ZDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD? 3 FACTS ABOUT AIDS 3 @DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDY You've heard a lot about AIDS over the past few years. But so much of the information is confusing, even conflicting. Some books, articles and speakers lead you to believe that using a condom is "safe sex" and the only way to avoid the disease. Others report that even condoms are not foolproof. Some athletes declare they're infected with the AIDS virus, but look healthy and vigorous. Some self-proclaimed experts say AIDS can be spread by mosquito bites and shared drinking glasses. So what's the truth? Although AIDS is a complex disease, let's look at some common questions and clear away some of the confusion. ZDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD? 3 What's The Difference Between HIV and AIDS? 3 @DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDY Both words come from the letters of phrases that describe them. The Human Immunodeficiency Virus leads to the Acquired ImmunoDeficiency Syndrome. The AIDS virus attacks and slowly destroys the immune system, the body's defense against disease. Therefore, most people with AIDS die of diseases that their bodies cannot fight off. Others die as a result of the AIDS virus infecting their brain or central nervous system. So AIDS is actually the end-stage of HIV. ZDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD? 3 How Is HIV Transmitted? 3 @DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDY This is probably the issue causing the most confusion. For example, some physicians have suggested that HIV may be transmitted by mosquito bites, drinking from a common glass and swimming in a public pool. In fact, there are only three ways you can be infected with HIV: 1. SEXUAL TRANSMISSION. So far, about 65 percent of AIDS cases in the United States have been acquired through sex (60 per- cent homosexual; 5 percent heterosexual). Homosexual practices more easily spread HIV because of multiple partners, anal intercourse, and the fact that homosexuals often have other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) causing skin sores, which make it easier for HIV to enter the bloodstream. But everyone is at risk when they have sex with an HIV-infected partner. Transmission occurs both ways, male to female or female to male-- and is more likely when either has STD-caused skin sores. 2. BLOOD TRANSMISSION. Between 12,000 to 15,000 people acquired HIV from transfusions between 1978 and 1985, before blood screening for HIV was developed. Strict safeguards are now in place to protect the blood supply, and there is little risk with transfusions. However, another extremely efficient way to get infected is by sharing HIV-contaminated and unsterilized needles or syringes. Drug users draw blood up into the needle and syringe before injecting the drug. So far about 50,000 of U.S. AIDS cases have occurred this way. But sharing contaminated needles and syringes in other ways is also dangerous; for instance, athletes injecting steroids, ear piercing, getting tattoos or participating in "blood brother" rituals. 3. BIRTH TRANSMISSION. In the U.S., about 3,000 babies have become HIV-infected through their infected mothers. This occurs before birth, during labor and delivery, or through breast- feeding. That's it. You can't get it from a toilet seat, a restaurant drinking glass, mosquito bites, shaking hands or even from kissing (though deep kissing may not be absolutely safe). ZDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD? 3 How Would I Know If I Were Infected? 3 @DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDY That's part of the problem. This disease isn't like chicken pox, which makes itself clearly evident. It's much more subtle-- at first. A few weeks after getting infected, you'll probably think you have the flu or even mononucleosis. If you see a doctor during this time, the real cause of your symptoms may not be diagnosed. You'll gradually regain your strength as your immune system controls infection, probably for years. But whether you feel normal or awful, you'll still be able to infect others. Your immune system will continue to fight off infection, strongly at first, less effectively later on. At some point, you'll begin having other symptoms: persistent low-grade fever, diarrhea, increased fatigue, unexplained weight loss, enlarged lymph nodes and difficulty swallowing, a dry cough, sores, rashes and headaches. At this point, your immune system is beginning to lose its ability to fight off microorganisms that cause infection. Once the number of T-helper cells drops below 200, your body will no longer be able to defend itself properly, especially against certain pneumonias, cancers and infection of the brain. ZDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD? 3 Some People Have The AIDS Virus, 3 3 But Look Perfectly Healthy. Why? 3 @DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDY Some viruses cause disease quickly. But HIV infection, after causing an initial reaction (two to six weeks after exposure), may then cause no further symptoms for years. The virus is still in the body, slowly crippling the immune system. Sometimes people are without symptoms for 10 years. During this time, an infected but apparently healthy person can infect others without even knowing he or she is sick. Make no mistake, however. Anyone infected with HIV will eventually die from it. It's 100 percent lethal. ZDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD? 3 Won't A Condom Protect Me? 3 @DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDY Condoms provide some protection, but they are *not* fool- proof. There is no such thing as "safe sex," which explains why you hear the term "safer sex" more. Condoms have a proven track record of failure--as high as 20 percent among teens trying to prevent pregnancy. HIV is 30 times small than the width of a human sperm cell. All it takes is a tiny hole in that latex, or a tear, or possibly slippage--and you could be on your way to the grave. ZDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD? 3 So What's The Best Way To Protect Myself? 3 @DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDY If you're married, do not have sex with anyone but your spouse. If you're single, wait until you're married to have sex. Don't inject drugs and avoid other activities that bring an infected person's blood, semen or vaginal fluids into your body. When adolescents or young adults hear the words "abstinence" or "monogamy," they think "not having sex very often" and "only with a steady companion, as long as the relationship lasts." But, abstinence means waiting until marriage for sex, and monogamy means faithfulness to one partner for life. If you are fortunate enough not to have already contracted HIV, saving yourself for marriage could be the wisest, healthiest decision you'll ever make. ZDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD? 3 What If I Have Already Put Myself At Risk? 3 @DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDY Tell your doctor and get tested. Remember, though, it can take several months before the virus can be detected, even though it can still be passed to others. If your test is positive, your doctor can help you slow the impact of the virus on your body. The sooner you start treatment, the more effective it is. If you test is negative but you're still concerned, wait a few months and get tested again. Above all, avoid the risky behaviors outlined here.... Copyright 1993, Physician Magazine. Used with permission. * * * * * * * * * * * * [Note: Subsequent to the initial publication of FACTS ABOUT AIDS (Physician Magazine, Copyright 1993), additional scientific investigation has produced information concerning the *probability* of contamination with AIDS via coughing, sneezing, kissing and/or other contact with the bodily fluids of an HIV-infected and/or AIDS- contaminated individual. Consider the following notations from medical journals: HIV infection in homosexual men at high risk may occur at least 35 months before antibodies can be detected.... 1 June 1989, NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL Of MEDICINE. Tests of surgical gloves don't detect holes smaller than 10 microns in diameter, which would allow AIDS and other viruses to come into contact with the skin.... SURGICAL PRACTICE NEWS, August, 1988. The AIDS virus may actually be able to enter the body through skin contact....THE LANCET, 7 Novem- ber 1987. Lorraine Day, M.D., is a specialist in orthopedic surgery and has done considerable work toward a Ph.D. in cell biology. In addition to some fifteen years of practice in the operating room of San Francisco General, one of our nation's leading trauma hospitals, Dr. Day has lectured worldwide, been called as an "expert witness" in crucial trials involving AIDS issues, and for many years was associate professor on the full-time faculty and vice chairman of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Day served as a member of the AIDS Committee of San Francisco General Hospital and the University of California, San Francisco and is a member of the AIDS Task Force of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. For five years, she served as Chief of the Orthopedic Surgery Service at San Francisco General and has performed surgery on as many HIV-infected patients as anyone else in the country. Dr. Day is author of the book, AIDS--WHAT THE GOVERNMENT ISN'T TELLING YOU (Rockford Press, P.O. Box 14090, Palm Desert, CA 92255-4090 / 1-800-537-2437). Dr. Day learned... * The AIDS virus can survive on a dry surface for as long as seven days (F. Barre-Sinoussi, et al., Resistance of AIDS Virus at Room Temperature, LANCET, 28 September 1985, p. 721). * It survives freezing (MORBIDITY and MORTALITY Weekly Report, 7 October 1988, p. 597). * It can transmit through saliva (Piazza, M., et al., JOURNAL Of The AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, 27 October 1989, p. 2231). * It can transmit through oral sex (Rozenbaum, W., LANCET, 18 June 1988, p. 1395). * It seems to have transmitted at least once through a bite that did not break the skin (LANCET, 20 September 1986, p. 694). * It has been found and judged infective on needles in amounts so minute that they look like "clean needles" (Chitwood, D. D., et al., AMERICAN JOURNAL Of PUBLIC HEALTH, February 1990, p. 150). * Some disinfectants formerly believed to denature the virus have proved not to be sufficiently strong (Hanson, Peter, et al., JOURNAL Of The AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, 26 February 1988, p. 1199). Dr. Day writes... "In the early 1980s, the blood bankers told us that the chances of contracting HIV through blood transfusion was miniscule, the chances were often quoted as one in 1 million. "A few years down the road, but still prior to 1985, at which time a blood test became available that tested for *indirect* signs that infection with HIV had occurred--doctors were told in repeated communiques by the blood banks that the risk of AIDS transmission from blood transfusions was somewhere between one in 100,000 and one in 250,000. "'Slim chances,' the blood bankers said to the doctors. The risk is *still* almost nil.' "Then evidence began to mount that the risk of infection was 'somewhat higher' than commonly believed. We didn't know how much higher, but patients began to fall ill. "Some of us started looking for alternate sources of blood, but nobody knew the actual risk, and the blood banks 'discouraged' our challenge. Giving designated donor blood or autologous blood (one's own blood, ed.) was openly and vigorously resisted by the blood banks. I know, because my patients asked for it, and many times I tried. "But there was protocol. There was 'red tape.'" "The message, then, was clear: Take general inventory blood. "After the spring of 1985, when and HIV antibody test became available, doctors were told that the risk of getting AIDS from a transfusion was now approximately one in 50,000 to one in 100,000. The blood products, the blood bankers told us, were now being treated. The donors were now being carefully screened. There was no need to fret. "In late 1987, it came to light through investigative report- ing that those who were operating the voluntary donor blood bank in San Francisco *knew for two years that they had miscalculated the previous risk enormously.* "The risk in one specific year prior to 1985 was not one in 100,000. Not one in 250,000. Not one in 1 million. "It was on in 100!" D O N ' T W A I T F O R T H E M O V I E - - G E T T H E B O O K ! T H E L I F E O F S O M E O N E Y O U K N O W M A Y D E P E N D O N I T ! ! !