AIDS:Discrimination Against Infectection Diseaseses Has Been Dated Back To When The Bible Was Written.

AIDS

According to the Book of Leviticus, 13:45-46, "the one who bears the sore of leprosy shall keep his garments rent and his head bare, and shall muffle his beard; he shall cry out, 'Unclean, unclean!' As long as the sore is on him he shall declare himself unclean, since he is in fact unclean. He shall dwell apart, making his abode outside the camp" (Overberg, 2012). Those individuals who had an infection disease were shunned from society. In the Bible the disease was leprosy, but in our current day of life it is AIDS.

The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, also known as AIDS, is an infection disorder caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This virus “consists of an inner core of ribonucleic acid (RNA) covered by a protein coat (capsid) surrounded by an outer layer, the envelope of a lipid bilayer protein.” When the virus is outside of its host’s cell it cannot reproduce. However, when it is inside its host’s cell, it can reproduce “thousands of copies of the virus” (Tortaora and Derrickson, 2010). HIV will then begin damaging the helper T cells. These cells can replace themselves very quickly. Unfortunately, over time they become exhausted and their replacement speed drastically declines. AIDS is actually the ending results of the HIV; when the body’s immune system is weakened, AIDS begins to overcome the body.

In accordance to the scripture previously mentioned, AIDS and any other infectious disease should not make others fear them. They should not have to be discriminated from others in society. AIDS is only transferable between bodily fluids and blood. Another individual cannot get it by holding hands and hugging an AIDS victim. Sadly, there are people within our society who choose to avoid those who have AIDS. In fact, there have been people who have lost their job over the fact that they had AIDS. This form of discrimination is not right, is unacceptable treatment, and is a international issue that is taking more and more lives every day.

References

Overberg, K. (2012). Outside the camp? . Scripture From Scratch, Retrieved from http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/SFS/an1098.asp

Tortaora, G., & Derrickson, B. (2010). Introduction to the human body. (8 ed., pp. 366-391). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.