STATUS: The A to E of Being Positive to a Healthy Lifestyle
By Reiner “Meow” Grospe “Am I going to die soon?” This is one of the first few questions a person newly diagnosed as positive with HIV would usually ask their counselor/healthcare provider. The answer is a resounding “No.” Being diagnosed as HIV positive means a person has the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in their body, and it doesn’t mean the person will immediately die of the virus. How soon a person living with HIV (PLHIV) will die under natural circumstances depends on the line between HIV taking control of their body or them having control of the virus. To better know what healthcare measures PLHIVs should commit themselves to, we must first understand what this virus does to the body. Once infected with the virus, immune system cells called CD4 lymphocytes or T-cells are either directly killed or penetrated and then used by the virus as hosts in which to replicate. Once the penetrated CD4 cells can no longer contain the virus, they explode and result in a higher viral loa