In recent years, HIV has moved from an infection on the margins of the information field to the front pages. The news that the number of HIV-infected people in Russia has significantly increased was surprising, and when the statistics were presented, it was even shocking. People began to ask questions: if there are so many HIV carriers walking around the country, does this mean that among acquaintances, ordinary people there may be people with the virus? So is it worth it to panic and get scared ahead of time?
HIV and AIDS: What's the difference
HIV is a virus, a biological particle that, when it enters the body, attacks immune cells and destroys them. The presence of HIV in the blood will indicate that a person is a carrier of the HIV virus, and his status is positive. The carriage of HIV is a separate disease that is chronic and can last for many years when taking specific antiviral drugs. By itself, a carrier of HIV does not suffer from any terrible diseases.diseases if adheres to the prescribed therapy.
AIDS is the terminal stage of HIV infection. It occurs if a person ignores treatment for a long time and does not monitor the level of the virus in the blood. It is at this stage that a person begins to have problems with AIDS-associated diseases. And since AIDS is precisely the extreme stage of carriage, it is incorrect to call any person with a positive HIV status an AIDS patient. Carriers of AIDS and HIV can be completely different people.
The HIV epidemic in Russia: should we be afraid?
Recently, society has learned that the number of people infected with the HIV virus is increasing at a tremendous rate, so much that we can talk about an epidemic. Many people have realized that an HIV carrier can be in the same room with them, and they will not know about it.
Should we be afraid of this epidemic? Answer: yes, it should. HIV is a serious and, most importantly, incurable virus. Infection with such an infection is a danger that should not be neglected. And because of the speed at which the virus spreads, an HIV carrier can infect a person without even realizing it.
However, we still have the power to stop the spread of HIV among people and stop the emerging epidemic. This requires comprehensive measures that require the participation of both representatives of the authorities and the medical community, as well as ordinary people. Disease awareness, he alth days, safer sex promotion, work with drug addicts all contribute to the fight against the spread ofHIV.
HIV carriers
What is the difference between these people and others, except for their HIV status? In recent years, the portrait of a typical HIV-infected carrier has changed. If earlier it was mainly people leading an asocial lifestyle or homosexuals, now virtually anyone can be HIV-positive. According to statistics, there are more men among HIV carriers, as they have more sexual partners. It is an adult heterosexual male who is now the main carrier of the virus. In second place is the same heterosexual woman.
Among homosexuals, to the surprise of most people, only 14% are HIV-positive. Among injecting drug users, there are much more - 59%. Fortunately, however, there are few drug addicts in society, and they cannot possibly make up the vast majority of those infected with HIV.
Many women first detect the virus when they are tested during pregnancy, and for most it comes as a real shock. Therefore, at the moment it is impossible to say for sure whether there are HIV carriers among any particular group of people. Unfortunately, the virus has spread everywhere.
Myths about HIV positive people
Myth one: if a person has HIV, then he is a drug addict or a homosexual. This is absolutely optional. Above, it was indicated who the typical HIV-positive person is. Yes, there is still a high level of infections among drug addicts, but among all people with a plusstatus they are not the majority. There are even fewer homosexuals in society than drug addicts, and therefore they also cannot form the backbone of the infected.
Myth two: the carrier and the distributor of HIV are one and the same. This is not true either. An HIV carrier simply lives with the virus, takes medications and is absolutely not dangerous to the people around him. A spreader is someone who infects others. This can happen unconsciously, if a person is not aware of his status, or purposefully. Currently, the deliberate infection of a person with a dangerous infection is prosecuted under the law of the Russian Federation.
Myth three: a carrier of HIV can infect through a kiss. In reality, the virus is not present in saliva in such quantities that could cause infection even if there are small wounds or ulcers in the mouth: this would require a large bleeding wound.
Fourth myth: the virus can be transmitted without direct contact with an infected person. Well-known urban legends speak of certain HIV syringes that infect people. In reality, this is nothing more than a horror story, and the virus disintegrates outside the body in a short 5 minutes.
Myth five: HIV-infected people cannot reproduce because the child will also be infected. In fact, HIV-positive couples successfully produce he althy children. Of particular importance is the use of drugs by a woman during pregnancy and artificial feeding of a child after childbirth. There are even cases where a woman who does not receive treatment has successfully given birth to a he althy baby.child. However, to reduce the likelihood of infection of the baby, it is necessary to drink antiviral drugs.
Is it possible to be a carrier and not know about it
People who tend to worry about their he alth are concerned about the question of whether a person can be a carrier of HIV without manifestations and not know about it. Yes, this is possible. HIV, like any other infection, has a so-called "window period" when it is impossible to determine its presence even by laboratory methods due to the ultra-low concentration of the virus in the blood. This period begins immediately after the viral particle enters the bloodstream and lasts, on average, 2-3 months. During this period, the virus actively multiplies, and therefore, after two months, it can already be detected in the laboratory.
However, even if a viral infection occurred a long time ago, a person may not know about it simply because of the absence of symptoms of the infection. HIV can be in the blood without showing itself in any way, up to a year. During this time, the carrier and carrier of HIV will infect other people. This is the insidiousness of the virus.
If you have had unprotected sex and you are not sure about the he alth of your partner, then try to get tested for HIV after the end of the potential window period. This can reassure you if the test turns out to be negative, and help you get the disease under control in time if the virus is still found.
Testing for the virus can be done free of charge at special centers. They also dispense medicines to those who need to take them.
Howinfection occurs
Is it possible to get HIV from a carrier if he is taking drug therapy? It's practically impossible. The fact is that the drugs suppress the virus in the blood, bringing its concentration literally to trace values that cannot be determined by any exact methods. This amount of virus will not be enough to infect, even if it somehow enters the body.
But if a person does not take medication, then this person who has HIV is a carrier and a distributor at the same time. It is quite possible to get infected from such a person, and therefore it is necessary to avoid unprotected sexual contacts if there are any doubts about the he alth of a partner or his honesty. Although intentional exposure is punishable by law, this is unlikely to compensate for the problems that will have to be solved after such contact.
It is also necessary to reveal the question of whether a carrier of HIV can infect someone not personally, but by injecting his biofluids in other ways. Unless it's a situation in which blood is injected immediately into the victim's vein with a syringe, then no. The HIV virus is highly unstable and breaks down very quickly outside the body. As a rule, 5-7 minutes are enough for it to completely lose its qualities. Therefore, infections through needle pricks, blades, accidental scratches in the crowd are extremely unlikely.
Is HIV deadly?
In the immediate aftermath of its spread around the planet, HIV was a uniquely deadly virus. It was impossible to suppress it with drugs that would not cause extremely severe side effects. First antiretroviral drugspossessed extreme toxicity, which frightened many patients, and they refused treatment. At that time, an HIV carrier was doomed to a painful death.
Further, drugs began to improve, their intensity of side effects decreased, therapeutic activity increased, and pharmaceutical companies were actively looking for new formulas and developing antiviral agents for combined use.
Modern medicine began to offer people new drugs, including combined ones. Gone is the need to take a handful of drugs several times a day. The latest development, available to most HIV-infected people, is a pill that you can take once a day and not have to worry about anything. It allows a person to lead a normal life and not limit himself in anything.
Antiretroviral therapy destroys the virus in the blood, and the carrier is no longer infectious. In addition, the absence of HIV has a positive effect on the dynamics of immunity growth. The number of immune cells increases, immunity is restored, and the person ceases to suffer from diseases typical of the late stage of HIV infection.
As a result, a patient who adheres to treatment has no diseases, immunity is normal, and therefore the risk of dying due to being a carrier is reduced to zero. His risk of dying from any disease is absolutely equal to the same risk for a completely he althy person. But to reiterate, this is only true for those who control their disease.
When should I get tested for HIV
There are mandatory checks for dangerous infections, including HIV, for expectant mothers and people of certain professions. In this case, a person undergoes routine HIV tests and receives a result. But this does not mean that you should not be tested for the virus without such a need.
In view of the current situation with the spread of the virus throughout the country, you need to understand that the responsibility for the he alth of each person now lies, first of all, on himself. The main methods for preventing infection with the immunodeficiency virus are to avoid taking drugs and unprotected sex, as well as to be tested for the virus on time. If unprotected sex still happened, then you need to wait 2 months and get tested. The result usually comes in a few days.
You should also pay attention to your he alth: if a patient notices that he has become more likely to get colds, and also sees a rash of unknown origin on his skin, then he needs to take an HIV test. Despite the fact that even the suspicion of HIV is a strong stress factor, a person must understand the responsibility for what happens to his body. His actions will decide how much his he alth will be spared.
Do people living with HIV have an obligation to tell others about their status
No, there is no such duty. HIV infection in the modern world is a common chronic disease. No one, including medical professionals, should disclose information about a patient's HIV status, as this is a direct violation of medical ethics and medicalsecrets. It is also forbidden to require a report of the disease at work, except in certain professions. The patient has the right both to keep information about his illness in secret and to tell about it himself.
But you also need to remember about the article for deliberately infecting another person. If an HIV-positive person has found a mate, then he has both moral and legal obligations to inform the partner about the disease before unprotected contact occurs.
For the disclosure of someone else's medical information, only people who are prohibited from such disclosure can be held liable: doctors and paramedical personnel. Therefore, each person needs to think several times before communicating his diagnosis to people whom he does not trust enough. In our time, the stigmatization of HIV-positive people is still preserved (friends who learned about HIV turned away from many people), so it should be understood that the publicity of the status often entails the rupture of some contacts, sometimes even very close ones.
Is HIV curable, is a treatment being developed
It has been almost 40 years since the discovery of the human immunodeficiency virus. During this time, medicine has come a long way from a completely incurable deadly virus that takes lives, to a chronic disease that is suppressed with a few or one pill. Pharmaceutical companies are developing both in the field of finding new ART drugs and in the field of studying the virus itself.
Know about the structure, types and behaviorvirus is essential for understanding how it works in the body. The more a person knows about an infection, the more likely it is to be defeated. There are several promising vaccines currently under development that, although not 100% protection, are a huge leap towards complete protection against infection.
There are also several developments of drugs that, according to scientists, can extract the virus from reservoirs in the body where it is stored outside the bloodstream and destroy it, thus cleaning it to the end. Some scientists promise to defeat the variability of the viral particle itself, so that it becomes easier to select therapy for a person.
Since progress in this direction does not stand still, in the field of combating HIV, humanity, perhaps, can hope for a favorable outcome for itself.
