COMMUNITY ACTION PLAN OUTLINE 5
Running head: COMMUNITY ACTION PLAN OUTLINE 1
Community Action Plan Outline
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HIV/AIDS
HIV/AIDS originated in the 1980s when, and since then medics have been working on trying to find a cure with no possible cure found up to date.
The virus is believed to have originated from chimpanzees and was transferred to the human race due to the act of human hunting and eating the chimpanzees.
HIV/AIDS is an infection caused by a human immunodeficiency virus; it’s usually transmitted through the exchange of body fluids.
The virus weakens the immune system of the patient making the patient prone to other infections and diseases (Rock, & Joseph, 2017).
The virus attacks the immune system of the patient by reducing the CD4 cells reducing the body’s capabilities to fight any future infections.
Symptoms
There are no immediate symptoms for the disease as it takes some time to start being noticed and is only noticeable at its late stages.
During the first stage, however, the patient experiences influenza-like illness as the virus starts affecting the immune system.
The main symptoms at this stage include; shivering, fever, nausea, body aches loss of appetitive, chills and also the patient may experience dry coughs.
The duration which the patient takes to show various symptoms varies but is usually approximated to be two weeks.
The second stage of HIV infection is the clinical latency whose, there are few symptoms associated with this stage, but the symptoms are severe than the first stage symptoms.
These symptoms include; high body weight loss, muscle pains and also gastrointestinal problems.
Failure to receive treatment for the patient infected by HIV leads to the development of Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).
This is the third stage of the disease and is characterized by a reduced number of CD4 cells below 200 cells per µL.
The development of HIV to AIDS is approximated to be ten years from the initial contraction of the human immune deficiency syndrome virus.
Various infections alert the patient that the disease has hit this particular stage.
The common conditions include; pneumocystis pneumonia, esophageal candidiasis, cachexia and also recurrent respiratory infections.
Diagnosis
HIV/AIDS is diagnosed using laboratory tests which are carried out on the patients’ blood.
The disease is then staged based on the symptoms indicated especially the CD4 count; the diagnosis, however, may not give the right results during the initial stages of infections (Montaner, Lima, Harrigan, Lourenço, Yip, Nosyk, & Hogg, 2014).
Regular checkups are therefore encouraged for those that are highly exposed.
Cure
There has not to be found the actual cure for the virus due to its high mutation rate making it hard for the doctors to understand its DNA and develop medicine to destroy it.
However the doctors have developed antiretroviral which reduces the impacts of the HIV, the medicine is designed to improve the body immune system.
Prevention
The disease can be prevented through curbing the means through which it is being transmitted from one person to another.
These safe practices include; engaging in safe sex- through this approach HIV transmission through sexual intercourse will be controlled, use of condoms is recommended by doctors.
Avoiding sharing of sharp objects is also another approach to curb the transmission of the virus, the virus under this circumstance is transmitted when the sharp object is shared between an infected person and a healthy person (Abara, Coleman, Fairchild, Gaddist, & White, 2015).
Avoiding traditional delivery systems and involving doctors during delivery helps control the transmission of the disease from mother to child during birth.
References
Abara, W., Coleman, J. D., Fairchild, A., Gaddist, B., & White, J. (2015). A faith-based community partnership to address HIV/AIDS in the Southern United States: Implementation, challenges, and lessons learned. Journal of religion and health, 54(1), 122-133.
Montaner, J. S., Lima, V. D., Harrigan, P. R., Lourenço, L., Yip, B., Nosyk, B., … & Hogg, R. S. (2014). Expansion of HAART coverage is associated with sustained decreases in HIV/AIDS morbidity, mortality and HIV transmission: the “HIV Treatment as Prevention” experience in a Canadian setting. PloS one, 9(2), e87872.
Rock, L., & Joseph, D. D. (2017). Topic: addressing HIV and AIDS in the English-speaking Caribbean: theoretical approaches, intervention and education. Social Work Education, 36(4), 345-358.