Anatomy, Physiology & Disease - Assignment Example

Download file to see previous pages A good example of communicable disease that poses a huge threat to public health include HIV/AIDS. This disease is easy to diagnose; the most common diagnosis is through blood tests. In essence, testing is done in order to identify the presence of antibodies created in the body in an effort to fight the HIV (Holland, Olsen and Florey, 2007). It is worth noting that the disease is caused by a virus known as Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Some of the signs and symptoms of HIV/AIDS according to Hall, Hall and Cockerell (2011) include weight loss, diarrhea, coughing, dermatitis, herpes, TB, unrelenting wounds, and abscesses.
Prevention of HIV/AIDS depends on the mode of transmission. It can be transmitted through sexual intercourse, blood transfusion, and transmission from a pregnant mother to the unborn child. Prevention of the disease in relation to sexual transmission is achieved through the use of condoms and sex education. Blood ought to be screened thoroughly before transfusion to detect the presence of the disease. Pregnant mothers also ought to be tested and subsequent treatment given in case of presence of the disease (Ramaiah, 2008).
Antiretroviral drugs are used to treat the disease. These drugs are taken on a daily basis in a bid to minimize the amount of the HIV virus in the body (Ramaiah, 2008). There are also post-exposure prophylaxis medications that are used for emergency treatments when an individual has been exposed to the virus (Hall, Hall and Cockerell, 2011). There is however no known cure for the disease. These medication are only used to reduce the amount of HIV in the body in order to allow the body fight infections. Epidemiological studies have proved that HIV is transmitted through three routes namely sexual transmission, exposure to contaminated blood, and mother to child transmission. The ...Download file to see next pagesRead More