ELITE
The
SOCIETY
OF
UNDETECTABLES
I
t is a well known fact that you can’t tell who is “clean”
just by looking at them. But nowadays it’s even harder
to tell who is “clean” even when doing a blood test. AID
Atlanta has a goal for all of the infected they encounterkeep the viral code low- REMAIN UNDETECTED.
As Jessica’s brother began to be defeated by the virus, he
began to see life with AIDS differently. He felt that he was
not only dying from Acute Immune Deficiency Syndrome,
but he was dying also from lack of human contact and
dying inside solely because the shame made him feel
unworthy of living. After working 10 years at AID Atlanta,
Jessica understands what her brother meant because she
relives those moments daily.
She recalls an instance where an African male came into
AID Atlanta and enrolled into their Joye Bradley health
services clinic. Jessica reached out to shake his hand, but
he pulled back and responded, “Don’t! I’m contagious!”
At that moment she understood that while awareness of the
disease is being raised, the educational essentials are not
being relayed.
Educating the public is most important for this organization
because the virus is not race specific nor does it target a
specific economic status or gender.
Age group doesn’t matter either because Jessica talked
about having to deal with a 19-year-old who had been the
victim of molestation by an uncle.
She also spoke of an 85-year-old woman who had
contracted the HIV/as a result of promiscuity with younger
men. If the spread of the virus is not curtailed, HIV/AIDS
will be the one thing uniting us. Many of the patients have
had AIDS for 10-20 years and are sustained. But it’s the
new cases that are hard to deal with.
Most who have contracted the virus are depressed when
first diagnosed. They are afraid to take the meds, thinking
it will kill them faster, when in all actuality taking the meds
is the first step to AID Atlanta’s main goal for the infected.
You must become adherent with your meds, meaning you
take them everyday at the same time. This brings down you
viral load and increases your T cells (the cells that fight the
virus).
Becoming undetectable means the amount of virus in your
system is so low that you may test negative in a HIV/AIDS
screening. It’s not an attempt to fool anyone, but more of
an attempt to save everyone. With a viral code of less than
500,000 and a higher T cell count- the chance of spreading
the virus is substantially lower.
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