Unprotected Sex is the Primary Way of HIV Infection =
The Human Body
Safe sex and STI prevention are important practices for anyone who is sexually active. Safer sex means learning and practicing behaviors that decrease the chance of contracting or transmitting a disease. Safe sex is negotiated and planned honestly between partners. Those who know and discuss their limitations and expectations are likely to have better, safer sexual experiences. Prevention is possible only if one understands HIV, AIDS and STIs and how they are spread.
Practicing safe sex doesn't mean eliminating sex from your life. What safe sex does mean is being smart and staying healthy. Prevention is possible only if one understands how HIV, AIDS and STIs are spread and know more about our body and how sexual activity relates to HIV and AIDS.
Your Immune System and how it works
Your immune system is the name given to the parts of your body that protect you against infections. Bacteria, viruses, funguses and parasites are all types of germs that may make you sick. If you get infected, your immune system tries to kill the bug.
Your immune system includes many different types of immune cells. They travel in your blood looking for infections. When your immune cells meet a virus, they recognize that the virus may be dangerous. They work together to try to destroy the virus. Your immune system also kills any of your own cells that have begun to grow incorrectly. For example, it can help stop cancers from developing.
Certain cells called CD4 cells (or T helper cells) help pass a message to other cells to help destroy the virus. It can take many days for your immune system to get rid of a virus.
Human Skin
It covers and protects everything inside your body. Without skin, people's muscles, bones, and organs would be hanging out all over the place. Skin holds everything together. It also protects our bodies; helps keep our bodies at just the right temperature; and allows us to have the sense of touch.
The outer layer of your skin called the Epidermis which serves as a natural defence against infections. Unbroken skin protects and prevents any direct contact between your blood and any body fluids, which contain infectious quantities of HIV. Healthy, intact skin does not allow HIV to get into the body. HIV can only enter through an open cut or sore, or through contact with the mucous membranes.
What are Mucous Membranes?
Mucous membranes are tissues that line and protect the body cavities or canals such as the throat, nose, mouth, urethra, rectum, and vagina. Mucous membranes produce a thick, slippery liquid called mucus that protects the membranes and keeps them moist.
Unlike the human skin, the risk of HIV transmission is very high when HIV comes in contact with the more porous mucous membranes in the genitals (vagina and penis), the anus, and the rectum, which are inefficient barriers to HIV. Transmission is also possible through oral sex because body fluids can enter the bloodstream through cuts or sores in the mouth.
