Age Of Aids Reflection Paper

Out of all the videos, the first one had the greatest impact on me and stuck out in my mind more than any of the others. I think it is the biggest overview of videos, giving a deep look at what AIDS really is and how it came to be. The video described how HIV literally comes to life when inside a person’s body, which gave me chills. Personally, I found the videos quite disturbing. It is important to realize, however, that this is a worldwide epidemic and the children’s faces we see in the videos are ones that are battling this terrible disease. One can become infected with HIV through sex, blood transfusions, needle sharing, and from mother to child. A few of the risk factors for AIDS include having unprotected sex, a previous STI (sexually transmitted infection), which produce open sores on one’s genitalia and allow HIV to enter through them, and intravenous drugs. Many people who use intravenous drugs share their needles with one another which exposes them to other people’s blood. Right now, unfortunately, there is no vaccination that can prevent the infection of HIV and no cure for AIDS has been found. Taking precaution is the best way to avoid contracting the disease. This can be done in several ways. First, is to use a new condom each time you have sex, especially if you are unsure of the HIV status of your partner. The second measure is to talk with your doctor about Truvada, a drug that reduces the risk of HIV infection. Third, talking with your sexual partners about HIV is very important so that if you do have the disease, you don’t spread it to someone else. Lastly, use a clean needle and do not share with anyone (or just don’t do drugs in the first place). In order to try and reduce the risk of contracting the virus, you must first understand what AIDS is. According to Mayoclinic.com, AIDS is defined as the following: “AIDS is a chronic, potentially life-threatening condition caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). By