Susan Garcia is a certified social worker and a HIV counselor. Susan talked to us about her work with patients diagnosed with HIV.
Research defines HIVasa condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive. Infection with HIV occurs by the transfer of blood, semen, vaginal fluid, pre-ejaculation, or breast milk. Within these bodily fluids, HIV is present as both free virus particles and virus within infected immune cells. The four major routes of transmission are unsafe sex, contaminated needles, breast milk, and transmission from an infected mother to her baby at birth (perinatal transmission).
From its discovery in 1981 to 2006, AIDS killed more than 25 million people. HIV infects about 0.6% of the world's population. In 2009, AIDS claimed an estimated 1.8 million lives, down from a global peak of 2.1 million in 2004. Approximately 260,000 children died of AIDS in 2009. Treatment with antiretroviral drugs reduces both the mortality and the morbidity of HIV infection. Although antiretroviral medication is still not universally available, expansion of antiretroviral therapy programs since 2004 has helped to turn the tide of AIDS deaths and new infections in many parts of the world. Intensified awareness and preventive measures, as well as the natural course of the epidemic, have also played a role. Nevertheless, an estimated 2.6 million people were newly infected in 2009. Most untreated people infected with HIV-1 eventually develop AIDS.
Susan Garcia has worked in the field for seventeen years and provides counseling and support to patients with HIV. In our interview with Susan she talked to us about risk factors, medication and treatment and preventive education. Click on the video to see the full interview.
Valerie Persaud
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