AIDS

For someone to get infected with AIDS, the virus has to pass the body's defenses including your skin and saliva; saliva can actually help kill HIV in your mouth. Educators should be given The Merck Manual of Medical Information as a tool to teach freshman students because it confirms this,.
             The transmission of HIV requires contact with body fluids that contain infected cells or virus particles; such fluids include blood, semen, vaginal secretions, cerebrospinal fluid and breast milk. HIV also is present in tears, urine and saliva, but in much lower concentration(Berkow). One of the ways someone can get infected with AIDS is by having sexual relations with someone who is infected with this virus because they are exposed to contaminated body fluids. Many people believe that the only way they will infect their partner during sex is if they have an orgasm but sexual fluids come before, during or after an orgasm; meaning they can infect their partner even if they do not have an orgasm. Unsafe sex increases the risk of spreading HIV onto others, especially since the sexual fluids touch the soft moist areas also known as the mucous membrane. Freshman should be told that the only way you can reduce your risk of getting infected is by avoiding unsafe sex activities. Another way of getting infected is by having a blood transfusion or sharing needles or even by an accidental prick from an HIV contaminated needle. Before 1985 many people who had hemophilia received blood transfusions infected with HIV but since then the blood is tested before they do any transfusion (Berkow). Sharing needles to inject drugs into your body is also another way of getting infected. This was actually the greatest cause of the spreading of AIDS before 1992 but sexual transmission slowly surpassed it. Though it is very rare, health care workers who are pricked with an HIV contaminated needle by accident have a 1 in 300 chance of getting infected, but those who are penetrated deeply with the needle have higher risks of getting infected (Berkow).