What is AIDS? AIDS is a disease which attacks the immune system. Especially in its later stages, it breaks down the body's ability to fight infection. Their compromised immune systems make AIDS patients vulnerable to a range of diseases which healthy people can usually fight off. There is no 'common' cold to an AIDS patient -- any illness can be serious. AIDS is caused by a virus named HIV. This virus multiplies, infecting body cells and eventually leading to AIDS. HIV has several properties that make it particularly deadly. First, it can't be cured with conventional drugs. Antibiotics, while they can help with some of the problems HIV leads to, cannot do much about the virus itself. Once it's in your body, it's there for good. Second, HIV has a long latency period. This means that you can have it for a fairly long time before any AIDS symptoms appear. The delay between getting the virus and having health problems can be several years. This is dangerous because HIV-infected people (who are referred to as 'HIV-positive') are still capable of infecting others. People who are HIV-positive do not look or act differently from other people -- without a blood test, there is no way to tell. There have been many cases where people who did not know they were HIV-positive infected many others before AIDS symptoms appeared. How do people get AIDS? HIV can be transmitted through semen, vaginal fluid, or blood. Any activity where these fluids are exchanged can transmit the virus. This means you can get AIDS by having sex with an infected person. Any type of sex -- oral, vaginal, or anal -- will expose you to HIV infection. Sharing needles, such as those used to shoot drugs, can also transmit the virus. HIV from an infected person's blood will stay on a needle for a short while after they use it. If you use this needle, you will put HIV into your bloodstream. As discussed above, this is a one-way process -- once HIV is in you, it's there for good. Remember: HIV leaves no outward marks on infected people. Its carriers don't look or act any different because they have it. They may not even know that they carry the virus. Short of a blood test, there is no way to know for certain. This is a large part of how people get AIDS -- if you are engaging in some activity which can put you at risk for the virus, you should protect yourself. How do I protect myself? The only thing besides abstinence that has been shown to have any effect on HIV transmission during sex is a condom. Condoms, especially those coated with the spermicide nonoxynol-9, reduce the odds that the virus will enter your bloodstream. Keep in mind that condoms aren't a guarantee -- they just improve your chances of not being infected. This works because the condom is a physical barrier to the fluids which carry the virus. Nonoxynol-9 helps because it kills some of the HIV. If you're going to have sex with a partner who hasn't been tested, condoms are the only protection out there. Use one. The condom will only work if use it correctly. Oil-based lubricants like Vaseline, hand cream, and hair grease destroy the rubber -- never use them. (Water-based lubricants such as K-Y, Foreplay, Astroglide, and PrePair are fine.) If you are using intravenous drugs (drugs which are injected with needles), you can protect yourself from HIV by not sharing needles, syringes, cookers, cotton, or filters. If you must share with anyone, clean your works with household bleach before and after using. Here is the procedure: Draw clean water into the syringe, then empty it. Make sure there's no blood left in the syringe. Next, fill the syringe with full strength household liquid bleach. Leave the bleach in the syringe for 30 seconds, then empty it. Repeat step two. Fill the syringe with clean water and empty it. Repeat step four. Make sure you've washed the bleach out of the syringe. Bleach kills HIV, but you must use full strength liquid bleach for it to work. Also, you must leave the bleach in the syringe for 30 seconds. (It won't damage anything.) If you fail to do either of these things, HIV might still be left in the works when you're done. When am I safe from HIV? AIDS is a frightening disease, and there is a great deal of misinformation about it. As long as you stay away from high-risk activities, your odds of getting AIDS are very low. In fact, the activites where you're not at risk for HIV far outnumber the activies where you are. As a rule, HIV is not transmitted through casual, everyday contact. You can't get HIV through looking at someone, talking to them, or shaking their hand. Hugging does not transmit the virus, nor does sharing utensils or swimming in the same pool. You can't get HIV by being coughed on, or even by deep (so-called 'French') kissing. Unfortunately, many of the high-risk activities are the sort of situations in which we're not likely to be careful. This is one of the reasons why teens are especially vulnerable to HIV and AIDS. The pressures of adolescence often create an environment where it's difficult to make the most responsible choices. If kids are going to rely on more than chance to avoid this disease, they need our help. What's the point? The bottom line here is simple: be educated, be aware, and be careful. AIDS is a powerful adversary, but there is a great deal that you can do to prevent yourself and others from getting it.

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