The truth behind the current myths of HIV and AIDS, according to doctors

There is a significant amount of misinformation about AIDS and HIV.


When the first case of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) wasreported in America in 1981, there were tons of inaccurate information broadcast on this subject. Since the infection has been mainly diagnosed ingay Meanwhile, it was wrong that only they could not contract - and was called an immune deficiency related to gays (grid) as Charity of HIV.To avoid Explain. Of course, we know more about HIV / AIDS that we have been nearly 40 years old, including that it can affect anyone, regardless of their sex orSexual orientation. But there is stilla lot of myths which surround the condition. Before World AIDS Day on December 1, we talked with doctors and experts to discover the facts behind these current myths of HIV / AIDS still persist today.

1
Myth: HIV and AIDS are the same thing.

Doctor working with test tubes of blood
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Made: As mentioned earlier, HIV represents the human immunodeficiency virus and AIDS is the acronym for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, which are two separate conditions. As the US Department of Health and Human ServicesOfficial HIV database Explains, AIDS is "the late stage of HIV infection that occurs when the body's immune system is severely damaged because of the virus".

A HIV-positive person does not necessarily have AIDS; In fact, chances are high nowadays where they will never develop it, thanks to advanced medical treatments. At the end of 2015, about1.1 million people In the United States lived with HIV, but in 2017, only 17,803 people received AIDS diagnoses.

2
Myth: HIV is a death penalty.

multiracial smiling group of older people in a park
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Made: Although this has been true in the past, in the modern era, there are very effective treatments that have made HIV a chronic condition with little impact on the service life, according toAMESH A. Adalja, MD, FIDSA, a senior scholar toJohns Hopkins Health Security Center. In fact, a 2017 study published in the journalAIDS Discover that, while early anti-HIV care gave people infected an average life expectancy of 11.8 years, the modern versions of antiretroviral drugs (ART) increased it to 54.9 years. Even celebrities like the old NBA starMagic JohnsonandOdd eye.Jonathan Van Ness Live with HIV - and yet you would never know it, given how healthy, happy and asymptomatic they are.

3
Myth: HIV is always transferable.

happy couple in a park
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Made: "It has been shown that those with HIV that achieve viral suppression - [or] an undetectable viral load - are unable to transmit the virus to others," says Adalja. In other words, HIV-positive people with undetectable levels of the virus can not transmit it.

However, this does not mean that a person with HIV is healed once their viruses are undetectable. "An undetectable viral load means that so few copies of the virus are present in the blood that current monitoring tests are unable to detect them. Even with an undetectable viral load, an HIV-positive person is still HIV-positive", "Earth Emily, Ma, written onSan Francisco Sids Foundation website. "That's why it's important for people living with HIV continue to take their HIV medications even when they are undetectable."

4
Myth: HIV patients will certainly move on to their children.

newborn babies in hospital
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Made: "Men with HIV may have" washed "and liberated from HIV, and women with HIV whose viral load is removed, pose little risk to their fetuses," says Adalja. And, according to theCenters for Disaster Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of positive HIV babies has decreased by more than 95% since the early 1990s.

5
Myth: There is no way to prevent HIV / AIDS.

Man taking pills
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Made: The use of condoms during sex is an easy way to avoid becoming infected with HIV. And if you are at high risk of HIV transmission, you can take a drug called pre-exposure prophylaxis or preparation, to stay without infection. According toCDCWhen someone taking preparation is exposed to HIV, the virus is unable to grow and multiply. When taken daily, the preparation reduces the risk of getting HIV by the sex of about 99%.

6
Myth:HIV / AIDS can be transmitted by embracing.

couple kissing on a bridge
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Made: At the beginning of the initial discovery of HIV, many felt that even minimal contact with a person with the virus could result in infection. But according toLaurence Gerlis, MA, MB and Clinician DirectorSamedayDoctor, "[HIV] does not live for a long time outside the body and occasional contact can not transmit it. Similarly, the transmission can not occur by touching or kissing it."

7
Myth: You can get HIV from saliva and sweat.

people exercising at the gym
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Made: HIV can not survive in water. Therefore, "a person can not contract HIV from saliva, sweat or tears of a person with HIV, providing these water-based components do not have blood", likeMedical News Today Explain.

8
Myth: The transmission of female HIV to women is impossible.

happy couple hugging on park bench
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Made: HIV transmission between two women is rare, but it's possible. An article in 2014 published by theCDC in theWeekly Morbidity and Mortality Report Explains that women's female transmission can occur after unprotected exposure to vaginal fluids and menstruation, or after blood exposure after trauma during rough sex.

9
Myth: The use of lubricant during sex increases its risk of contracting HIV.

couple's hands in bed
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Made: According toCDC, using both water-based and silicon-based lubricants can actuallyto help Prevent HIV transmission during sex because they help maintain condoms to break or slip. However, the CDC warns that oil-based lubricants and other oil-containing products, such as hand lotion and oil jelly, should not be used with latex condoms, since they make more subject to break.

10
Myth: Circumcised men are less likely to contract HIV.

old couple walking on beach together
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Made: This myth of HIV is only a partial truth. Although the CDC explains that circumcised men are less likely than uncircumcised to do HIV of infected partners, "proof of the benefits of circumcision betweenGay and bisexual men is inconclusive. "

11
Myth: HIV / AIDS may be widespread through mosquito bites.

mosquito on skin
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Made: There are many diseases thatcan be spread via mosquitoesBut this is not the case of HIV / AIDS. According toSOUTH AFRICA FOUNDATION, "When the insects bite, they do not inject the blood of the person or animal they have marked. In addition, HIV lives only for a short period inside an insect."

12
Myth: If two sexual partners are both seropositive, they do not need to use protection.

old couple in bed together
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Made: Even though two people are both seropositive, they should always use a condom when they have sex to avoid contracting strains resistant to virus drugs.

"Two sexual partners who are both HIV-positive could have different strains of the virus and, if they have unprotected sex, they could infect you with another strain, leading to theirimmune systems Be attacked by two different forms of the virus, "explains the Foundation of AIDS from South Africa." This could also weaken their immune systems and may require a modification of their treatment as different HIV strains required.Different drugs. "

13
Myth: HIV / AIDS becomes less and less common.

photos of smiling people
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Made: Although it is true that fewer people die from AIDS that no other 30 years ago and that fewer babies are born with HIV, it does not mean that the epidemic is over. In fact, the number of people diagnosed with HIV each year remains stable, according toRue University.

"We did not make a significant tooth"Beverly Sha, MD, an infectious disease specialist at the Medical Center of the Rush University, said in a statement on the University's website. "It remained around 50,000 new cases each year at the US for several years now."


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