Contents:
Medical Video: The Science of HIV/AIDS
HIV / AIDS is one disease that is still covered in various myths and misunderstandings. Incorrect understanding of this disease has led to a number of behaviors that actually cause more people to become infected with HIV. Misleading myths about HIV and AIDS also help to attach negative stigma to every person so they feel reluctant to get treatment.
It is time to straighten out the most common myths around HIV / AIDS with supporting facts.
Myth # 1: HIV is the same as AIDS
Fact: HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) and AIDS are two different things. HIV is the name of a virus that attacks the immune system while AIDS is the final stage and continuation of long-term HIV infection after the body's immune system is finally damaged.
AIDS is a chronic disease with a set of symptoms associated with a decrease in endurance, making people with high risk of other serious health problems.
Not all HIV-positive people also contract AIDS. Effective HIV treatment can slow or stop the development of the HIV virus, which in turn helps prevent the risk of AIDS.
Myth # 2: HIV / AIDS is a disease of gay and drug users
Fact: Gay men and people who inject drugs (injecting drug users) are indeed among the people most vulnerable to HIV / AIDS.
Same-sex intimate relationships through anal sex and the use of syringe alternately are indeed the most common causes of HIV.
Howevervaginal sex (penile-vaginal penetration) without condoms is the method of transmission of HIV with a high incidence. Oral sex is also a risk factor for transmission of HIV infection. Quoting the latest report from the Ministry of Health, the trend of HIV infection during 2010-2017 continues to be dominant in heterosexual groups.
Infodatin AIDS also shows that most people with HIV / AIDS in Indonesia actually come from groups of housewives and workers (both offices, entrepreneurs, and medical personnel).
Even so, anal sex still has the highest risk of HIV infection among other sexual methods.
Myth # 3: I can get HIV if I live with or associate with PLWHA
Fact: Various studies have shown that HIV and AIDS is not spread through the touch of the skin (such as shaking hands, hugging, or sleeping the night in the same bed), tears, sweat, or exchanging saliva like when kissing.
You not will get HIV when:
- Being in one room and breathing the same air as ODHA (People With HIV / AIDS)
- Touching items that have been touched by PLWHA
- Drink from a glass that has been used by PLWHA
- Hug, kiss, or shake hands with PLWHA
- Sharing eating utensils with PLWHA
- Using gym equipment together with PLWHA
HIV can only be transmitted through the exchange of certain body fluids that contain high concentrations of HIV antibodies, such as blood, spinal cord, semen, vaginal and anal fluids, and breast milk.
HIV is transmitted when one of the fluids from an HIV positive person enters through mucous membranes, open wounds, or scratches on the skin of an HIV-uninfected person.
The UK HIV / AIDS organization, AVERT, says closed mouth kisses are not a big threat. However, kissing with an open mouth can be a risk factor if there is blood involved, such as bite wounds, bleeding gums, or canker sores in the mouth.
Furthermore, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) assess other body fluids, including saliva, only have very little HIV antibody residue so the risk of infection is very low.
Myth # 4: HIV and AIDS can be transmitted through mosquito bites
Fact: HIV is indeed transmitted through blood, but until now there is no medical evidence that can show that mosquito bites can be an intermediary for the spread of the HIV virus even in places prone to HIV and many mosquitoes.
When the mosquitoes move to the bite location, they will not drain the blood of the previous person to the next 'prey'. In addition, the age of the HIV virus in insects will also not last long.
Myth # 5: HIV and AIDS are the death penalty
Fact: In the early years of this disease was found, the death rate from HIV / AIDS was very high.
During the epidemic, people living with HIV / AIDS also only survived about 3 years. Once you get a dangerous opportunistic disease, the expectation of life without treatment drops to around 1 year.
But since the development of modern science, retroviral medicine has enabled PLWHA to live longer, and be able to carry out normal activities and remain productive.
Myth # 6: HIV / AIDS cannot be cured
Fact: Until now, there is no antidote for HIV AIDS. The available antiretroviral treatment can only help suppress the development of the disease, prevent the risk of transmission, and reduce the risk of death due to drastic complications of HIV / AIDS.
HIV drugs can help you live healthier and more normal lives. But to be able to reach all these targets, retroviral drugs must be taken regularly for life.
If you keep forgetting to take HIV medication, the virus will become resistant to the drug so that it can cause severe side effects later on.
Myth # 7: During taking medication, I will not transmit the disease
Fact: Take a routine, retroviral drugs can help control the symptoms of the disease but you still risk transmitting the HIV virus to others if you are not careful.
Because the drug will only reduce the level of HIV viral load in the blood so that it looks normal in each blood test. Research shows that after all blood or body fluids that contain only a small amount of the HIV virus still risk transmitting the disease.
Myth # 8: Me and my partner are both ODHA, so there is no need for safe sex
Fact: Even though you and your partner are both HIV / AIDS positive, it is still important to always have safe sex to prevent the risk of ping-pong infection and specifically the spread of drug-resistant HIV.
Sex using condoms still applies to partners of ODHA because two people who are HIV positive can have a different genetic virus.
If both of them engage in unprotected sex, each virus can infect each other and evolve to attack the body with two different types of viruses.
This will further aggravate the disease of each party and may require therapeutic changes and the dose of the drug.
Myth # 9: Signs and symptoms of HIV can appear immediately
Fact: You can get HIV positive without showing any symptoms for years. Early symptoms of HIV can even appear 10 years after the first infection, and can be common flu-like symptoms.
The only way to find out if you or your partner is HIV positive is by testing for HIV.
Myth # 10: Pregnant women with HIV will always transmit HIV to their fetus
Fact: Transmission of mother-to-child infections is one way of spreading the virus. HIV positive pregnant women who do not undergo treatment have a chance of transmission of 1: 4 to the fetus in the womb. When the mother and fetus receive appropriate treatment before, during, and after birth, the risk of infection in infants will decrease by 1-2 percent.
