Prevention of HIV / aids is important to know early on & bull; hello healthy

HIV / AIDS is a sexually transmitted disease that can affect anyone of all ages. Until now, efforts to prevent the transmission of HIV and AIDS are still one of the major health issues around the world. Therefore, it is also important for you to know how to effectively prevent HIV and AIDS.

There are various ways to prevent HIV and AIDS that you need to pay close attention to

HIV and AIDS prevention efforts are not solely to protect yourself. Preventing the spread of infection will help protect your family and close relatives, and help reduce the risk of an outbreak of disease spreading in the surrounding environment.

1. Be aware of any transmission routes

The most important form of HIV AIDS prevention is knowing how HIV AIDS is transmitted.

Unfortunately, there are many myths and theories about the spread of this disease that have turned out to be misguided. Risky sexual activity, such as vaginal sex, oral sex, or unprotected anal sex, are the most common transmission routes for HIV / AIDS. However, you can get this disease from other things that were not previously thought.

HIV can also be transmitted through blood-to-blood contact and direct contact between mucous membranes or open wounds and body fluids, such as blood, breast milk, semen, or infected vaginal fluids. For example the mouth, nose, vagina, rectum, and openings of the penis.

In essence, HIV disease transmission is caused by the exchange of body fluids between an infected person and a healthy person.

2. Avoid direct contact with HIV-infected fluids

Avoiding and being aware of these various ways of transmitting HIV can be the first step to prevent HIV that must be taken.

In pursuing HIV and AIDS prevention, you should avoid contact with fluids that include:

• Sperm and pre-ejaculatory fluids
• Vaginal discharge
• Rectal mucus
• Breast milk
• Amniotic fluid, cerebrospinal fluid, and synovial fluid (usually only exposed if you work in the medical field)

However, you can never know for sure who has HIV because there are no specific stereotypes. In addition, some people do not even know that they have been infected with HIV.

For HIV prevention, it is better to avoid touching other people's blood or body fluids whenever possible.

3. Use Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for the prevention of accidental HIV

PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) is a combination of two HIV drugs, namely tenofovir and emtricitabine, which is sold under the name Truvada®.

Quoted from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, taking PrEP is an effective way of preventing HIV AIDS if it is used consistently.

Usually the two HIV-AIDS prevention drugs are specially prescribed for healthy people who are at high risk of contracting HIV infection. For example, because you have a partner who is diagnosed positive for HIV / AIDS.

It is recommended that you take this medicine once a day as a means of prevention from a partner who is HIV positive. This drug is able to protect you maximally from HIV transmitted through anal sex after 7 days of use.

PrEP can also provide maximum protection from HIV transmission through vaginal sex and the use of needles after 20 days of consumption. HIV preventive drugs are well tolerated by the body for up to five years of use.

While taking drugs for the prevention of HIV AIDS, you may need to undergo periodic health checks, HIV blood tests one of them. This blood test is done to see kidney function as well as to monitor your response to treatment.

However, HIV preventive drugs are expensive so you still need to practice safe sex to keep your risk low.

4. Take Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) medication

Post Exposure Prophylaxis or commonly abbreviated as PEP is a form of treatment through drugs that can be done in the prevention of HIV AIDS.

HIV prevention through PEP is usually carried out after the occurrence of actions that risk causing HIV. For example, someone who works in a health service who is accidentally impaled by a needle from a former HIV patient, a victim of rape, and unprotected sex with someone who may be HIV positive or when you are unsure of your partner's HIV status.

The way HIV prevention works through PEP is by giving antiretroviral drugs (ARV) for about 28 days to prevent or stop exposure to the HIV virus so that it does not become a lifelong infection.

What must be understood, this HIV prevention step is a form of care that can only be done during a medical emergency in people who are HIV negative. So, if you are HIV positive, you cannot do HIV prevention through PEP.

How effective is PEP in preventing HIV AIDS?

HIV AIDS prevention through PEP must be done as soon as possible after a person is accidentally exposed to HIV.

To be effective, this medicine must be taken within 72 hours (3 days) of the last exposure. However, the sooner you start HIV prevention measures, the better because it can significantly reduce your risk of getting HIV.

Even so, this PEP drug does not 100 percent guarantee that you are free from HIV infection even though you have taken it properly and disciplined. The reason is, there are various things that might make you more susceptible to HIV infection.

You must first consult a doctor who is trained and understands about HIV prevention through PEP. Usually before starting this treatment the doctor will perform a HIV status test. As has been described, PEP can only be done in people who test negative for HIV.

If you have been prescribed PEP by your doctor, you will need to take the medicine regularly once or twice a day for 28 days. You should re-check your HIV status about 4 to 12 weeks after exposure.

However, these treatments for the prevention of HIV AIDS may have side effects for some people. The most common side effects when someone takes this treatment are nausea, dizziness, and fatigue. Even so, these side effects are relatively mild and tend to be easy to treat so they are not life-threatening.

Most importantly, don't stop taking HIV prevention through PEP if your doctor doesn't recommend you stop. Your discipline in doing HIV prevention has a big influence on the occurrence of HIV infection. Unfortunately, not all hospitals in Indonesia provide PEP. This is because PEP has not been included in the government's HIV prevention program. ARV (antiretroviral) drugs are only provided for those who are HIV positive.

This means that if those who are HIV negative want to get PEP drugs for HIV AIDS prevention, the process is certainly not easy. Even so, immediately consult your doctor to get the right HIV prevention measures if you are accidentally exposed to HIV.

5. Watch out for symptoms for HIV prevention

The next effort to prevent HIV AIDS that can be done is to recognize the symptoms of HIV or signs of the disease that appears.

Because it is often written as a whole such as "HIV / AIDS", many people consider the two to be the same. In fact, HIV and AIDS are different conditions.

HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is a virus that attacks the immune system. While AIDS stands for A. cquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome . AIDS can be said to be the final stage of chronic HIV infection.

Now, since the two are different conditions, the symptoms that appear will be different.

Symptoms of HIV

Don't assume that someone who has no definite symptoms doesn't have HIV. In many cases, people who are infected with HIV often do not realize that they have been infected for years because they do not feel any symptoms.

Although it doesn't always show symptoms, this disease actually has similar signs or characteristics when you want to catch the flu, for example:

• Body aches
• Fever
• The body is weak and not strong
• Sore throat
• There are sores around the mouth that look like thrush
• Reddish rash on the skin but does not feel itchy
• Diarrhea
• Swollen lymph nodes
• Frequent sweating, especially at night

Symptoms of AIDS

The HIV virus attacks the immune system by destroying CD4 cells (T cells). CD4 cells themselves are part of the immune system that specifically plays a role in fighting infection.

Now, when HIV has developed into AIDS, the number of T cells will decrease very drastically. As a result, your body will get sick more easily from infections even for infections that don't normally make you sick.

Some of the early symptoms of AIDS that usually appear include:

• Thrush or a thick white coating appears in the oral cavity due to a fungal infection
• Weight loss drastically for no apparent reason
• Bruising easily
• Frequent headaches
• Feeling very tired and not feeling energized
• Chronic dry cough
• Swelling of the lymph glands in the throat, armpits, or groin
• Bleeding in the mouth, nose, anus, or vagina suddenly
• Numbness or sensation of numbness in the hands and feet
• Difficulty controlling muscle reflexes
• Experiencing paralysis

If lately you often feel unwell and bring up one or more of the symptoms mentioned above, don't hesitate to see a doctor.

The sooner the disease is diagnosed, the better. This too can be an effective way of preventing HIV and AIDS.

6. Have safe sex using a condom

According to the National Institutes for Health, correct and consistent use of condoms is very effective for the prevention of HIV AIDS. Even the use of condoms can reduce the risk of HIV by 90-95 percent. However, use condoms made from latex or polyurethane (latex and polyurethane) which has been proven to be very effective in preventing HIV.

As a tool for HIV prevention, condoms are themselves a means of contraception and protection from the risk of sexually transmitted diseases that are easily available. Currently condoms are available in different shapes, colors, textures, materials, and flavors, and condoms are available for both men and women.

Whatever the type, make sure the condom you choose is the right size. In implementing this HIV prevention method, do not use a condom that is too big because it can loosen and come off during penetration. While condoms that are too small can easily tear and break, allowing semen to flow into the vagina.

You also need to know when is the best time to use it. For maximum HIV prevention, you should wear a condom just after an erection, not before ejaculation.

Not only during penetration, condoms should also be used when you have oral or anal sex. Remember, HIV can be transmitted before ejaculation, because the virus can be present in pre-ejaculatory fluids.

If you don't know if your partner is HIV-free, then always use a new condom every time you have sex of any kind as a precaution. In addition, change to a new condom every time you switch to other sexual activities. In essence, condoms used in HIV prevention should not be used repeatedly. Whether it's the same person or different people.

7. Be open with each other for HIV prevention

Another way to prevent HIV AIDS that you need to do is to be open with all sex partners involved. That is, it's a good idea to open up to each other first and ask about each other's medical history before starting sexual intercourse.

Although uncomfortable and embarrassing, understanding the ins and outs of each can really help you in the prevention of HIV and AIDS. In fact, you can take further HIV prevention measures, namely asking your HIV test partner to ensure that you are both free from HIV infection and AIDS.

An HIV test is performed to determine HIV status or diagnose people who have recently been infected with the virus. Apart from being a first step towards starting HIV prevention early, HIV testing can also help detect previously unknown infections.

8. Avoid alcohol and illegal drugs

Did you know that the consumption of alcohol and illegal drugs plays a more important role in HIV transmission than the use of drugs by injection? The reason is because these two addictive substances can affect cognitive function in making decisions.

This allows a person to perform risky actions beyond self-control. Examples include having sex without a condom with an infected person or various drugs and injection equipment with a person who has HIV.

That is why, the next thing you can do as a way of preventing HIV AIDS is to avoid or stop using alcohol and illegal drugs such as drugs.

9. Circumcision for HIV prevention in men

In Indonesia, circumcision is synonymous with religious beliefs and cultural traditions. However, in reality, circumcision offers benefits that go far beyond that. Circumcision as HIV prevention can help maintain penile cleanliness as well as an effort to prevent HIV AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

This HIV prevention action is also agreed by the Institute for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States, CDC. The CDC found that medically, circumcision can be a means of preventing HIV and other venereal diseases that are transmitted through unprotected sex.

Circumcision procedures have also been reported to reduce a man's risk of contracting genital herpes and HPV infection, which are believed to be risk factors for penile cancer. Apart from being HIV prevention, circumcision during childhood is known to provide protection against penile cancer, which often only occurs on the skin of the foreskin.

10. Never share needles or syringes

People who use intravenous (IV) drugs and frequently share needles or syringes can get HIV. The reason is, needles that are not sterile after use can be a medium for transmitting HIV from sufferers to other healthy bodies.

For those of you who want to get a tattoo, the best way to prevent HIV and AIDS that can be done is to make sure that the tattoo studio you are going to uses the equipment and body piercing (including tinya) are sterile.

These HIV prevention efforts also apply to health workers who use needles on a daily basis and are exposed to blood. Because, accidentally punctured by a used syringe from a patient with HIV or exposure to the blood of a patient with HIV in the area of ​​the body that has been injured can also make infection occur.

11. Consult a doctor if you are pregnant

As mentioned earlier, HIV AIDS often does not show significant symptoms. This means that it is very possible for pregnant women who suffer from HIV not to realize that they have been infected with the disease. In fact, HIV is a disease that can be passed from pregnant women to babies during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding.

Due to the lack of vigilance, HIV prevention measures will be carried out too late. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists reveals that pregnant women with HIV have a 1 in 4 chance of passing the infection to their babies.

That is why doctors will usually recommend a blood test as part of a womb check as well as a way to prevent HIV AIDS. That way, HIV prevention in your child is possible.

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