Darrick Robles HIV is the abbreviation for the human immunodeficiency virus. This is the virus that can cause AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). Infection with HIV affects the immune system by lowering the body’s natural defenses against disease, infection or cancer.
General information about HIV
Let’s start with some facts about HIV.
- In 2020, around 1.5 million people contracted HIV.
- In 2020, more than 37 million people were living with HIV worldwide.
- In 2019 and 2020, more than a quarter of all people diagnosed with HIV had advanced disease.
- This information is important to continue the fight against AIDS.
How is HIV transmitted?
In order to transmit HIV, there must be close contact between mucous membranes or open wounds on the skin and bodily fluids such as blood, semen, vaginal secretions or breast milk in which the virus is present.
HIV is most often transmitted by:
- sexual contact
- sharing contaminated needles and
- childbirth or breastfeeding.
symptoms
The infection does not have to cause symptoms.
Sometimes there are early signs of contagion. These include a fever, rash, fatigue, swollen lymph nodes, a flu-like illness, or problems with digestion.
A few months to a few years after infection and after a long period without symptoms, these symptoms reappear. They are signs that the immune system is weakening.
If left untreated, HIV infection can cause serious illness. Infections that are usually harmless, such as the flu or bronchitis, can become serious, very difficult to treat, or even fatal.
HIV is not like other viruses: once it reaches the immune system, it takes control of the T-CD4 cells. These are the cells that coordinate the immune response to a virus. By using the CD4 cells to spread, HIV damages and destroys them. Those affected are then susceptible to many diseases that are actually harmless.
HIV diagnosis and HIV testing
Diagnosing HIV is as easy as it is important. To do this, a blood sample is simply analyzed biologically. The less time it takes for a person to get tested after being infected, the more effectively they can be treated.
The life expectancy of an HIV-infected person who receives prompt treatment is similar to that of the general population. The risk of transmitting the virus also decreases over time.
The blood test, done in the lab, can detect anti-HIV-1 and anti-HIV-2 antibodies, as well as an antigen of the virus called P24.
HIV prevention
Here are some prevention methods you can use depending on your risk:
- Use condoms during sex to protect yourself. Condoms are an effective, readily available, and widely used method of protecting against HIV.
- People injecting drugs should use clean and sterile injecting equipment. These people should always use their own injection equipment and under no circumstances should they share needles, syringes, spoons, water, filters or other paraphernalia.
- If detected early, antiretroviral therapy that is reliably taken reduces viral load. And it helps to prevent transmission to the partner and, in the case of HIV-positive pregnant women, to the child.
- To prevent transmission of HIV to the unborn child, HIV-positive pregnant women must use special treatment that significantly reduces the risk of transmission to the child (to less than 2%).
- Pre- exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) means taking a drug to reduce the risk of contracting HIV.
Treatment with PrEP is aimed at people over the age of 15 who do not have HIV but are regularly at risk of infection. Medicine is taken to prevent infection. This can be taken continuously (every day at a certain time, with a follow-up prescription every 3 months) or as needed (before and after sexual intercourse). When used correctly, there is almost no risk of infection with PrEP.
This treatment is a complementary tool in the strategy to prevent HIV infection. However, it in no way replaces the other preventive measures such as condoms or tests. Condoms are still the most effective way to protect against HIV and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). PrEP does not protect against other STDs. Nevertheless, according to the first studies, the effectiveness of PrEP in Paris is almost 100%. According to the French Agency for AIDS Research ANRS and the Confederation of Public Hospitals in Paris AP-HP, no infections occurred in people followed between 2017 and 2018.
A regulation runs in Germany over specialized medical practice, which one can find simply by Internet search. Counseling and screening also take place in these practices.
When should I see a doctor or get tested?
HIV tests are an important step in order to protect you and your partner as quickly as possible in the event of an infection.
If you have questions about HIV or other STDs, or think you may be at risk of contracting HIV, you should see a doctor.
To protect against HIV/AIDS, there is an emergency treatment called post-exposure prevention that protects you after exposure to HIV. The application lasts 4 weeks and significantly reduces the risk of infection. For this treatment to be effective, you must go to the nearest emergency room, if possible with your partner, within 4 hours and up to a maximum of 48 hours after a high-risk contact.
The risk of infection and the benefit of the treatment are assessed by a doctor. This treatment can cause side effects and does not completely eliminate the risk of infection.
How can Med-Healths help?
Our Med-Healths Doctors can assess your HIV and STD situation.
If you suspect you have HIV, you should also contact your family doctor, a counseling center or, alternatively, the health department. This is the only way to check whether you are infected.
