Symposium on Misconceptions about AIDS
On December 11,2022, the Catholic University in Erbil (CUE) in partnership with Hawler Medical University (HMU) conducted a symposium on “Misconceptions about AIDS”. The MLS head of department at CUE, Mrs. Lana Basil, along with Dr. Shirin Abdullah and some students from HMU were the main presenter of the symposium.
The symposium’s moderator, Mr. Mohammad Jamil introduced the topic by explaining the meaning of HIV, a virus that came from chimpanzees in central Africa in the 19th century, and its originating history. Furthermore, Dr. Shirin, lecturer at HMU’s College of Science and Health and PhD holder in Virology, presented the medical analysis of the accumulation of signs and symptoms of AIDS/ HIV, its global distribution, its properties and its molecular virology and replication. Moreover, Mrs. Lana elaborated on the topic by explaining the infection stages of HIV, which has three stages. The first being the early infection, which has mild to no symptoms, the second stage having some symptoms such as swollen lymph nodes and the third being the most difficult stage known as opportunistic infection, which causes immune system impairment.
After the lecturers’ contributions, HMU students explained the ways and methods of HIV transmission, diagnosis, and tests such as, screening, molecular methods, rapid tests and confirmatory methods. And treatment methods such as antiretroviral therapy and antiviral drugs and medicine and the way they work. In addition to that, HMU students also spoke about the ways of prevention from this virus, such as having regular tests and following standard precautions for healthcare workers.
The symposium concluded with a Q&A session to answer queries.
