DEE HWA LIONG COLLEGE FOUNDATION

Sapang Maisac, Duquit, Mabalacat, Pampanga

A Research Paper

In

“The Awareness in the Transmission of HIV or

AIDS”

In partial fulfillment of the requirement in English IV

Submitted to:

Mr. Aristotle Gomez

Submitted by:

BSN III - 1

Dimarucut, Darwin L.

September 30, 2010

“AWARENESS IN THE TRANSMISSION OF
HIV/AIDS”

I. OBJECTIVES
A. STUDENT – NURSE CENTERED
D. INDIVIDUAL CENTERED

II. INTRODUCTION
A.BACKGROUND INFORMATIONS
1. Definition of AIDS
2. HIV
B. SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM

III. BODY
A. RISK FACTORS IN TRANSMISSION OF HIV
1. Sexual Contact
2. Transmission in Pregnancy
3. Exposure to Contaminated Blood
4. Exposure to Health Care Professionals to Infected Blood
B. HIV IS NOT TRANSMITTED BY CASUAL CONTACTS
C. CAUSES OF HIV
D. STAGES OF HIV INFECTION
1. Symptoms
E. PREVENTION OF HIV TRANSMISSION
F. TREATMENT

IV. CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION

V. SUMMARY
VI. DEFITNITION OF TERMS
VII. BIBLIOGRAPHY
I. OBJECTIVES

STUDENT-NURSE CENTERED
At the end of this study, the students:

1. Shall have enhance our knowledge and understand more information

about the transmission of HIV or AIDS, thus to give us an idea of how we
could give proper nursing care and education for our clients with this
condition.

2. Shall have critical thinking skills necessary for providing safe and effective
nursing care.

3. Shall have familiarized us with effective inter-personal skills to

emphasized health promotion and illness prevention.

4. Shall have imparted the learning experience from direct patient care.

INDIVIDUAL CENTERED
At the end of this study, the individual will be able to:

1. Identify measures that could minimize the risk of occurrence of the

disease.

2. Identify possible risk factors that may have contributed in the

transmission of HIV or AIDS.

3. Increase awareness in the transmission of HIV or AIDS.

4. Involve them in promoting the health care of the individual.

II. INTRODUCTION

Due to lack of knowledge about AIDS people have fear in their mind
against the victims of this disease. Because of fear of social boycott, AIDS
patients and their relatives hide their HIV status. Many doctors (due to
fear of getting infection) also refuse to treat these patients. There is
danger of AIDS for everybody and only thing that can save us is to be
completely informed.
What is AIDS? AIDS or Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome is a
serious and mostly fatal condition in which the immune system breaks
down and does not respond normally to infection. AIDS is an
internationally recognized lethal disease first identified in 1981. It is
characterized by a severe, progressive breakdown in the immune system
caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Two strains of HIV are
recognized; HIV – 1 is responsible for most cases of AIDS, whereas HIV –
2 is increasingly being found in the West Africa.
AIDS was first reported in Untied States. Since then over one
million cases have been reported to the Centers of Disease Control (CDC).
The United Nations Programs on AIDS (UNAIDS) estimates that 70 million
people have been infected by HIV worldwide, and 20 million have died.
The course of HIV infection varies. After contracting any HIV infection,
some people die without a contracting any HIV infection, some people die
without a fear; most, however, survive for 10 or 11 years, and some
have survived beyond 20 yeas.

AIDS is
Acquired - must do something to contract
Immune - ability to fight off infectious agents
Deficiency - lack of
Syndrome - cluster of symptoms that are Characteristics for disease

HIV is
Human - isolated to the human species
Immunodeficiency - lacking the ability to fight off infectious agents
Virus - a disease causing agent
III. BODY

HIV / AIDS can be transmitted in several ways. The various routes

of transmission (and associated risk factors) includes sexual contact,
transmission in pregnancy, exposure to contaminated blood or blood
products, exposure of health care professionals to infected blood.
Sexual contact. Person at greatest risk are those who do not
practice safe sex (sex with condom), those who are not monogamous,
those who engage in anal intercourse, and those who have sex with a
partner with symptoms of advance HIV infection and or other sexually
transmitted disease (STD’s). In the United States and Europe, most cases
of sexually transmitted HIV infection arise via same sex contact, whereas
in Africa the disease is spread primarily through heterosexual intercourse.
Transmission in pregnancy. High-risk mothers include woman who
use intravenous drugs, women who have sex with bisexual men, women
who are married to men who have an abnormal blood condition called
hemophilia (a condition requiring blood transfusions), and women living
in areas with a high rate of HIV infection among heterosexuals. The
chances of transmitting HIV from mother to child are higher in women
who are in advanced stages of the disease. Breast feeding increases the
risk of transmission by 10% - 20%, and vaginal delivery double the risk
of transmitting HIV to child. Zidovudine (AZT) given to the mother during
pregnancy and shown to decrease the risk of HIV transmission to the
child.
Exposure to contaminated blood or blood products. With the
introduction of blood products screening in the mid-1980s, the incident of
HIV transmission in blood transfusions has dropped to 1 in 100,000.
Among users of intravenous drugs, risk increases with the duration of
injection use, the frequency of needle sharing, the number of persons
who share a needle, and the number of person who share a needle, and
number of AIDS cases in the local population.
Exposure to health care professional to infected blood. Studies have
shown that 0.32% of highly exposed health care workers have become
infected with HIV through occupational exposure. Needle injuries are the
most common exposure route. Risk factors for contracting HIV from
needle injury include a deep injection, a needle that has been used in an
artery or vein, blood visibly apparent on the needle prior to injury, and
blood from a patient with end-stage AIDS. There is evidenced that
administration of zidovudine (AZT) to the injured worker soon after HIV
exposure decrease risk infection.
 Contrary to common believe, there are numerous conditions that do
not cause a HIV infection after being into contact with an AIDS-patient. In
this respect the following general rules are applicable:
1. It is not possible to get HIV by visiting, socializing, working, or
going to school with someone who has it.
2. It is not possible to get HIV by being sneezed on, coughed on, or
breathed on by someone who has it.
3. It is not possible to get HIV by crying with, laughing with, sweating
with, kissing, or hugging people with AIDS or HIV.
4. It is not possible to get HIV from mosquitoes, or other insects.
5. It is not possible to get HIV by touching or sharing things that a
person with HIV has touched; for instance, doorknobs, bed linens,
clothing, towels, toilets, telephones, showers, swimming pools,
eating utensils, drinking glasses. None of these have been found in
transmit HIV.
Because HIV destroys immune system cells, AIDS is a disease that
can affect any of body’s major organ systems. HIV attacks the body
through three disease processes: immunodeficiency, autoimmunity, and
nervous dysfunction.
Immunodeficiency describes the condition in which the body’s
immune response is damage, weakened or is not functioning properly. In
AIDS, immunodeficiency results from the ay that the virus binds to a
protein called CD4, which is found on the surface of certain subtypes of
white blood cells, including helper T cells, macrophages, and monocytes.
Once HIV attaches to an immune system, it ca replicate within the cell
and kill the cell in ways that are still not completely understood. In
addition to killing some one lymphocytes directly, the AIDS virus disrupts
the functioning of the remaining CD4 cells. Because the immune system
cells are destroyed, many different types of infections and cancers that
take advantage of a person’s weakened immune system (opportunities)
can develop.
Autoimmunity is a condition in which the body’s immune system
produces antibodies that work against its own cells. Antibodies are
specific proteins produced in response to exposure to a specific, usually
foreign, protein or particle called antigen. In this case, the body produces
antibodies that bind to blood platelets that are necessary for proper blood
clotting and tissue repair. Once bound, the antibodies mark the platelets
for removal from the body, and they are filtered out by the spleen. Some
AIDS patients develop a disorder, called immune-related
thrombocytopenia purpura (ITP), in which the number of blood platelets
drops to abnormally low levels.
HIV also infects some susceptible cells in the central nervous
system. The exact mechanism of HIV entry into brain is unknown.
Possible modes of entry across the blood-brain barrier include HIV entry
as a single cell-free viral particle (virion), entry via infected monocyte or
lymphocytes, and infection of endothelial cells (cells forming brain
border). Regardless of the mechanism, evidence suggests that the
cerebral spinal fluid is seeded with HIV very early in the infection process.
There are several stages of HIV disease. It includes the followings:
1. It is usually takes a person with HIV three to six months to develop
detectable antibodies. Some people have symptoms during this
time that usually are not severe. Slight fever, headaches, fatigue,
muscle aches and swollen glands may last for a few weeks.
2. There are usually is a long period without symptoms after
antibodies develop. This period may last many years; average is
about 10. Although there are no symptoms, the immune system
and various bloody tissues become damage during this time.
3. People with HIV often have swelling of the lymph glands in the
throat, armpits, and groin. This may be the only symptom of HIV
infection for a number of years. This called persistent generalized
lymphadenopathy.
4. When HIV seriously damages the immunity system, symptoms
include:
• Yeast infection causing a white vagina, mouth, and throat
(thrush);
• Viral infections that affect the skin and mucous membranes of
the anus or genital area;
• Serve and frequent infection infections like herpes zoster or
pelvic inflammatory disease.
AIDS is the final stage of HIV disease. It may take 10 or more years
after HIV infection for AIDS symptoms to develop. Some conditions
associated with HIV disease, including those associated with opportunistic
infections are:
1. a thick, whitish coating of the tongue or mouth (thrush),
caused by yeast infection and sometimes accompanied by a sore
throat;
2. severe or recurring vaginal yeast infections;
3. chronic pelvic inflammatory disease;
4. periods of extreme and unexplained fatigue that may be
 combined with headaches, lightheadedness, and or dizziness;
5. rapid loss of more than 10 pounds of weight that is not
due to increased physical exercise or dieting;
6. bruising more easily than normal;
7. long-lasting occurrences of diarrhea;
8. recurring fevers and or night sweats;
9. swelling or hardening of glands located in the throat, groin,
or armpit;
10. periods of continued, deep, dry coughing that are not due
to other illnesses or to smoking;
11. increasing shortness of breath;
12. the appearance of discolored or purplish growths on the
skin or inside the mouth;
13. unexplained bleeding from growths on the kin, from
mucous membranes, or from any opening in the body;
14. recurring or unusual skin rashes;
15. severe numbness or pain in the hands or feet, the loss of
muscle control and reflex, paralysis or loss of muscular strength;
16. An altered state of consciousness, personality change, or
mental deterioration.
Such symptoms are often unrelated to HIV disease. In fact, when
symptoms of HIV disease appear in women, they are easily mistaken
for the symptoms of less serious conditions.

PREVENTING HIV TRANSMISSION

• Health care workers and the public are advised to use precautions
in all situations that risk exposure to blood, body fluids, and
secretions. Diligently practicing standard precautions can prevent
the inadvertent transmission of human immunodeficiency virus
(HIV),hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and other infectious disease that are
transmitted by similar routes.
• Educate the patient and his family members, sexual partners, and
friends about disease to others.
• Inform the patient not to donate blood, blood products, organs,
tissue, or sperm.
• If the patient uses I.V drugs, caution him not to share needles.
• Inform the patient that high risk sexual practices or HIV
 transmission are those that exchange body fluids, such as vaginal
or anal intercourse without a condom.
• Discuss safe sexual practice, such as hugging, mutual
masturbation, and protected sexual intercourse. Abstaining is also
the most protective method or not transmitting the disease.
• Advice the female patient of childbearing age to avoid pregnancy.
Explain that an infant may become infected before birth, during
delivery, or during breast-feeding.

TREATMENT

There is currently no cure in AIDS but it can be treated. Scientists

are trying to develop a cure for the AIDS virus. There are three parts to
finding the cure. The three parts are:

1. To devise a drug that will kill the HIV once it enters the body.

2. To create a vaccine that would prevent the disease.

3. To educate people world wide about the dangers of AIDS and how
to prevent the HIV infection.

In 1986, the first step was taken in AIDS prevention. AZT is a pill
that has prolonged the lives of HIV infected patients. Ninety percent of
patients who have taken the AZT pill are still alive after one year of being
diagnosed. This is an increase of 50% without the pill.

There are some side effects of AZT. Some patients have developed
a resistance to the drug after prolonged use.

Other drugs have also been tested in the past few years. These
drugs have different side effects, but by switching medicines, a patient
may not suffer from many of the side effects.

Medicines to fight AIDS need to be developed to kill the viruses, but

not the cells that the viruses live in. Doctors are trying to develop the
medicines and test them quickly enough to be available to AIDS patients.
Many AIDS and HIV-infected patients are volunteering to test the
medicines. These medicines are experimental and are still being tested,
so they may or may not slow down spreading of the virus.
IV. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

CONCLUSION
Preventing transmission of HIV is the only way to prevent AIDS.
Remember AIDS does not discriminate caste, creed, race, religion,
educational or social status. Prevention of AIDS is our joint responsibility.
Education and awareness is the only weapon in our hand. Let us accept
the challenge to fight against AIDS. We must support and care for the
people with HIV / AIDS with compassion and understanding.

RECOMMENDATIONS
As a student nurse, all the heath care workers should be aware first
in preventing transmissions of HIV or AIDS in health care setting, these
are the following CDC recommendations published earlier for preventing
HIV transmission in health-care settings: precautions for clinical and
laboratory staffs (1) and precautions for health-care workers and allied
professionals (2); recommendations for preventing HIV transmission in
the workplace (3) and during invasive procedures (4); recommendations
for preventing possible transmission of HIV from tears (5); and
recommendations for providing dialysis treatment for HIV-infected
patients (6). These recommendations also update portions of the
"Guideline for Isolation Precautions in Hospitals" (7) and reemphasize
some of the recommendations contained in "Infection Control Practices
for Dentistry" (8). The recommendations contained in this document have
been developed for use in health-care settings and emphasize the need to
treat blood and other body fluids from ALL patients as potentially
infective. These same prudent precautions also should be taken in other
settings in which persons may be exposed to blood or other body fluids.
As a health care provider, we must educate the individual in the
prevention of transmission HIV or AIDS. A stronger emphasis should be
placed on sex education. The public awareness and the use of safer sex
practices, including condoms use, in order to interrupt the transmission of
sexually transmitted diseases. In this manner the individual becomes
more aware as necessary and sufficient to combat all the risk factors in
the causes of transmission.
As an individual, we should aware in the increasing HIV or AIDS
infected cases world wide. We should educate our self more focusing on
safe sex to prevent in acquiring this disease by means of attending
seminars, or a health teaching in the barangay pertaining to this topic.

V. SUMMARY

Education is the most important strategy to prevent the spread of

HIV. We have trained educators who can speak to groups and
organizations to help raise AIDS awareness. They are also trained to help
organizations develop workplace policies relating to HIV and HIV-infected
workers. HIV+ patients and their family members to come together in a
safe and emotionally supportive environment to share their thoughts and
experiences of dealing with the disease. HIV+ patients with no family
support are also welcomed. Personal counseling is provided to HIV
concordant and discordant couples (regardless of sexual orientation) and
HIV+ pregnant women. Harm and risk reduction information and advice
are also made available.
VI. DEFINITION OF TERMS

• UNAIDS (United Nations Programs on AIDS) - It serves as the

leading advocate for global action against HIV/AIDS. Its mission is
to guide, strengthen and support worldwide efforts to turn the tide
against the epidemic. Such efforts are aimed at: preventing the
spread of HIV; providing care and support for those infected and
affected by the disease; reducing the vulnerability of individuals and
communities to HIV/AIDS; and easing the socioeconomic and
human impact of the epidemic.

• MONOGAMOUS - It refers to a form of marriage in which an

individual has only one spouse at any one time.

• HEMOPHILIA - It is a group of hereditary bleeding disorder

characterized by a deficiency in a blood-clotting factor.

• ITP (Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura) - It is the condition

of having a low platelet count (thrombocytopenia) of no known
cause (idiopathic).[1] As most causes appear to be related to
antibodies against platelets, ITP is also known as immune
thrombocytopenic purpura or immune-mediated thrombocytopenic
purpura.

• HERPES ZOSTER - (or simply zoster), commonly known as

shingles and also known as zona, is a viral disease characterized by
a painful skin rash with blisters in a limited area on one side of the
body, often in a stripe.

• AZT - in full azidothymidine, also called zidovudine, drug used to

delay development of AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome)
in patients infected with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus). AZT
belongs to a group of drugs known as nucleoside reverse
transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs). In 1987 AZT became the first of
these drugs to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug
 Administration for the purpose of prolonging the lives of AIDS
patients.

VII. BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS

The Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing and Allied Health 2nd Edition by

Jacqueline L. Longe, Editor

Essentials of Anatomy and Physiology Sixth Edition

By Seeley Stephens Tate

INTERNET

http://www.eastchester.k12.ny.us/schools/ms/AIDS/AIDS5.html

http://www.aids-india.org/hivbasics9.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00023587.htm

http://www.virusmyth.com/aids/hiv/panel/chapter8.htm

http://nursingcrib.com/nursing-notes-reviewer/maternal-child-
health/hemophilia/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiopathic_thrombocytopenic_purpura

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monogamy

http://www.un.org/ga/aids/ungassfactsheets/html/fsunaids_en.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herpes_zoster