Tuesday, March 19, 2024

How Does Hiv Aids Spread

To What Degree Are Latex Condoms Successful In Preventing Hiv Transmission

How HIV Spreads in the Body and How Other Primates Stop It, Dr. Wes Sundquist

Research suggests that the regular and accurate use of latex condoms is very successful in preventing the transmission of HIV through sexual behaviors. Polyurethane condoms are a good alternative for those with a latex allergy, but natural or lamb skin condoms do not offer the same protection. However, it is important to mention that condoms do not offer total protection from the transmission of HIV.

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Taking Antiretroviral Treatment To Protect Your Baby

Taking treatment properly can reduce the risk of your baby being born with HIV to less than 1%.

If you knew that you were HIV-positive before you got pregnant, you may be taking treatment already. If you are not, talk to a healthcare professional about starting treatment as soon as possible.

If you found out that you living with HIV during your pregnancy, it is recommended that you start treatment as soon as possible and continue taking it every day for life.

Your baby will also be given treatment for four to six weeks after they are born to help prevent an HIV infection developing.

Tattoos And Body Piercings

  • There are no known cases in the United States of anyone getting HIV this way.
  • However, it is possible to get HIV from tattooing or body piercing if the equipment used for these procedures has someone elses blood in it or if the ink is shared. This is more likely to happen when the person doing the procedure is unlicensed because of the potential for unsanitary practices such as sharing needles or ink.
  • If you get a tattoo or a body piercing, be sure that the person doing the procedure is properly licensed and that they use only new or sterilized needles, ink, and other supplies.

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Tribal Conflicts And Civil Wars

The Third World has been experiencing tribal conflicts and civil wars for a long time. The areas hit by these conflicts and wars do not have enough healthcare services to cater for the HIV/AIDS victims. These areas also do not get enough disease awareness programs and VCT services .

Most people affected by the conflicts and wars live in refugee camps. The camps are well known to be home to all sorts of evil, including drug abuse and prostitution which fuel the epidemic.

Other Types Of Hiv Transmission

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Though less common, the virus can be transmitted through oral sex, transfusions of infected blood, and organ transplants. In rare cases, HIV can be transmitted when infected blood touches a persons open wound or comes into contact with a persons eyes.

The transmission of the virus through oral sex is less common than through any other sexual behavior. However, there still remains a risk. An HIV infected person providing oral sex can transmit the virus when blood in their mouth enters their partners body via the following ways: the lining of the vagina, urethra, anus or in open wounds and cuts. Conversely, an HIV positive person receiving oral sex may pass bodily fluids containing the virus through the mouth of the non-infected partner performing oral sex. This risk is heightened if the non-infected individual performing oral sex has wounds in the throat and/or mouth, if the HIV infected individual ejaculates in his/her partners mouth or if the person receiving oral sex has a sexually transmitted disease . Refraining from sexual behavior is the most successful method in preventing HIV. However, should an individual opt to engage in oral sex, it is strongly recommended that condoms and/or latex barriers are used.

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Whats The Difference Between Hiv And Aids

HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. HIV and AIDS are not the same thing. And people with HIV do not always have AIDS.

HIV is the virus thats passed from person to person. Over time, HIV destroys an important kind of the cell in your immune system that helps protect you from infections. When you dont have enough of these CD4 cells, your body cant fight off infections the way it normally can.

AIDS is the disease caused by the damage that HIV does to your immune system. You have AIDS when you get dangerous infections or have a super low number of CD4 cells. AIDS is the most serious stage of HIV, and it leads to death over time.

Without treatment, it usually takes about 10 years for someone with HIV to develop AIDS. Treatment slows down the damage the virus causes and can help people stay healthy for several decades.

What Is Hiv And Aids

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus is a virus that infects the immune system. Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome . AIDS is the most advanced stage of the HIV infection and causes the immune system to become vulnerable to other infections. HIV can also be known as “the AIDS virus.”

The full name for AIDS describes several of the characteristics of the disease.

Acquired indicates that it is not an inherited condition.

Immune Deficiency indicates that the body’s immune system breaks down.

Syndrome indicates that the disease results in a variety of health problems.

It takes on average, 5-10 years for the initial HIV infection to progress to AIDS if not treated. While there is presently no cure or vaccine for HIV, with proper medical care, HIV can be managed and a near-normal lifespan can be expected with early treatment.

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What If There Is An Actual Or Suspected Exposure To Hiv

The decision to begin a post-exposure prophylaxis for HIV infection is based on the judgment of a health care professional and should be a joint decision with the exposed worker. PEP often involves taking a combination of 2 or 3 antiretroviral drugs for about 4 weeks. PEP can help reduce, but not eliminate, a personâs risk of infection. The PEP should begin as soon as possible, as it may be less effective if started more than 72 hours after exposure.

Occupational Groups Risking Exposure to the AIDS Virus

The occupational groups listed below risk exposure to HIV in the workplace. The table that follows suggests preventive measures for these groups. For many situations, using all protective barriers listed in the table is not necessary, but workplaces should always make them available in case of emergency response scenarios.

Surgeons, Nurses and Nurses Aides

Surgeons, nurses and nurses’ aides should take precautions to avoid needlestick injuries, cuts with sharp instruments and exposure through skin lesions to potentially infectious blood and body fluids.

Physicians and Laboratory Workers

These people continuously handle infectious samples. Doctors, in diagnosing HIV patients, carry out physical examinations and collect blood samples. Laboratory technicians analyze potentially infected samples.

Ambulance Workers

Dental Workers

Embalmers

Embalming the bodies of persons with a HIV infection presents a risk because HIV can live for hours in a deceased body.

Cleaners

What If Ive Been Exposed

How is HIV Transmitted? Episode 2

If you think you have been exposed to HIV, talk to your health care provider or the public health department, and get tested. For more information on HIV testing, see Fact Sheet 102.

If you are sure that you have been exposed, call your healthcare provider immediately to discuss whether you should start takingantiretroviral drugs . This is called post exposure prophylaxisor PEP. You would take two or three medications for several weeks. These drugs can decrease the risk of infection, but they have some serious side effects. Fact Sheet 156 has more information on PEP.

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Can Hiv Be Spread Through Saliva

The HIV virus is not capable of reproduction outside the human body. Therefore, despite fears that HIV could be spread through kissing or through saliva, it cant. The virus also cannot be transmitted via the following: tears, air, water, and sharing utensils. HIV is often transmitted between people through the following fluids: vaginal fluid/secretions, semen, preseminal fluid, blood and breast-milk

Ways Hiv Cannot Be Spread

HIV is not spread by:

  • Air or water
  • Mosquitoes, ticks or other insects
  • Saliva, tears, or sweat that is not mixed with the blood of a person with HIV
  • Shaking hands; hugging; sharing toilets; sharing dishes, silverware, or drinking glasses; or engaging in closed-mouth or social kissing with a person with HIV
  • Drinking fountains

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I Am Hiv Positive How Can I Prevent Passing Hiv To Others

Take HIV medicines daily. Treatment with HIV medicines helps people with HIV live longer, healthier lives. ART can’t cure HIV, but it can reduce the amount of HIV in the body . One of the main goals of ART is to reduce a person’s viral load to an undetectable level. An undetectable viral load means that the level of HIV in the blood is too low to be detected by a viral load test. People with HIV who maintain an undetectable viral load have effectively no risk of transmitting HIV to an HIV-negative partner through sex.

Here are some other steps you can take to prevent HIV transmission:

  • Use condoms correctly every time you have sex.
  • Talk to your partner about taking PrEP.
  • If you inject drugs, don’t share your needles, syringes, or other drug equipment with your partner.

How Can You Prevent Hiv

HIV & AIDS

HIV is often spread by people who don’t know they have it. So it’s always important to protect yourself and others by taking these steps:

  • Practice safer sex. Use a condom every time you have sex until you are sure that you and your partner aren’t infected with HIV or other sexually transmitted infection .
  • Don’t have more than one sex partner at a time. The safest sex is with one partner who has sex only with you.
  • Talk to your partner before you have sex the first time. Find out if he or she is at risk for HIV. Get tested together. Use condoms in the meantime.
  • Don’t drink a lot of alcohol or use illegal drugs before sex. You might let down your guard and not practice safer sex.
  • Don’t share personal items, such as toothbrushes or razors.
  • Never share needles or syringes with anyone.

If you are at high risk for getting infected with HIV, you can take antiretroviral medicine to help protect yourself from HIV infection. Experts may recommend this for:footnote 1, footnote 2

  • People whose sexual practices put them at high risk for HIV infection, such as men who have sex with men and people who have many sex partners.
  • People who inject illegal drugs, especially if they share needles.
  • Adults who have a sex partner with HIV.

To keep your risk low, you still need to practice safer sex even while you are taking the medicine.

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Testing For Drug Resistance

HIV often changes or mutates in the body. Sometimes these changes make the virus resistant to certain medicines. Then the medicine no longer works.

Medical experts recommend testing the blood of everyone diagnosed with HIV to look for this drug resistance.footnote 8 This information helps your doctor know what medicines to use.

You also may be tested for drug resistance when:

  • You are ready to begin treatment.
  • You’ve been having treatment and your viral load numbers stop going down.
  • You’ve been having treatment and your viral load numbers become detectable after not being detectable.

How Long Does It Take To Develop The Disease

There is no fixed period between the first contact with HIV and the development of the disease. Signs and symptoms resulting from infection with HIV develop in stages. Many infected individuals may have no symptoms for several years. But others may develop symptoms within three years from the time of infection.

Symptoms of HIV infection are fever, swollen lymph glands in the neck and armpits, sweating, aches, fatigue, unexplained weight loss and diarrhea.

Within eight years, about 50 percent of all infected people develop specific conditions categorized as AIDS. These conditions include a lung disease called “pneumocystis carinii pneumonia,” skin tumours called “Kaposi’s sarcoma,” fungal and viral infections such as candidiasis and herpes zoster, and severe diarrhea.

Some AIDS patients also suffer from dementia resulting in problems with memory and thinking. AIDS patients are prone to various infections of the brain, just as they suffer from an unusually high number of cancers, bacterial and viral infections of other parts of the body.

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Protecting Your Baby During Childbirth

If you take your treatment correctly, it will lower the amount of HIV in your body. In some people, the amount of HIV in their body can be reduced to such low levels that it is said to be undetectable .

This means that you can plan to have a vaginal delivery because the risk of passing on HIV to your baby during childbirth will be extremely small.

If you dont have an undetectable viral load, you may be offered a caesarean section, as this carries a smaller risk of passing HIV to your baby than a vaginal delivery.

If your HIV test result comes back positive, there are a number of things you can do to reduce the risk of passing HIV to your baby.

I was diagnosed with HIV. After a few years I entered a relationship and we decided to have children. My HIV consultant assured me that it was fine since my viral load was undetectable. I had my twins through C-section, which was planned.

How Hiv Infects The Body

Q10. How is HIV spread from one person to another?

HIV infects;the immune system,;causing progressive damage and eventually making it unable to fight off infections.

The virus attaches itself to immune system cells;called CD4 lymphocyte cells, which protect the body against various bacteria, viruses and other germs.

Once attached, it enters the CD4 cells and uses it;to make thousands of copies of itself. These copies then leave the CD4 cells, killing them in the process.

This process continues until eventually the number of CD4 cells, also called your;CD4 count, drops so low that your immune system stops working.

This process may take up to 10 years, during which time you’ll feel and appear well.;

Page last reviewed: 22 April 2021 Next review due: 22 April 2024

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Patients Cured Of Hiv Infection

The so-called “” has been potentially cured of HIV infection and has been off of treatment since 2006 with no detectable virus. This was achieved through two that replaced his immune system with a donor’s that did not have the cell surface receptor, which is needed for some variants of HIV to enter a cell. Bone marrow transplants carry their own significant risks including potential death and was only attempted because it was necessary to treat a blood cancer he had. Attempts to replicate this have not been successful and given the risks, expense and rarity of CCR5 negative donors, bone marrow transplant is not seen as a mainstream option. It has inspired research into other methods to try to block CCR5 expression through gene therapy. A procedure -based has been used in a Phase I trial of 12 humans and led to an increase in CD4 count and decrease in their viral load while off antiretroviral treatment. Attempt to reproduce this failed in 2016. Analysis of the failure showed that gene therapy only successfully treats 11-28% of cells, leaving the majority of CD4+ cells capable of being infected. The analysis found that only patients where less than 40% of cells were infected had reduced viral load. The Gene therapy was not effective if the native CD4+ cells remained. This is the main limitation which must be overcome for this treatment to become effective.

How Can I Reduce My Risk Of Getting Hiv

  • Get tested for HIV. Talk to your partner about HIV testing and get tested before you have sex. Use this testing locator from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to find an HIV testing location near you.
  • Choose less risky sexual behaviors. HIV is mainly spread by having anal or vaginal sex without a condom or without taking medicines to prevent or treat HIV.
  • Use condoms;every time you have sex.;Read this fact sheet from CDC on how to use condoms correctly.
  • Limit your number of sexual partners. The more partners you have, the more likely you are to have a partner with poorly controlled HIV or to have a partner with a sexually transmitted disease . Both of these factors can increase the risk of HIV transmission.
  • Get tested and treated for STDs. Insist that your partners get tested and treated, too. Having an STD can increase your risk of getting HIV or spreading it to others.
  • Talk to your health care provider about pre-exposure prophylaxis .;PrEP is an HIV prevention option for people who don’t have HIV but who are at risk of getting HIV. PrEP involves taking a specific HIV medicine every day to reduce the risk of getting HIV through sex or injection drug use. For more information, read the ClinicalInfo fact sheet on Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis .
  • Don’t inject drugs. But if you do, use only sterile drug injection equipment and water and never share your equipment with others.

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Blood Transfusions And Organ Donation

The risk of contracting HIV from a blood transfusion, other blood products, or organ donation is now extremely rare in the United States. All donated blood or blood products in the United States are tested for several types of bloodborne pathogens, including HIV.

Blood donations that test positive for HIV are safely discarded and dont enter the blood supply. The risk of HIV transmission during a blood transfusion is conservatively estimated to be

, there are no known instances of HIV being transmitted by receiving a tattoo or piercing. However, its technically possible for transmission to occur if equipment or ink is reused or shared.

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