Our body has a natural defense against infection and cancer. Majority do not develop infection or cancer because of this built-in defense mechanism called the immune system.

Our blood has white blood cells and red blood cells. The red blood cell carries oxygen to the different parts of the body. If the number of red blood cell is decreased, the condition is called anemia. A person with anemia experiences body weakness and is pale. The white blood cells are responsible for preventing and controlling infections and cancer in our body. The white blood cells are therefore the important part of the immune system. If the white blood cells are deficient, an individual would easily develop infection and cancer.

Infection is an illness that develops when microorganisms or germs enters the body. These “germs” may come from another person, from food, water, insect bites and others. There are different kinds of microorganisms or germs. They may be bacteria, virus, fungus or parasites. The cause of typhoid fever, for example, is a bacterium called salmonella typhi. If a person eats or drinks food or water contaminated with this bacterium, then he/she may develop typhoid fever.

Dengue fever is due to a virus that enters our body through an insect bite. Hepatitis A is due to the hepatitis A virus. This is acquired by eating or drinking contaminated food and water. Hepatitis C infection is due to the hepatitis C virus. This is transferred from one person to another by needle pricks, blood transfusion and sexual intercourse. A pregnant mother with hepatitis C can infect her baby during birth.

HIV infection/AIDS is caused by a virus called the human immunodeficiency virus or HIV. Unprotected anal or vaginal intercourse, blood transfusion, sharing contaminated syringes and needles (IV drug users) and needle prick can transfer the virus to her baby while still inside the womb, during birth or during breast feeding.

Once HIV enters the body, it attacks and destroys the white blood cells, specifically the CD4+ cells. This will result in deterioration or deficiency of the immune system. This is how the name of the virus was derived. It causes immune deficiency in humans, hence the term human immunedeficiency virus.

It may take several years before a person feels the effect of the virus in the body. On the average, it takes five to ten years before the immune system becomes very, very weak. For many years after the virus has entered the body, a person feels and looks normal. Although the person may feel and look healthy, he/she can already transmit the virus to another person. One can never tell by just looking at the individual if he/she is infected with the virus or not.

By the time the immune system is severely deficient, multiple infections in different parts of the body such as the lungs, the brain, the skin, the intestines, and other areas and cancer can easily develop. A person will experience many symptoms due to the presence of different infections. This stage is called acquired immune deficiency syndrome or AIDS. AIDS is therefore the advanced stage of HIV infection.

It is important to remember that a person can infect another person during the early and advanced stage of HIV infection. The only way to know if one has HIV infection is by performing a blood test called the “HIV antibody test”. This test detects the presence of a protein substance that is produced in the blood when HIV enters the body. The quantity of this antibody should be high enough to be detected by the blood test. It may take as long as six months after the infection before the body produces enough antibodies.

A person may have a negative HIV antibody test if he/she is tested soon after being exposed to HIV. This is called the “window period”. During the window period, a person with HIV infection has a negative antibody test but is already capable of infecting others. In such case, the test will be positive when repeated after six months.

At present, there is no known cure for HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS is a fatal disease. The current available drugs cannot totally eliminate the virus from the body. These medicines can just control the multiplication of the virus inside the body and slow down the disease process. Although these drugs may prolong patient’s lives, they are very costly and produce side effects.

It is estimated that at the end of 1997, about 30 million worldwide have been infected by HIV and about 11 million have already died of the disease. Two to three million of them are children. About 16,000 people are infected each day.

As of September 1998, there are 1,130 cases of HIV/AIDS of Filipinos reported to the Department of Health (DOH). Majority is between the ages 19 to 40 years old. A lot of them may have acquired the infection in their teenage years and were only tested years later. The male to female ratio is 1.4 is to 1.

However, accuracy of the DOH figures is questionable. A lot of people may not be aware that they have HIV because they do not undergo an HIV antibody test. The reasons for this may be: they feel and look healthy, hence they do not think they are infected; they think that they can never be infected with HIV; or they are afraid to undergo testing and know their HIV antibody status because of the social stigma attached to the disease.

The data we have right now may just be the tip of the iceberg. At present, it is estimated that the actual number of Filipinos infected with HIV is about 30,000 and this may increase to 40,000 individuals by the end of 1999.

Everyone is vulnerable to HIV infection. Each person has the potential to get infected. But HIV infection can be prevented if a person knows how to protect him/herself. A person must not engage in activities that puts him/her at risk for HIV infection. Examples of these activities include having many sex partners, engaging in casual sex without using protection (condom), use of prohibited intravenous drugs and acquiring other sexually transmitted diseases or STDs like syphilis and gonorrhea.

The most common way by which HIV is transferred from one person to another is by sexual intercourse. HIV is also considered a sexually transmitted disease. If a person has acquired other STDs like syphilis or gonorrhea, it is possible that he/she has also acquired HIV because both infections are transmitted in the same way. “It is not who you are but what you do that would put you at risk of HIV/AIDS”.

HIV is not transmitted through mosquito bites, casual kissing, coughing, sneezing, swimming in a pool, public toilets and use of utensils.

Hence, the best strategy against HIV is prevention. To prevent HIV, it is very important to have knowledge on how the virus is transmitted from one person to another and the behavior that will put a person at risk of HIV infection.

A paper presented during FAD’s First Student Congress November 20-21, 1998 held at the University of the East, Manila. Sponsored by the Foundation for Adolescent Development, Inc.