HIV cannot be transmitted using the same transport. The virus cannot penetrate your skin. There is therefore no way that the virus can be "passed on" by sitting on a seat where an infected person has been sitting.
HIV cannot be transmitted by using the food and eating utensils used by the HIV infected person. The HI virus has a thin protein layer that protects it against the outside world; if that protein layer is destroyed, the virus is destroyed. So if you eat any food that contains the virus, that virus will end up in your stomach with the food. The protein layer around the virus will be digested by the acidic gastric juices and the virus will be destroyed immediately.
While there is a theoretical risk of HIV transmission from an HIV infected player to an uninfected player during athletic practice or competition, most experts agree that the risk of sports-related HIV transmission is so small that it can be ignored. Universal precautions should be taken on the sports filed though. If a player is bleeding, take him off the field and treat him. If there is no free-flowing blood, there's no chance of infection.
Again, if one considers the conditions needed for the virus to survive, the chance of getting infected through toilet seats is impossible. If the virus gets onto a toilet seat, it would be in contact with air, become dry and die. Also remember that the concentration of HIV in urine is too low for any infection.
People are still worried about a mosquito sucking blood from an HIV infected person and then biting them, thus infecting them. HIV cannot be transmitted by a mosquito or any other insect bite. The HI virus is not capable of getting from the stomach of the mosquito into its bloodstream or from the bloodstream into the salivary glands. Mosquitoes can thus not pass HIV from one person to another. Malaria is a different case.
Many people think that you can contract HIV by being bewitched. This is impossible, as you need the conditions of transmission which includes an HIV positive person.
The last example of a situation in which HIV cannot be transmitted is one of the most important to remember, the physical contact. People always wonder how they should treat an HIV positive person. It's easy, absolutely normally! Remember that you cannot be infected through casual contact and that to the person who is HIV positive, it means a lot to have normal contact with others. People with HIV need positive contact as much as they need the most advanced ARV therapies. They need normal and healthy lives that include love, companionship, family and friends' support, medical care, housing, access to job, social, educational and recreational facilities, and access to places of worship.
If your friend or a member of your family is HIV positive, show friendship and love simply by being there for that person. Make physical contact by hugging him. Your friendship will not only mean a lot to that person but you will become richer person in the process.
Source: Channels of Hope workshop manual.
Showing posts with label HIV Transmission. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HIV Transmission. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Monday, June 9, 2008
HIV Transmissions - Certain Actions / Situations
What are the dangerous "actions" or situations that place you at risk of being infected? The main ways in which HIV is transmitted is through blood, mother to child, and sexual activity.
Let's first take a look at blood. When infected blood comes into contact with another person's blood, the virus can be transmitted. The following three ways a person can be infected through blood are blood transfusions, needle pricks and injecting drug use.
The rapid escalation of the HIV epidemic is placing pressure on blood transfusion services to keep the blood supply safe. The blood transfusion services however, take all possible precautions to ensure that nobody who is HIV positive donates blood. Injecting drug users very often share needles or a shot of drugs amongst one another. The infected blood within the syringe that they use is then injected into the next person. Most people still have irrational fears about blood. If you practice universal precautions when dealing with any person's blood in the event of an injury, there is no risk of infection. Remember that in all cases, direct blood exchange must occur for infection to take place.
The next "action" that can result in infection is when an HIV positive mother is pregnant or has a baby. HIV transmission occurs directly from the mother to the baby. It can occur during pregnancy, breastfeeding and during birth.
During pregnancy, the mother and baby do not share the same blood system. The baby receives nutrition from the mother via a process of osmosis through the placenta. No direct contact takes place so infection very seldom occurs during pregnancy, approximately 5-10% of babies born to HIV positive mothers would have been infected during pregnancy. However, if the mother is at the stage where she has a very high viral load there is then also a great chance that the baby will be infected.
Most infections which are about 10-15% of babies born to mothers with HIV occur during birth. During the birth process there might be direct blood contact in various ways: Blood exchange between mother and child when the placenta separates from the uterus wall, blood or vaginal fluid contact with the eyes or mouth of the baby as it moves through the vagina during the birth process, and blood or vaginal fluid into broken skin if instrument delivery had to be performed. If caesarean section is performed before the onset of labor, this can greatly reduce the risk of infection.
Approximately 5-20% of babies, who are born HIV negative, become infected through infected breast milk. Breastfeeding is believed to be more risky when the mother has a high viral load, the mother's nipples are cracked or she has abscesses and other breast diseases, and the baby has sores in the mouth or an inflamed gut.
But in the end, the main culprit in spreading HIV from one person to next is unprotected sexual activity! Most people still think that it will never happen to them. Ask any HIV positive person, he or she did not think it would happen to him or her either! People forget that if you are having sex, you are not having sex with that one person only.
You are in a sense having sex with everyone that person had sex with before, and with all their former sexual partners! If they had unprotected sex that could mean up to 30 or 40 other sexual partners whose HIV status you do not know. So if you're into orgies or group sex, this number could be doubled or tripled.
Note: Information was excerpt from the "Channels of Hope" manual.
Let's first take a look at blood. When infected blood comes into contact with another person's blood, the virus can be transmitted. The following three ways a person can be infected through blood are blood transfusions, needle pricks and injecting drug use.
The rapid escalation of the HIV epidemic is placing pressure on blood transfusion services to keep the blood supply safe. The blood transfusion services however, take all possible precautions to ensure that nobody who is HIV positive donates blood. Injecting drug users very often share needles or a shot of drugs amongst one another. The infected blood within the syringe that they use is then injected into the next person. Most people still have irrational fears about blood. If you practice universal precautions when dealing with any person's blood in the event of an injury, there is no risk of infection. Remember that in all cases, direct blood exchange must occur for infection to take place.
The next "action" that can result in infection is when an HIV positive mother is pregnant or has a baby. HIV transmission occurs directly from the mother to the baby. It can occur during pregnancy, breastfeeding and during birth.
During pregnancy, the mother and baby do not share the same blood system. The baby receives nutrition from the mother via a process of osmosis through the placenta. No direct contact takes place so infection very seldom occurs during pregnancy, approximately 5-10% of babies born to HIV positive mothers would have been infected during pregnancy. However, if the mother is at the stage where she has a very high viral load there is then also a great chance that the baby will be infected.
Most infections which are about 10-15% of babies born to mothers with HIV occur during birth. During the birth process there might be direct blood contact in various ways: Blood exchange between mother and child when the placenta separates from the uterus wall, blood or vaginal fluid contact with the eyes or mouth of the baby as it moves through the vagina during the birth process, and blood or vaginal fluid into broken skin if instrument delivery had to be performed. If caesarean section is performed before the onset of labor, this can greatly reduce the risk of infection.
Approximately 5-20% of babies, who are born HIV negative, become infected through infected breast milk. Breastfeeding is believed to be more risky when the mother has a high viral load, the mother's nipples are cracked or she has abscesses and other breast diseases, and the baby has sores in the mouth or an inflamed gut.
But in the end, the main culprit in spreading HIV from one person to next is unprotected sexual activity! Most people still think that it will never happen to them. Ask any HIV positive person, he or she did not think it would happen to him or her either! People forget that if you are having sex, you are not having sex with that one person only.
You are in a sense having sex with everyone that person had sex with before, and with all their former sexual partners! If they had unprotected sex that could mean up to 30 or 40 other sexual partners whose HIV status you do not know. So if you're into orgies or group sex, this number could be doubled or tripled.
Note: Information was excerpt from the "Channels of Hope" manual.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Conditions for HIV Transmission
HIV is a simple virus. The most important thing to remember is that it cannot survive outside the body at all. But inside a human a body, conditions are perfect for the virus to survive and multiply. Why?
Body temperature is ideal. High temperatures cause the virus to die quickly. Anything higher than 50 degrees C is enough to destroy the virus. The moistness of the body is ideal, outside the body the virus will die. No contact with air, this is the most important one. The outer protein layer of the HI virus oxidizes on coming into contact with air and it therefore dies very quickly. In the body it does not come into contact with air and consequently survives. The correct pH balance plays a vital role, as the virus needs a pH balance very close to that which we find within the human body. As soon as the environment changes to being too acidic or alkaline, the virus would die.
During sex, all these conditions are present together with the body fluids that can carry high concentrations of HIV. This is why so many people are infected during unprotected sex.
There are some conditions or situations that will make a person more vulnerable to becoming HIV infected. First is the entry point. There must be a point for the virus to enter the body. People very often think only in terms of an open wound, cut or injection needle injury. Yes, if there were direct contact of infected, high concentration body fluids into that cut, there would be a definite risk of infection. But the point of entry could also occur during sexual intercourse, through a small lesion occurring in the mucous membranes of the sexual organs.
The presence of Sexually Transmitted Infections or STIs is also a risk-increasing condition. Most STIs cause small sores or small areas of broken skin on the sexual organs or in the mouth. This creates an ideal place for the virus to enter the bloodstream. There is therefore a very strong correlation between the occurrence of STIs and HIV.
The higher the concentration of the virus or the greater the quantity of viruses present, the easier it is to be infected. The lower the concentration, the smaller the chance of infection. This applies both to the concentration of the virus due to the stage of disease progression the HIV infected person might be in. If you remember, the level fluctuates during the course of the disease. Just after infection and in the fourth phase, there is a very high concentration of the virus. Your chance of becoming infected during these phases as a result of direct contact with high concentration body fluids are therefore greater than in other phases.
Note: Information was excerpt from the "Channels of Hope" manual.
Body temperature is ideal. High temperatures cause the virus to die quickly. Anything higher than 50 degrees C is enough to destroy the virus. The moistness of the body is ideal, outside the body the virus will die. No contact with air, this is the most important one. The outer protein layer of the HI virus oxidizes on coming into contact with air and it therefore dies very quickly. In the body it does not come into contact with air and consequently survives. The correct pH balance plays a vital role, as the virus needs a pH balance very close to that which we find within the human body. As soon as the environment changes to being too acidic or alkaline, the virus would die.
During sex, all these conditions are present together with the body fluids that can carry high concentrations of HIV. This is why so many people are infected during unprotected sex.
There are some conditions or situations that will make a person more vulnerable to becoming HIV infected. First is the entry point. There must be a point for the virus to enter the body. People very often think only in terms of an open wound, cut or injection needle injury. Yes, if there were direct contact of infected, high concentration body fluids into that cut, there would be a definite risk of infection. But the point of entry could also occur during sexual intercourse, through a small lesion occurring in the mucous membranes of the sexual organs.
The presence of Sexually Transmitted Infections or STIs is also a risk-increasing condition. Most STIs cause small sores or small areas of broken skin on the sexual organs or in the mouth. This creates an ideal place for the virus to enter the bloodstream. There is therefore a very strong correlation between the occurrence of STIs and HIV.
The higher the concentration of the virus or the greater the quantity of viruses present, the easier it is to be infected. The lower the concentration, the smaller the chance of infection. This applies both to the concentration of the virus due to the stage of disease progression the HIV infected person might be in. If you remember, the level fluctuates during the course of the disease. Just after infection and in the fourth phase, there is a very high concentration of the virus. Your chance of becoming infected during these phases as a result of direct contact with high concentration body fluids are therefore greater than in other phases.
Note: Information was excerpt from the "Channels of Hope" manual.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
How Is HIV Transmitted?
For the HI virus to be transmitted, it needs certain body fluids, conducive conditions and certain "actions" that could lead to infection.
In some body fluids of an infected person, the HI virus is found in such high concentrations that someone can be infected if they come into direct contact with it. These fluids are blood, semen, vaginal fluid and breast milk. During unprotected sex, a person will have direct contact with semen or vaginal fluid and sometimes even with blood. This is once again, why HIV infection takes place mostly when people are having unprotected sex.
On the other hand, body fluids such as saliva, tears, perspiration and urine will have such low concentrations of HIV that there is no chance of infection. This is why normal social contact and kissing is not dangerous and will not lead to HIV infection. Let's have a closer look at these different fluids.
Blood, two or three drops in an open wound could infect a person but the contact must be between a fresh, bleeding wound and an open wound. If the wound has already formed a scab, infection cannot take place.
Semen and vaginal fluid, both are sexual fluids in which this virus occurs in just as high a concentration as in blood. During unprotected sex, the partners definitely come into contact with semen or vaginal fluid. This is why 90% of infections in Africa occur sexually.
Breast milk, during earlier studies it was said that there is only a high enough concentration of HIV during the first week after breastfeeding has started - the so called colostrums phase. It was said that during this period the milk has a high protein content which includes antibodies from the mother and also a high concentration of the HI virus that could infect the baby if it has an open sore or a throat infection. At this stage, breast milk is considered a high concentration fluid throughout the period of breastfeeding. It is important to note, however, that infection from mother to child through breastfeeding can also be caused by blood contact if the mother has cracked nipples.
The virus occurs in such a low concentrations in saliva, tears, urine and perspiration that infection is highly unlikely to occur. To date there has been no evidence of transmission via these fluids. It has been said that a person would have to swallow about 7 liters of saliva before running the risk of being infected as a result of an open-mouthed kiss (a "French kiss")! It would be even more true to say that you would have to be injected intravenously with 7 liters of saliva before there would be a high concentration of viruses to infect you.
So, although precautions should definitely be taken in terms of especially blood and semen, the low concentration fluids just mentioned need not concern anyone.
What then, are the conditions necessary for the infection? See next post.
Note: Information was excerpt from the "Channels of Hope" manual.
In some body fluids of an infected person, the HI virus is found in such high concentrations that someone can be infected if they come into direct contact with it. These fluids are blood, semen, vaginal fluid and breast milk. During unprotected sex, a person will have direct contact with semen or vaginal fluid and sometimes even with blood. This is once again, why HIV infection takes place mostly when people are having unprotected sex.
On the other hand, body fluids such as saliva, tears, perspiration and urine will have such low concentrations of HIV that there is no chance of infection. This is why normal social contact and kissing is not dangerous and will not lead to HIV infection. Let's have a closer look at these different fluids.
Blood, two or three drops in an open wound could infect a person but the contact must be between a fresh, bleeding wound and an open wound. If the wound has already formed a scab, infection cannot take place.
Semen and vaginal fluid, both are sexual fluids in which this virus occurs in just as high a concentration as in blood. During unprotected sex, the partners definitely come into contact with semen or vaginal fluid. This is why 90% of infections in Africa occur sexually.
Breast milk, during earlier studies it was said that there is only a high enough concentration of HIV during the first week after breastfeeding has started - the so called colostrums phase. It was said that during this period the milk has a high protein content which includes antibodies from the mother and also a high concentration of the HI virus that could infect the baby if it has an open sore or a throat infection. At this stage, breast milk is considered a high concentration fluid throughout the period of breastfeeding. It is important to note, however, that infection from mother to child through breastfeeding can also be caused by blood contact if the mother has cracked nipples.
The virus occurs in such a low concentrations in saliva, tears, urine and perspiration that infection is highly unlikely to occur. To date there has been no evidence of transmission via these fluids. It has been said that a person would have to swallow about 7 liters of saliva before running the risk of being infected as a result of an open-mouthed kiss (a "French kiss")! It would be even more true to say that you would have to be injected intravenously with 7 liters of saliva before there would be a high concentration of viruses to infect you.
So, although precautions should definitely be taken in terms of especially blood and semen, the low concentration fluids just mentioned need not concern anyone.
What then, are the conditions necessary for the infection? See next post.
Note: Information was excerpt from the "Channels of Hope" manual.
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