AIDS - Prevention

The ultimate goal of many AIDS researchers is to find a vaccine against the virus. If such a vaccine were found, people could be protected against the disease as they are against measles, mumps, and other infectious diseases. As of 1999 more than a dozen different vaccines were being tested.

This seven-year-old Kenyan girl, looking much younger due to her illness, is suffering from pneumonia due to HIV complications. (Reproduced by permission of

AP/Wide World Photos

)

Until a vaccine is developed, the best protection against AIDS is to avoid contracting the HIV virus by doing the following:

• Limiting the number of sexual partners and practicing safer sex. The fewer partners one has and the better one knows those partners, the less the risk of HIV infection. The risk of transmitting the virus can also be reduced by some simple practices, such as using a condom.
• Avoiding the sharing of needles among intravenous drug users.
• Making plans to use one's own blood when major surgery is planned. By doing so, there is no risk of contracting HIV from the blood of an infected donor.
• Observing normal and standard procedures for handling needles and blood products by health care professionals. These procedures include the wearing of face masks and gloves when working with patients.
• Having an HIV test as soon as one suspects that he or she may have been infected with the virus. In general, the sooner one knows that infection has occurred, the more effective treatment can be.