HIV/AIDS

Thanks so much for the info, Fred! I had no idea about the multiple strains & the stats on transmission.

I'm getting an education here, & I appreciate it.

 

Cool - thank you Fred! I really appreciate it. I'm sorry I had to come back twice, but I had one of those "I need to double check" moments .

 

How about hydrogen peroxide, Fred? Is that as good a choice as Listerine, or no?

 

I don't even know if Listerine works, but this buddy of mine swears by it. But if it does, it'd be because it's an antiseptic. Peroxide is not.

 

I think the basic answer, you gave me, is that a man can be infected by unprotected sex with a positive woman but it does not happen easily and is not highly likely. It makes you wonder how it is spreading so fast in Africa. Prehaps the unsanitary conditions relative to developed nations has an effect.

 

Excellent question! I think there are several factors.....

* If the female is poz and the male is neg, if he continues to tap it repeatedly it's Russian Roulette. Eventually he is gonna have a nick or scrape on his peter and the virus will finally find a portal of entry. I also don't think they have much else to do over there except have sex.

*A lot of African HIV patients don't have the meds to fight the disease. Over here, most poz people are on meds. The meds work by reducing the viral load (the number of strands of the virus in a set amout of blood- say a drop.) The higher the viral load is, the more contagious the person is. So men over there are probably screwing more contagious women than in the US.

*Lack of knowledge/education: We better know how to protect ourselves than they do. A woman may go for many years before she knows she is poz and give birth to many poz babies. Plus, when a poz woman is pregnant here, she gets excellent prenatal care to give that baby every chance in the world of being born negative. African babies don't have that.

*Nutritional and hygiene. Again, the healthier the person is, the lower the viral load. The lower the viral load, the less contagious. If someone's immune system is weak from bad hygiene and poor nutrition, they basicially have little to no chance of fighting it.

I think it's several factors all rolled into one. It amazes me that 40% of the adults in some countries are poz.

 

Think about something......

The viral load is the number of strands of the virus in a set amount of blood. (For visualization, I like to think it's how many strands are in a drop of blood.)

Initially after exposure, the viral load goes sky high then after 2-3 months, lowers itself as the body begins to fight it off.

The higher the viral load, the more contagious the person is.

The HIV meds work by preventing the virus to reproduce therefore reducing the viral load.


So...... If someone has had HIV a long time, been on meds and finally developed Aids and dies, he is less contagious to you on his deathbed than someone that was exposed last week and doesn't even know they are poz.

That's why education on this is so critical.

 

My wife had a kid come into the clinic at his mother's urging recently after he returned from a beach trip. He said he had 16 partners during his trip (which I doubt is true) and when that raised some eyebrows he said "I was at the beach". I wonder if he thinks that protects him somehow.

 

Fred, here's a couple I got from an EMT class...

http://www.hepatitisneighborhood.com/default.aspx

http://www.hepnet.com/hepc.html

http://hepatitis-central.com/

 

I added those to my favorites. thanks!