Misconceptions About HIV and AIDS

We wanted to address the well-known misconceptions about the subject due to December 1, World AIDS Day. Hoping to break the prejudices against HIV-positive people…

HIV, which first appeared in the early 1980s, became an epidemic in 1982 and causes AIDS, whose origin is still unknown, only 680,000 people died last year, 460,000 of them lived in Africa.

AIDS stands for “Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome” and means “Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome”. As the name suggests, it defines a syndrome. HIV stands for “Human Immunodeficiency Virus” and means “Human Immunodeficiency Virus” and refers to a pathogen. well The pathogen named HIV is the biggest cause of AIDS.

HIV = death, to be HIV positive = to have AIDS. (WRONG)

HIV in humans weakens immune system cells and HIV infections. The advanced fatal form of these infections is called AIDS. If an HIV-positive person takes their antiretroviral medication (ARV) daily without fail, the risk of developing AIDS is very low. So this person can live a healthy life like anyone else.

The reason the disease looks so scary is because until recently, it took twice as many lives as World War I, but with the virus. The 30-year adventure of the struggle is now bearing fruit.

For those living in countries that have difficulty accessing ARVs, the situation is grim. in Central and West African countries 75% (5 million people) of HIV-positive people living are doomed to face a slow and painful death because they do not have access to ARVs. 90% of the 730,000 HIV-positive children living in poor countries do not have access to ARVs.

Touching and kissing transmit HIV. (WRONG)

kissing aids

With actions such as sitting next to or touching a person living with HIV virus is not transmitted. As we mentioned above, thanks to adequate treatments, people living with HIV can lead a healthy life.

HIV usually affects gay men. (WRONG)

hiv aids gay

This is usually the case in western countries, but when we look at the world in general, it is seen that women are generally affected. HIV-positive people in Sub-Saharan Africa 59% are young women. Girls aged 15-19 living in South Africa are 8 times more likely to have HIV than boys.

The baby of an HIV-positive person cannot be healthy. (WRONG)

hiv baby

A pregnant woman receiving ARV treatment is likely to infect her baby with the virus. It is less than 2%. Thanks to this treatment, the number of children born HIV positive has decreased by 60% in the last 20 years. For example, mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Cuba was reduced to zero and a first was achieved in this regard.

However, it should be noted that in some regions only 39% of pregnant women have access to this treatment. That’s why HIV-positive women about half giving birth to HIV-positive babies. One-third of these babies die before they reach the age of 1, as they cannot access treatment like their mothers. One in five do not even reach the age of 5.

Using condoms is the only way to prevent HIV transmission. (WRONG)

HIV prevention

Of course, it is a very important form of protection, but it is not the only option. The risk of an HIV-positive person receiving ARV treatment of transmitting HIV to their partner decreased by 96%. Unfortunately, it is not possible to completely stop this global epidemic, as there are still those who cannot reach this treatment.

The more HIV-positive people in a country, the higher the number of AIDS-related deaths. (WRONG)

aids africa

E.g; The number of HIV-positive people in South Africa, which is the first in the world in the number of cases, is 6.8 million, the number of people who died due to AIDS is 140,000. half He dies of AIDS. 25% of those in Nigeria can receive treatment, while 45% of those in South Africa receive treatment.

Apart from the well-known misconceptions about HIV and AIDS, the issue of “stigma” is also important.

hiv aids

Unfortunately, people living with HIV are frequently stigmatized and labeled. There are rumors about them. are subjected to verbal abuse and threats. Due to ignorance about HIV and AIDS, these people can be fired from their jobs.

For individuals living with HIV misidentifications can be done frequently. The term “HIV patient” should not be used because HIV is the name of a virus, not a disease. The expression “AIDS virus” is also incorrect, because AIDS is a syndrome and refers to a picture of diseases.

“person living with HIV” and “HIV positive person” It would be correct to use expressions. Uses such as AIDS patient, AIDS infected, HIV infected, HIV carrier, AIDS carrier are also incorrect.

In order to prevent this stigma and discrimination, the Ministry of Health does not collect HIV-positive people’s information such as name, surname and TR identity number; reports the information of these people with a code.

Good news was announced recently: It was stated that the vaccine developed in Japan against the HIV virus, which causes AIDS, was effective in monkeys.

hiv aids vaccine

Within the scope of the study, the team injecting HIV virus into 7 macaque monkeys found that the 4 monkeys tested were infected with the virus, but soon after. determined that the virus had become undetectable. Noting that the immune system stimulated by the vaccine makes HIV lose its effect, experts announced that trials on humans will begin in about 5 years.

Last August, the vaccine developed by the American pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson failed its tests in Sub-Saharan Africa. The vaccine tried on 2637 women could not provide adequate protection. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation The tests of the vaccine, which was also supported by the company, were stopped after the results were obtained.

On the other hand, the other vaccine study, which is expected to be completed in 2024 and named Mosaico, is on men in the USA and Europe. experiments continue. A vaccine against HIV, called Uhambo, was previously started in South Africa, but was stopped in 2020 after failure.

We hope that a vaccine will be found soon and it can easily reach all countries.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4

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