How To Know If You Are HIV Positive

Gilbert

Strictly speaking, having the disease HIV is probably one of the most stressful and devastating problem one can encounter. Even though this disease has been shown in a lot of media-based programs on the Television as well as the internet, there are plenty of people who are still ignorant of HIV and its bad effects to the body.

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It's strongly recommended that sexually active people should take an HIV test at STD testing centers to know if they are positive to the virus. HIV or human immunodeficiency virus is a disease that slowly destroys a person's immune system. According to World Health Organization, HIV is now redeemed as pandemic; before its discovery in 1981, HIV has already killed approximately 25 million people which is almost 0.6 percent of the entire world population of that time. You may believe that HIV and AIDS are one and the same, but the truth is they are not. To explicate it in a more concise manner, HIV is a virus which belongs to a group of viruses known as the retrovirus, and once this virus has already spread and multiplied in the body, will it then become known as AIDS.


Firstly, they will do a series of tests to determine if you are HIV positive. These tests are the one to conclude whether you have the HIV infection. Afterwards, your blood sample will be tested using the ELISA or (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) test kits, which is a biochemical technique often used in immunology. This test is done in order to find out certain reactions of chemicals inside one's body. Once you tested positive for HIV, the blood will be again tested but this time using the western blot testing device. If both the Elisa test and western blot test are positive, then your diagnosis is you have HIV in your blood.


The symptoms of HIV include dry cough, rapid weight loss, memory loss, depression and other neurological disorders, pneumonia, recurring fever, white spots or unusual blemishes on the tongue, mouth and throat.


A lot of people have a lot of misunderstandings regarding this disease one of which is that symptoms only appear when someone becomes infected. This is why a lot of people only get HIV testing when the symptoms begin to appear. Being sick incessantly does not mean that someone get is infected to this disease. It is significant to know that a lot of people do not show any symptoms at all for months or years. Symptoms of HIV have many kinds which seem different from each other. While diseases like Chlamydia and gonorrhea have their own specific symptoms, HIV, as an immune deficiency, has no definite and tell-tale symptoms. This condition often leads to wrong diagnosis which makes people more inclined to other illnesses. People often believe that a cold or flu is often a symptom of HIV.


Early detection is one of the ways that you can avoid this problem. That is why you should always have routine check-ups at the nearest STD testing clinics in your area to know if you have the disease or not. Don't let it progress to something uncontrollable and you can avoid passing it on to other people as well.


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