9 Unsubstantiated Myths about HIV, the virus that causes AIDS

Recently, a Russian blogger conducted a social experiment. He started approaching unknown people on the street, saying: “Hello, I have HIV and I don’t know what to do”. In general, people’s reaction was quite adequate, but some people refused to shake hands. In addition, the participants in the experiment admitted that they would take care of a person with HIV, whether they were a friend or not.

A very different reaction from what would be expected especially in the 80s and 90s, when being diagnosed with the disease was the equivalent of receiving a death sentence and a time when AIDS killed celebrities such as actor Rock Hudson, singer Freddie Mercury and Cazuza .

O awesome.club you know that today there are many pseudoscientific myths, especially when the subject in question is as serious as this one. So today we want to talk about some beliefs that should end once and for all.

Diagnostic methods have advanced a lot in recent years, but there is still some margin for error, especially in the first exams. This is not a medical error, but a peculiarity of the diagnostic method: a false positive for HIV can appear in the case of herpes, for example. That is why it is always essential to carry out a second confirmatory test🇧🇷

Paradoxically, a negative test does not always mean the absence of the virus. HIV infection has a long incubation period: from three weeks to a year. At this time, it is difficult to detect the infection, because there are few antibodies in the blood, and the test simply does not notice the virus. This is one of the reasons why doctors recommend one HIV test every year.🇧🇷 This preventive way of behaving allows you to identify the virus in its early stages and start treatment as soon as possible, which increases the chances that the person will lead a healthier life.

Currently, family planning in an HIV-positive couple is not uncommon. The gestation period and the birth process present some difficulties: it is necessary to take antiretroviral drugs, say ‘goodbye’ to natural childbirth and give up breastfeeding. By complying with all these safety and prevention measures, the risk of infection is less than 1%.

However, completely excluding the possibility of contagion is still impossible. In any case, if the measures are not followed, the child can still be born without the virus, but the probability of contagion increases by 50%. It is possible to verify if the baby is seropositive from one and a half years old; early in life, his mother’s antibodies are still in his blood, and the HIV test is always positive.

Since the discovery of the HIV virus, there has never been a single case of infection through an insect bite. There are several reasons that explain and confirm this information. First, in the mosquito sting there is a valve that allows blood to pass in only one direction (into the insect). At the time of the bite, the mosquito injects the person’s skin not with the blood of the previous victim, but with a kind of anesthetic liquid. Secondly, in the mosquito organism the virus cannot survive, which means they are not carriers of the disease.

This myth is similar to beliefs about infection through kissing, shared towels, toothbrushes and other personal items. Through touch, saliva and insect bites, HIV cannot be transmitted.

About 80% of people infected with HIV take their medication correctly and approximately half of them live with the virus undetectable, according to statistics. Undetectable virus means that the amount of HIV in the blood is so low that even a test cannot detect it. This is not a victory over the disease, as from the moment the medication is stopped, the number of infected cells rises again.

HIV-positive people with an undetectable viral load they cannot infect other people, not even those with whom they have sexual intercourse. However, even in these cases, doctors recommend protection. The reason is simple: the amount of virus can increase and the patient can only find out after the tests, which he does frequently.

AIDS stands for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. It is the final stage of the disease caused by HIV, a virus that causes severe damage to the immune system. HIV is the virus that infects cells of the immune system. If there are many infected cells, the person is diagnosed with AIDS. This happens after several years of illness in a person who does not take medication. It is therefore the final stage.

Many people live with the virus but do not have AIDS. An emblematic case is the former NBA basketball player Magic Johnson, who was diagnosed with the virus in 1991 and is still active today as manager of the Los Angeles Lakers, the team for which he played.

Unfortunately, it is still impossible to eliminate the disease (at the end of the post we will show the recent advances on this topic), but with the help of drugs it is possible to keep the infection under control, preventing the person from having AIDS. The person needs to follow the medical recommendations, take the medication every day and periodically undergo tests to prove that everything is under control.

This is Charlie Sheen, one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood. In 2015 he publicly acknowledged that he had been HIV positive for four years. In 2019, it remains the same. Another famous case, as already mentioned, is that of Magic Johnson, who has been living with the virus for 27 years!

There are a lot of chronic diseases that do not cause death, including diabetes and hypertension. They cannot be cured, they diminish a person’s quality of life to some extent, but they do not mean death. HIV infection is also a chronic disease.

It is necessary for an infected person to take medication, undergo tests and take care of their health (eat well and play sports). If the person does this, they have the same life expectancy as a person without the disease. Many HIV positive people live with the virus for many years and lead full and happy lives. The important thing is to detect the virus at the beginning to start treatment as soon as possible.

One of the less obvious ways to get infected is to get a tattoo or piercing from an inexperienced person. If the price is too low, you’d better beware. Unfortunately, some novice tattoo artists don’t always follow basic safety and hygiene standards. Needles must be disposable and other tools must be disinfected after each procedure. This must be done using a special sterilizer.

Nowadays doctors do not recommend getting tattoos or piercings in unhygienic studios, not even with that friend who has decided to become an artist. There are many cases of contamination, and not just HIV. Go only to specialized places recommended by well-known people.

There is a term called ‘professional secret’, also related to medicine. Even if the person undergoes an examination and does not sign a written term, no doctor has the right to tell anyone the diagnosis.

The only obligation of an HIV-positive person is to tell his sexual partner and his superiors at work if there is any kind of risk. It is also important to notify your dentist. In all other cases the decision to tell or not to tell is up to the person, and nobody has anything to do with it.

This is a serious problem nowadays. Unfortunately, not all countries have effective methods in the fight against HIV and AIDS. At health posts, antiretroviral drugs are delivered. However, in some countries old drugs are offered, less efficient and with many side effects. More details about this you can see in the great movie Dalla Compas Club, who won the Academy Award for Best Actor to Matthew McConaughey.

It is possible to find a lot of information about the disease in special forums, where seropositive people share experiences about diagnosis, medication and many other details related to HIV.

Here in Brazil, fortunately, the government protection system is quite advanced, with the distribution of medicines.

More information on the subject can be obtained on a website specifically created by the government with information about the virus, aids.gov.br.

According to WHO (World Health Organization) data, the country with the highest number of people with HIV in Europe is Russia. In 2017, 70 new infections were detected per 100,000 inhabitants. Just as a comparison, in Ukraine there were 40 cases. In Belarus, however, there were only 26 (always per 100,000 inhabitants).

Here in the Brazil the rate is 18.3 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

This is an HIV cell (green dots) as seen through the lens of an electron microscope.

In March 2019, in Great Britain, the world saw the second case of cure in an HIV-positive person. Just two days later, the third was announced. The virus was defeated during an oncological treatment performed with a bone marrow transplant. The donors in the three cases had a genetic mutation that made them completely immune to the HIV virus.

This is a complicated and very controversial topic. The most important thing is to take care of yourself, get regular checkups and maintain a healthy lifestyle. And above all to help HIV-positive people in the fight against all kinds of prejudice.