Herpes and AIDS
The two viral diseases. Neither can be permanently cured, which changes what can be done about them.
3. Herpes
The disease is spread by the virus Herpes simplex.
- The symptom of this disease is the appearance of severely painful blisters around the genitals.
- It impairs the nervous system.
- It also becomes chronic within the nervous system, and appears again and again.
Although it is not fatal, there is no permanent treatment.
4. AIDS (Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome)
The disease is spread by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
- Symptoms appear between two and fifteen years after the virus enters the body.
- It can be fatal.
- It cannot be cured.
Because this virus is transmitted through sexual secretions or blood, situations carrying that risk should be avoided.
How HIV does not spread
The transmission routes above are the only ones. HIV is not passed on by sharing a classroom, a meal, a cup, a toilet or a handshake, nor by mosquitoes. Knowing this matters: people living with HIV are frequently treated badly on the strength of beliefs that are simply not true.
Years before anything shows
The gap of two to fifteen years is the most important fact on this page. A person can carry HIV, feel entirely well, and transmit it, for years before any symptom appears. Nobody can be judged infected or uninfected by how they look — which is why testing exists.