I remember the first time I took an HIV test. Noooo, it is not what you think! We had decided to get married and one of the requirements the church marriage committee gave us was running through some medical tests. I decided to go to a particular lab around Yaba which was recommended to me. As I walked through the gate and asked for directions, I wondered how I would find the exact room in the large compound to take the test. But immediately I got into 'the' room, I knew I was in the right place. Why' It was written on everyone's face there. Everybody sitting there looked scared, miserable and very nervous. I took my seat and waited to be attended to. While I waited, a lady (about my age), walked in happily. In fact, that girl was a really chatterbox and everyone else gave her that look of 'you don't even know where you are'. She looked round and came to me. I probably was the only one that looked calm. And she asked: 'Why is very one looking so sad'' I said: 'Many people aren't sure of their status'. She said 'Oh, is that it' I do HIV test every three months. In fact, the reason I am here today is that yesterday while I was having a pedicure, the lady cut my feet'.Anyway, we got talking. By the time I went in for the pre-test counseling, I was quite indifferent because, hey, I wasn't a bad girl so'Bottom-line, the test turned out good.But let's face the truth - AIDS is real; very real.We only assume we know the basics of AIDS but recently, I had to preview some materials relating to AIDS.Apart from the fact that the HIV virus enters the body and weakens the immune system; it also destroys some cells called CD4 cells which act as the ministry of information to the body. A normal person has 650 to 1250 CD4 cells. Once the CD4 count drops to below 200, then the person has AIDS.It is true that the virus is found in body fluids especially blood, semen and vaginal fluids. However, it is also in urine, tears and saliva but these don't carry enough virus to cause infection.But HIV also spreads when an infected person's blood or semen contacts a healthy person's blood or mucuos membrane found in the mouth, in the vagina and the tip of the penis.It is easier for a woman to get infected from a man; than a man from a woman - mainly because the large area of the mucuos membrane inside the vagina compared to the small area at the tip of the penis. Also, there's more virus present in the semen than in vaginal fluids.I am not going to start talking about all the ways people catch the virus - we know them all!However, if an infected mother undergoes a caesarean section to have her child and doesn't breastfeed her baby, she reduces the risk of her baby getting the virus. But then, the baby might be exposed to other illnesses like diarrhoea because of unhygienic formular.The problem is that most people don't even know that they are HIV carriers. They might be at the window stage which is at the beginning and have no symptoms - maybe a slight fever here and malaria there, but it soon fades away. The HIV result may remain negative for three to six months after the initial infection because there aren't enough antibodies to read positive.The next is the symptom free stage where the person doesn't still have any symptoms but can transmit HIV to others. This may go for 10 years. Dangerous!Eventually, the person begins to develop the symptoms like tiredness, weight loss, fever and this gives way to every other illness. Some doctors however suggest the use of an antibiotic a day to prevent certain infections from occurring like Septrin, Ampiclox.Another doctors' recommendation given at the International conference on AIDS held in Durban, South Africa in 2000 is the MAC regime that is doses of multivitamins, aspirin and chloroquine. And many others.Pre-marital testing is very important; no matter how scary it may seem. I remember overhearing a guy who said he was forced by the church to go for a HIV test before he would be wedded and he said 'If not that it was church, I had sworn I would never do that test'. That's a educated person talking. Nobody wants to know that they might have AIDS and would die soon, but you save the world a lot of trouble by knowing your HIV status and addressing it positively. I always knew AIDS existed but I didn't think I would actually meet someone that was infected until some years ago when my neighbour died. Everybody just said he fell sick and died. Some months later, his wife took ill and died. The three kids became very sick and were taken to the village. I wonder if they are still alive.This AIDS thing is worse than any of us imagines. Many African women get infected with HIV through their husbands. Yes, husbands! It's not only avoiding pre-marital or illicit sex. Suppose you marry someone who doesn't know he/she is HIV positive' Think about it.Life is too short and too precious to waste.
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