Arava (Generic)
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Arava (Leflunomide) is an anti-inflammatory medication known as a disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) because it not only decreases the pain and swelling of arthritis but also can decrease damage to joints and long-term disability.
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Generic Arava 10mg Pills
PREVENTING TRANSMISSION OF HIV INFECTION: UNDERSTANDING HOW HIV IS SPREAD: PREVENTING TRANSMISSION DURING HOME CARE-PREVENTING TRANSMISSION OF INFECTIONS TO THE HIV-INFECTED PERSON
Both health care workers and home caregivers are understandably worried that they might transmit infection to the person whose immune system has been damaged by HIV infection. Although this worry sounds rational, in reality it is not much of a problem.
The kinds of infections common in otherwise healthy individuals include upper respiratory tract infections like colds, sinusitis, and pharyngitis; influenza, or "flu"; gastroenteritis with diarrhea, vomiting, and fever; and skin infections. Some of these sound like infections, but in
reality they are not. Some are infections that are not contagious and cannot be passed from one person to another. And some are contagious diseases in the usual sense. The latter category is the only important one. The most common examples are colds, bronchitis, influenza, and
gastroenteritis. Most of these are caused by viruses.
However, people with HIV infection do not get these common contagious diseases any more frequently or any more severely than anyone else. The viruses that cause the common contagious diseases affect a person with HIV the same way they affect other people. The reason seems to be that the part of the immune system that HIV attacks is not the same as the part that defends against colds and flu.
People also worry whether pets can carry infections to people with HIV infection. The most common worry is about the Toxoplasma gondii parasite, which causes a brain infection called toxoplasmic encephalitis. The parasite is commonly found in the stool of cats. This worry is probably not justified: Toxoplasma gondii is one of those microbes many people have had in their bodies all their lives, and the person with HIV infection has probably had this microbe a long time.
If You Think You Have Been Exposed-Persons who think they have been exposed to HIV infection or any of the infections noted above should seek the care of a physician. The physician might recommend a blood test for antibodies to HIV to exclude the possibility of transmission. Because the body usually takes three months or so to form antibodies to HIV, blood tests for the antibodies are usually done at the time of exposure, and then again six, twelve, twenty-six, and fifty-two weeks later. Thus, a negative blood test three months after exposure gives over 95 percent assurance that the virus was not transmitted. During this interval, we recommend safer sex and other precautionary measures.
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HIV
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