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Bihar's Sitamarhi district is currently witnessing a harrowing public health concern as officials revealed that over 7400 people have been registered as HIV positive. What is more concerning is that hundreds of children are involved among those infected. According to the ART Centre at the district hospital, 400 kids have contracted the virus from their parents putting pressure on local health system.
According to reports, most cases involving families where one or both parents have HIV positive result in transmission at birth. Doctors in the district say that awareness regarding this highly contagious infection is severely low despite repeated campaigns. Dr J Javed, assistant civil surgeon and HIV nodal officer, told a leading media outlet, "This is not a disease that spreads through coughing; it spreads through blood transfusion or being injected with the same needle. Today, schools are teaching about AIDS and HIV. Bettiah, Motihari, and Muzaffarpur are in a worse situation than we are... Around 250 to 300 patients come to us daily to get medicines; the total number of patients under treatment is 6,707. This data is from 2012 to the present."
As per the state health officials, several factors contributed the rise of HIV cases which include, marriages that are being held without proper health checks, a large-scale migration of work, not taking HIV seriously and widespread reluctant toget tested due to social stigma. Taking cognizance of the situation, the administration revealed that they have started initiatives to spread awareness about HIV, which can turn full blown AIDS.
Human immunodeficiency virus, popularly known as HIV, is a virus that attacks the body's immune system by targeting the white blood cells. This makes a person get sick with serious diseases like tuberculosis, infections and certain cancers. This highly contagious virus is spread from the body fluids of an infected person which include blood, breast milk, semen and vaginal fluids. Healthcare professionals claim that it does not spread with kisses, hugs and sharing food. However, this virus can be spread from a mother to her baby.
The World Health Orgainzation (WHO) states that HIV can be prevented and treated with antiretroviral therapy (ART). It warns that if it is left untreated, HIV can progress to AIDS, often after many years. According to the global health organization there is no single test that can provide a full HIV positive diagnosis. WHO suggests confirmatory testing conducted by a qualified and trained health worker or community worker to be sure about the diagnosis that can be fatal.
"HIV spreads more easily in the first few months after a person is infected, but many are unaware of their status until the later stages. In the first few weeks after being infected people may not experience symptoms," the WHO explains. Some of the early signs of HIV include fever, headache, rash, sore throat and it may gradually progress into swollen lymph nodes, weight loss, fever, diarrhoea and cough, when the immune system is weakened by the deadly virus.
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