• Question: what is AID?

    Asked by areeba123 to Andrew, Peta on 25 Nov 2011.
    • Photo: Peta Foster

      Peta Foster answered on 25 Nov 2011:

      Hi there! AIDs is a really horrible virus which is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). It is a disease of the human immune system and therefore anyone who in unfortunate enough to have this, has their immune system get progressively weaker and weaker. This means they things like colds and flus that are normal healthy immune systems can fight off would in that case no longer be good enough and these normal bugs could suddenly become deadly 🙁

      It is a very nasty virus indeed… people are working to fix it though and there have been a number of breakthroughs where they have found some people to have a nature immunity to the virus which give us a big clue towards its cure/treatment 😀

      Hope this helps 🙂

    • Photo: Andrew Cairns

      Andrew Cairns answered on 25 Nov 2011:

      Hi Areeba123 – Peta has pretty much explained what AIDS (Acquired immune deficiency syndrome) is – it is a really awful disease caused by HIV (Human immunodeficiency virus). It has come up here a lot because I think that finding a cure is one of the biggest challenges we face in the scientific community.

      I spent 2 months in Africa a few summers ago and you can’t really imagine the impact such a disease has on a community until you’ve lived in it. HIV/AIDS is largely confined to small groups in developed countries but there a huge number of people have it, up to 50% – that includes children, mothers, grandfathers.

      A lot of research has been done, and with the right medication people can live a full life with HIV, so they never develop symptoms of AIDS. These drugs are very expensive though, and where the problem is worst are the countries least able to pay for this medication.

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