Why don't you see HIV-infected people around you? It's related to these points. To prevent AIDS, do these three things

As of December 31, 2020, there are 1.053 million people living with HIV in my country, with a total of 351,000 deaths. The infection rate of the entire population is approximately 9 per 10,000. The AIDS epidemic in my country is still at a low prevalence level.

Due to the large population base in my country, the HIV infection rate of the entire population is not high, but the absolute number of infections is still large. So why have we never encountered HIV-infected people around us? Let's discuss this issue together, which may have some implications for AIDS prevention.

Several reasons why we don’t see HIV-infected people around us: 1. The incubation period of AIDS is long

The incubation period of AIDS is very long, averaging 8-9 years, and up to 25 years. During this period, people can work and live without any symptoms. Therefore, if a person is infected with HIV, it is difficult to detect the infection in the early stage unless they seek medical treatment for other reasons or voluntarily check for HIV antibodies. Therefore, we mobilize people who have engaged in high-risk behaviors to go to medical institutions for testing, in order to achieve early detection, early diagnosis, early treatment and early prevention.

2. AIDS has no typical clinical symptoms

At work, I often encounter consultants who ask about AIDS. Many people ask if we can tell whether a person is infected with HIV by their appearance. The answer is no! Some people who have engaged in high-risk behavior say that the other person does not have any abnormalities. Does that mean we can rule out infection? The answer is still no!

After a person is infected with HIV, there are no symptoms or external manifestations during the incubation period, nor are there typical clinical symptoms. If typical clinical manifestations appear, such as Kaposi sarcoma of the skin, Pneumocystis pneumonia, oral Candida albicans infection, etc., they are all very late symptoms.

III. Information of HIV-infected persons is strictly kept confidential

According to the Regulations on the Prevention and Treatment of AIDS, no unit or individual may inform others, including spouses, of the HIV infection information of the infected person without the informed consent of the infected person. Therefore, after a person is diagnosed with HIV, you cannot learn about his infection information through other channels unless he tells you.

Because AIDS has been given too much moral coloring, if a person is confirmed to be infected with HIV and other people know about it, then the infected person is basically "socially dead", so we must keep the information of the infected person confidential.

Prevention of AIDS In the early days of AIDS, many infected people died 1-2 years after being diagnosed, so people were extremely afraid of AIDS and stayed away from people infected with HIV. This is unscientific and does not work for the prevention of AIDS!

We know that AIDS is transmitted through three routes: blood transmission, sexual transmission, and mother-to-child transmission. Contact in daily life, such as shaking hands, hugging, eating together, working together, sharing toilets, sharing telephones, etc., will not transmit the disease, so there is no need for us to be afraid of people infected with HIV.

1. Condoms are important

The latest statistical analysis shows that among newly diagnosed HIV-infected people in my country, 97% were infected through sexual contact. Sexual transmission is divided into heterosexual transmission between men and women and homosexual transmission between men and women, and is basically caused by not using condoms correctly during sexual intercourse. Therefore, when having sex with others, condoms must be used throughout, correctly, and every time, regardless of whether it is homosexual intercourse between men and women or heterosexual intercourse between men and women.

2. Don’t touch drugs

In the past, traditional drugs had to be taken with syringes, and drug addicts shared syringes, leading to the spread of AIDS. In recent years, the country has vigorously cracked down on drug use and trafficking, and implemented policies and measures such as "needle exchange" and "methadone clinics", and AIDS infection caused by sharing syringes for drug use is no longer common.

However, with the emergence of new drugs such as methamphetamine and LSD, drug control and AIDS prevention have been faced with greater challenges. New drugs can be mixed with drinks, alcohol, food, etc., which is easy to do in some bad places such as bars and nightclubs. After taking new drugs such as methamphetamine, the human body will experience cognitive decline on the one hand, and sexual promiscuity and sexual perversion on the other hand, which increases the probability of AIDS being transmitted through sexual contact.

Therefore, drugs should not be taken in any way, and people with drug addiction must quit the addiction as soon as possible!

3. Mother-to-child transmission can be blocked

Without treatment, women of childbearing age who are infected with HIV can transmit the virus to their fetus or infant during pregnancy, delivery, or breastfeeding.

If a woman infected with HIV can receive good treatment, she can give birth to a healthy child. She must follow the opinions and suggestions of professional doctors and never stop taking medication or not receive treatment without permission.

Finally, I hope everyone will not discriminate against people infected with HIV, which will be helpful in preventing AIDS!