sexual contact, direct tissue or body fluids exposure and from a pregnant mother to the child. The AIDS-infected mother may pass on the disease in early pregnancy stage, during delivery or while breastfeeding. AIDS get spread through the exposure of contaminated blood as well.

There is a myth that AIDS gets spread through speaking or mucus or eating on the same plate, etc. There is nothing like that and discriminating a person due to their disease should not be done.

Cure:

Experts have not yet found a complete cure for this disease as HIV is an advanced form of a virus. But through frequent medication and treatments, AIDS can be controlled in a balanced way to avoid the person from getting affected by the advanced disease.

Essay on AIDS – Causes, Signs, Symptoms and Effects (Essay 5 – 500 Words)

There has been much technological advancement in the field of medicine. However, there are still diseases for which we have not been able to find a cure. We can just have some measures in place to control them. Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection or HIV /AIDS is one such disease which is spread by a virus and has no cure as on the day. HIV is a virus that reduces the ability of our white blood cells to fight an infection thereby making us prone to acquiring different infections. AIDS is just the advanced version of HIV. In this version, the body is at maximum risk of acquiring infections and cancer.

Causes:

There are a number of causes which lead to the transmission of this disease. The first and foremost is getting a sexual contact with the infected person. This cause is, in fact, the most common way which has resulted in the spread of this disease. Sex workers are therefore often educated to take necessary precautions in order to protect themselves from this disease. Blood and blood products are the second most common cause which leads to the spread of this disease.

Blood transfusions using affected blood increase the risk of acquiring AIDS in the recipient. Unsafe medical syringes also contribute to the spread of the infection from one person to another. That is why disposing injections are advised in hospitals so as to stop the spread to disease. This disease can also be spread from a mother to her child through breastfeeding. In order to keep a check on this all expecting mothers are required to undergo a test to check if they have HIV / AIDS so that the child can be protected in case required.

Signs and Symptoms:

The initial period following the attack of HIV called intense HIV, essential HIV or intense retroviral disorder. Numerous people show up a flu-like disease or a mononucleosis-like ailment up to a month post introduction of this virus while others have no critical side effects.

Symptoms show up in 40-90% of the cases and most regularly incorporate fever, extensive delicate lymph hubs, throat irritation, a rash, cerebral pain, or potentially wounds of the mouth and private parts. The rash, which happens in 20-half of cases, is present on the trunk and is traditionally called maculopapular.

Effects on Society:

Since AIDS has no cure there is a stigma attached to it. A person suffering from AIDS shall be hesitant to talk about it in public as compared to a person suffering from any other common disease such as fever or the common cold. Also, the people suffering from this disease often face discrimination in society and at their workplace. There have been numerous instances where people have been fired from their jobs after they have been detected to be suffering from this disease.

However, we should understand that it is not a communicable disease and in fact, we should support such people as they are constantly living in fear of acquiring new infections knowing well that their body is not equipped to resist the infections. Even small infections can lead to their death. We should all be nice towards them and help them in their troubled times.

Essay on AIDS – For Medical Students (Essay 6 – 600 Words)

What is AIDS?

AIDS stands for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. AIDS is the world’s most dreaded diseases and has caused millions of deaths over the years. AIDS is the extreme crackdown of immunity when the body is attacked and infected with HIV.

Difference between AIDS and HIV:

Many people get confused and remain unaware of the difference between AIDS and HIV. HIV is the short form of Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Basically, HIV is the virus that attacks the immune cells and causes infection in the body.

When this infection reaches its peak, it gives birth to AIDS disease. The bottom line is that an HIV positive person may or may not have AIDS. Everything depends on the severeness of the infection stage.

How AIDS is transmitted:

Transmission of HIV/ AIDS happens in a particular set of conditions. These include transfusion of HIV infected blood into a healthy person. The disease also spreads by using an HIV contaminated syringe or razor.

But the main and the most common cause of AIDS is having unprotected sex (anal/ vaginal) with an HIV person. The semen and vaginal secretions pass on the deadly infection to the healthy partner.

In other cases, if a mother is HIV positive, her child may have the same infection by birth. The infection also spreads to the baby through breastfeeding.

Signs and Symptoms of AIDS:

It is not necessary for the HIV infection to always show the symptoms. Sometimes, the virus is so low, that the HIV infection may go undetected in the tests. In such cases, it is not possible for the HIV person to pass on the infection to someone else.

But normally, with enough viruses, HIV/ AIDS may show enough signs. The first one would be a sharply fallen immune system. Such a person, when suffering from other bacterial or viral infections, would show the extreme symptoms and frequent attacks of that disease.

Basically, the symptoms of HIV have been categorized into three categories. These are early symptoms, asymptomatic HIV, and late signs of HIV. Early symptoms include fever, chills, rashes, weight loss, weakness, joint pain, and sore throat, etc.

Asymptomatic HIV means while the virus may be multiplying inside the body, the system wouldn’t show much of the symptoms to alarm the person. This can go on for as long as a decade and the infected person may look and feel healthy just like any other person.

In the late HIV/ AIDS stage, the symptoms consist of drastic weight loss, fever, sweating, poor immunity, dry cough, disturbed digestive process, blurred vision, excessive fatigue, and short breath etc.

Myths about AIDS:

AIDS does not spread through kissing as HIV is not transmitted through saliva. It does not circulate by shaking hands with the infected person or hugging him/ her. Sharing cutlery, towels, and bathroom with the same person doesn’t put you at the risk of catching the infection. These are all just misconceptions which should be dropped immediately as these are highly offensive to people carrying the disease.

Preventive Measures:

To prevent AIDS, one should always use a condom and never have unprotected sex. The rule applies to the homosexuals too. Any blood transfusion must have passed through a strict screening process. An HIV infected woman should not get pregnant, give birth, or breastfeed the child.

Treatment:

Take blood tests and retests to detect the infection at its earliest. There are a couple of treatments, vaccines, and classes of drugs to prevent the disease from growing severe. However, their effectiveness is still a topic of research. In reality, AIDS is a curse that is better prevented than treated.

Essay on AIDS – Introduction, Causes, Effects and Conclusion (Essay 7 – 750 Words)

Introduction:

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and Human immunodeficiency virus infection (HIV) popularly referred together as HIV and AIDS is just a series of conditions that is caused by the infection of a person with the virus known as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). After infection initially, the person infected with the virus might not have any symptoms and signs or might experience a very short period of illness that is influenza-like. Normally, this period is usually followed with a period that is prolonged without any signs or symptoms.

With time, the infection begins to progress and it starts interfering more and frequently with the infected person’s immune system which leads to an increase in the risk and chances of getting infected with various infections that are very common like tuberculosis and other types of opportunistic infections as well as tumours that do not usually affect the people that have immune systems that are functioning well. All of the very late signs symptoms associated with the infection are known as the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). This period is most times characterised with weight loss that is unintended.

Causes of HIV and AIDS:

The spread of HIV and AIDS is done primarily through blood transfusions that are contaminated, sex that is unprotected (including oral and anal sex), breastfeeding, during pregnancy from mother to child and through hypodermic needles. Even bodily fluids like tears and saliva cannot transmit or cause HIV and AIDS. Some of the methods by which HIV and AIDS can be prevented include programs of needle exchange, safe sex, male circumcision and the treatment of people that are already infected.

Antiretroviral meditation when given to both the child and the mother can prevent the disease in the child. So far, no vaccine or cure has been discovered for HIV and AIDS, The disease can be slowed down with antiretroviral treatment and this can make the person suffering from the disease live a life with the normal expectancy. It is necessary that treatment is commenced immediately there is a diagnosis. If there is no treatment, eleven years is the survival time on an average after the infection.

As of 2016, the number of people infected with HIV and AIDS was 36.7 million and there have been a total of about a million deaths. There were fewer cases of new HIV and AIDS infections in 2016 when compared to 2015, the difference was about 300,000. It has been discovered that a majority of the people that are infected with HIV and AIDS reside in Africa, especially the sub-Saharan part of Africa.

From the very first report of AIDS around the beginning of the 1980s till 2017, there have been about 35 million deaths all over the world. HIV/AIDS is a very serious disease in the world and it is widespread in various parts of the world. HIV is believed to originate from the region of central Africa around the later part of the 19^th century and in the early years of the 20^th century. The first time that AIDS was recognised was in 1981.

Effects of AIDS:

HIV and AIDS have had a very great unimaginable impact on our society as a cause of discrimination between people and also as a disease or an illness. The many economic impacts of HIV and AIDS are very large. There are a lot of misconception and falsehood about the disease HIV and AIDS. Some of the wrong beliefs include the misconception that HIV and AIDS can also be transmitted through casual and non- sexual touch or contact.

There have been a lot of religious controversies surrounding HIV and AIDS including the stand of the church (Catholic Church) to not support the use of condoms as a method of prevention. This has attracted a lot of political as well as international medical attention and also a lot of funding on a large scale from the first time HIV and AIDS was identified and discovered in the early 1980s

Conclusion:

There are ongoing researches on HIV and AIDS in an attempt to cure, treat or prevent HIV and AIDS. There are also researches to find out more about the HIV virus nature and the disease called AIDS. A lot of research and government institutions are carrying out HIV and AIDS research.

Some of the researches that are carried out include research into topics like HIV and circumcision, post-exposure prophylaxis and pre-exposure prophylaxis. There are also studies into antiretroviral drugs, HIV vaccines, microbes for diseases that are sexually transmitted, health interventions like drug development and sex education. There has been serious promotions and campaigns for the use of condoms as it is the only way of prevention through sex.

Essay on AIDS – For IPS, UPSC, IAS, Civil Services and Other Competitive Exams (Essay 8 – 1000 Words)

Introduction:

AIDS is an acquired immune deficiency syndrome which has spread like a fire in the population of the world. Earlier people were not much aware of this life-threatening disease. But now people are becoming more conscious about AIDS due to the effective movements by the government and the social organizations globally. They now know the cause of AIDS and in what way they can cure this problem.

When people have right info about AIDS, it becomes easy for them to fight against it. Moreover, it makes them familiar with the ways that help in stopping AIDS from spreading more.

Causes of AIDS:

HIV or Human Immunodeficiency Virus is responsible for the occurrence of AIDS. It reproduces by injecting a copy of its genome DNA inside the mass cells. In such circumstance, the mass cells are WBCs (white blood cells) that are recognized as T CD4 cells founded in the human’s immune system.

HIV finishes white blood cells and creates replicas of it which ultimately deteriorates the immune system of human body. In other words, this virus decreases the capability of our body to resist diseases after some time.

But the HIV positive case of a person does not make him or her victim of AIDS. On the other hand, if such a person does not get the right treatment on time for curing the HIV then, it might develop into AIDS after some period.

Transmission of AIDS:

The AIDS can be transferred through the below ways:

1. Prenatal:

If female suffering from AIDS is expecting a baby or have become a new mother recently then, she might pass the virus of AIDS to her offspring. It can take place at the time of the prenatal period, during breastfeeding or at the time of delivery.

2. Blood:

AIDS might get transmitted with the transfusion of blood. But the blood transfusion is fairly rare nowadays. The maximum number of developed nations follows a severe screening procedure to make sure that the blood that is being transfused is not carrying the virus of AIDS.

But, there is one more method through which the blood can pass from one individual to other i.e., by the use of common needles for injecting. The needles that are already used for the AIDS patient can transfer the virus to the person for which it is used again.

3. Sexual Transmission:

AIDS might get transmitted to the body of the other person while making a sexual relationship without any precaution like a condom. During this act, the fluids of the body get shared between bodies.

AIDS can also get transmitted via anal, oral or vaginal sex. If the sex toys used by the people suffering from AIDS are also shared by somebody then, it can also result in the AIDS transmission.

Symptoms of AIDS:

AIDS does not have recognizable symptoms all the time.

But, there are few symptoms that help in knowing the progress of AIDS in a person’s body:

1. Early symptoms of AIDS:

It is not mandatory that every person suffering from AIDS will get the sign of this disease at an early stage. The early symptoms of AIDS consist of fever, chills, joint pain, muscle aches, sore throat, night sweats, enlarged glands, red rash, fatigue, weakness, weight loss, and thrush. Only the blood test can reveal whether a person is suffering from AIDS or not.

2. Asymptomatic HIV:

The people suffering from AIDS might not come across the other signs of AIDS for a few months or in fact for a few years. It does not show that the virus is inactive. Actually, during this time the HIV virus gets busy in confronting the CD4 cells and deteriorating the body’s immune system. If the person does not get the right medication then, this procedure carries on without showing any signs.

3. Symptoms of Late-Stage:

During the late stage, the immune system of the AIDS infected person get weaken which makes him or her susceptible to numerous infections including mild to severe. Symptoms of the late stage of AIDS might consist of blurry vision, prolonged diarrhoea, dry cough, fever that persists for weeks, night perspirations, continuous tiredness, dyspnoea glands which are inflamed for weeks, white acnes on tongue and mouth, shortness of inhalation, and weight loss.

At this stage, people suffering from AIDS become more susceptible to numerous diseases like tuberculosis, Pneumonia and many more.

Treatment of AIDS:

At present, there is no treatment for AIDS because the virus that causes AIDS replicates by substituting the DNA with duplicates of its individual DNA. However, with the help of the ART or antiretroviral therapy you can stop this disease from spreading more in the body.

ART is a drug treatment which stops the virus from duplicating. It slows down the progress of the AIDS virus in the body. The best time to begin this treatment is during the initial stages of AIDS in order to make the immune system safer.

During the later phase of AIDS, you can combine the usage of drugs along with the therapy for getting more fruitful results. It also helps in curing the other diseases which people get owing to a weak immune system.

Prevention of AIDS:

The transmittable secretions of the AIDS sufferer are cervical secretions, semen, and blood.

But by following the below ways you can avoid AIDS from spreading:

1. Avoiding the usage of razor blades and needles that are utilized by AIDS patient

2. Avoiding anal and vaginal sexual intercourse with the AIDS patient

3. Do not let the AIDS infested mother undergo childbirth

4. Do not use the syringe again that is already used by somebody

Conclusion:

Some people have a misconception in their mind that AIDS is spread by hugging, shaking hands, kissing, sneezing, coughing etc. But it is not right as AIDS does not spread by such things.

After diagnosing the problem of AIDS in the early stage, it becomes easy to control it from spreading more and an AIDS patient can also live a long and lead a healthy life like others.