HIV/AIDS

Doing some research on HIV/Aids and discussing it with my clients, I am amazed at just how many have no idea what HIV is… what the difference between HIV and Aids is…. how to protect themselves… how they can get it, along with Hep C, by shooting up…. what drug resistance is… that you can be reinfected with more than one strain… what a CD4 count is… what a viral load is… etc…



http://www.tpan.com/publications/pa/may_jun_05/thebest.shtml

This article is really good and gives a lot of insight into HIV today and where it is going. With 40% of adults in some African nations being HIV+, it’s something you need to get educated about because it’s not going away anytime soon. For those of you that are parents, the more educated and comfortable you are about the topic, the more you can help your kids prevent it.

 

Some of the basics I go over in my class….

The difference between HIV and Aids. … Once someone is infected, they have ‘HIV’ or they are ‘HIV+’ Once their CD4 (T-cell) count reaches 200 or below or once they get their first opportunistic infection they are given the diagnosis of “Aids” and are no longer just carry the HIV diagnosis. Even if the person recovers and their CD4 count rises back up, they will always carry the Aids diagnosis.

You can get HIV more than once…. It was initially thought that once you have HIV, that’s it. But you can catch it over and over again with different strains of the virus. Naturally the ones with a single strain are the most likely to survive the longest.

What a strain is….. There are several different “strains” of HIV and each is a mutated copy of another one. A strain is simply the 'type' of HIV. The HIV virus is smart and mutates itself when the person takes medication to kill it. By mutating, different strains are born.

Another surprise is how many people think "aids" is what kills people. Aids can not kill you. All it can do is weaken your immune system to the point that an opportunistic infection can come in and do the dirty work.

 

If anyone has any questions, feel free to hit me up. I love doing research on this.

Also, starting next month, I am adding "Hepatitis C" education to my classes so I am currently doing research on that now.

This fall, I'm hoping to add TB to my agenda.

 

I think that's true with most diseases. We really don't care or get into it, until it hits us or a loved one.
But that's for the info!

 

Thank you for the info - I volunteer here in the gay community with a group called In The Mix. It's an HIV/AIDS outreach/prevention group. We go to events and pass out condoms. We also give free HIV tests, and help african american gay males who are positive, with housing, food vouchers, and sometimes petty cash depending on what they need.

 

I do, and have looked it up, but seem to get differing answers - so here goes. In terms of the liklihood of getting HIV from oral sex - both male and female. Forgetting dental dams, condoms all of that - unprotected oral - what are the chances of getting HIV?

Thanks Fred and great work SDS, that sounds like a really cool thing to be involved in .

 

Possible but not likely.

The HIV virus is found in all body fluids (sweat, urine, tears, saliva etc...) but it's not that stable and very weakened. Remember HIV itself is fragile and it's best chance of transmission is direct blood to blood.



From this link..... http://www.avert.org/orlsx.htm#q3

The risk of HIV transmission from an infected partner through oral sex is much smaller than the risk of HIV transmission from anal or vaginal sex. Because of this, measuring the exact risk of HIV transmission as a result of oral sex is very difficult. In addition, since most sexually active individuals practice oral sex in addition to other forms of sex, such as vaginal and/or anal sex, when transmission occurs, it is difficult to determine whether or not it occurred as a result of oral sex or other more risky sexual activities. Finally, several co-factors can increase the risk of HIV transmission through oral sex, including: oral ulcers, bleeding gums, genital sores, and the presence of other STDs.

When scientists describe the risk of transmitting an infectious disease, like HIV, the term "theoretical risk" is often used. Very simply, "theoretical risk" means that passing an infection from one person to another is possible, even though there may not yet be any actual documented cases. "Theoretical risk" is not the same as likelihood. In other words, stating that HIV infection is "theoretically possible" does not necessarily mean it is likely to happen-only that it might. Documented risk, on the other hand, is used to describe transmission that has actually occurred, been investigated, and documented in the scientific literature.

 

That is interesting. I would have thought someone that was HIV positive could/would have sex with someone else that was HIV positive too and not have to worry about it. So that's not true?

And God Bless you both Fred and SD+ for helping/teaching others about HIV.

 

Nope. You can get more than one strain.

Example:

John and Tim are both positive. John goes out and get re-infected by Tim. Tim has been positive for many years and has been on multiple meds. His strain of the virus has gotten smart and is learning how to beat the meds by mutating itself. So now John is infected with a different strain of HIV that's smarter and may be drug-resistant when the strain he had before was responding well to the meds.

The belief with many gay men is that once they get infected, it's a "fuck free" ticket with other positive guys and they don't have to worry about getting anything.

Chances are the people that have been positive for many years and are fairly healthy are only fighting one strain and it's a weak one. My buddy here in town found out he was positive in 1985 and even though he looks like hell, he is doing pretty well.

The link I posted above mentioned a gay man in NYC and he has been positve a very short time and has already progressed to aids and it's drug-resistant. They are calling it a "super strain." Progression from HIV to Aids is usually 7-10 years WITHOUT meds and much longer (if ever) with meds. This guy went in a matter of months.

 

Fred, you refer to your "clients". What do you do? Just interested. and kudos to you for being our there educating people -- and not judging them.