Acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS, is the deadly late stage of infection by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, when a person’s immune system is severely damaged and has difficulty in fighting diseases and certain cancers. There is no cure for HIV disease, despite major advances in diagnosis and treatment. HIV is a preventable disease, and widespread understanding of transmission routes, associated high-risk behaviors, and how to protect oneself from contracting the virus is critical to control the spread of HIV/AIDS. Lower levels of HIV/AIDS knowledge are associated with a lower likelihood of safer sex or injection practices. Additionally, individuals who are unaware they are infected with HIV are 3.5 times more likely to transmit the virus to others than those who know about their infection; alarmingly, the proportion of people living with HIV who are estimated to be unaware of their status ranges from over 80% in Kenya and Burundi to 67% in China to 21% in the...
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O’Shea, D.J. (2012). AIDS Knowledge. In: Loue, S., Sajatovic, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Immigrant Health. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5659-0_30
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5659-0_30
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