Human Illnesses – AIDS, Meningitis Paper
AIDS threatens human development in many ways. Studying this issue, I can conclude that in order to answer the challenges of the epidemic people need to find influential leaders in this field, including people living with HIV and AIDS. Personally, I see a solution to this problem in cooperation. An effective response requires the ability and desire of diverse social groups to work together on a common problem. Non-governmental organizations and other civil institutions play a key role in creating opportunities for everyone to change their behavior, as well as to help people at risk. The problem of HIV/AIDS has many sides: Human Illnesses – AIDS, Meningitis Paper
- social: HIV/AIDS are fueled by social marginalization, poverty, stigma and intolerance;
- economic: HIV/AIDS consume the already limited resources and erodes a human being: a person – an employer, who, without epidemic would constitute the lion’s proportion of the workforce; thus, the possibilities of households, enterprises and macroeconomic potential of any country are reduced;
- public health: as a factor causing other diseases, HIV/AIDS with fatal consequences in the absence of treatment attacks the immune system and reduces the duration and quality of life while imposing additional load on the health system (Cantwell, 1993); Human Illnesses – AIDS, Meningitis Paper
- human rights: for resolving problems, which are essential to public health, authorities sometimes prefer to take action under the curve of criminal justice;
- coordination: despite the fact that the health care system should be the core of the answer to HIV/AIDS, effective approaches require the coordinated involvement of many central and local authorities;
- security issue: HIV/AIDS generate a feeling of protection absence – from physical entities to a state level (Burkett, 1995).
The terrifying statistics show that a lot of people after exposure to HIV infection do not even notice any symptoms. While others, just in a few days after contact with an infected person observe the signs of the disease. People complain of fever, fatigue, as well as sharp increase in the lymph nodes in the neck. Often, these symptoms disappear by themselves within a few weeks. For me, the most frightening aspect is the fact that the disease can develop “silently”. This “silent” phase can last from a few years to 10 years without even the slightest suspicion of HIV infection. HIV infection destroys the cells that directly fight any infection. These cells are called CD4+ cells, or T4 cells. When the immune system is weakened, it is no longer able to resist HIV and symptoms begin to be manifested. Human Illnesses – AIDS, Meningitis Paper
This burning issue gains even more importance when considering the fact that after the diagnosis of AIDS, the infected people live on average 2-3 years. Therefore, in order to prolong one’s life, it is essential to diagnose the disease as soon as possible and undertake all measures possible to start preventing the spread of the disease.
Meningitis
Among many human diseases, meningitis is one of the most dangerous ones. A person can survive inflammation of the lungs without proper medication; a person can live with tuberculosis for years as well as use medication for a long time trying to cure venereal disease. With meningitis, such treatments cannot be applied – the only solution is ambulatory treatment in a hospital. Meningitis is a well-known disease. Even an average person without any special medical education knows that the features of the disease are not very clear, but everybody fears it. In fact, for me, such an attitude to meningitis is clear – from the time when it appeared possible to treat meningitis 50 years passed. However, as statistics shows, if the majority of deaths from childhood diseases decreased during this period for 10-20 or more times, when with meningitis – only twice. Human Illnesses – AIDS, Meningitis Paper
Infectious meningitis is the immediate disease caused by certain microbes. The name of this disease means inflammation of the membranes of the brain, and the cause of this inflammation can be a huge number of micro-organisms – bacteria, viruses, fungi. Hence, it is clear that meningitis can be different depending on rapidity of development, severity and frequency of occurrence, and, most importantly, methods of treatment. Overall, meningitis is a real threat to life with a high likelihood of complications. To my mind, it is extremely dangerous since viral meningitis can come along with such infections as chicken pox, measles, rubella and mumps. The threat of this disease lies in the fact that within 10-12 hours a completely healthy child can be lost! All of the above information is not intended to intimidate but it does. Yes, meningitis is treated. However, its results (duration and severity of illness, the likelihood of complications) are closely related in time to the start of adequate therapy. Human Illnesses – AIDS, Meningitis Paper