Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow:
The word AIDS means deficiency of immune system acquired during the lifetime of an individual indicating that it is not a congenital disease. AIDS was first reported in 1981 and in the last 25 years it has spread all over the world killing more than 25 million persons. AIDS is caused by the HIV (Human Immuno deficiency Virus). The people who are at high risk of getting this infection include the individuals who have multiple sexual partners, drug addicts who take drugs intravenously, individuals who require repeated blood transfusions and children born to an HIV infected mother. It is imperative for the physical and psychological well-being that the HIV / AIDS infected persons are not isolated from the family and society. A widely used diagnostic test for AIDS is ELISA. AIDS has no cure, prevention is the best option.
Read the given statements.
Statement 1: Treatment of AIDS using anti-retroviral drugs is only partially effective.
Statement 2: Anti-retroviral drugs can prolong the life of a patient as well as always prevent death.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Only statement 2 is incorrect.
AIDS has no cure. Anti-retroviral drugs act against the virus and slow down its multiplication, but they cannot remove it from the body.
Statement 1: Treatment of AIDS using anti-retroviral drugs is only partially effective. — True. The drugs control the virus only in part, so the treatment is only partially effective.
Statement 2: Anti-retroviral drugs can prolong the life of a patient as well as always prevent death. — False. The first half is right: the drugs can prolong life. But they cannot prevent death, which the book calls inevitable.
NCERT Extract:
AIDS – “… The patient becomes so immuno-deficient that he/she is unable to protect himself/herself against these infections. A widely used diagnostic test for AIDS is enzyme linked immuno-sorbent assay (ELISA). Treatment of AIDS with anti-retroviral drugs is only partially effective. They can only prolong the life of the patient but cannot prevent death, which is inevitable.”