HIV/AIDS is a medical condition where the patient’s immune system becomes too weak to fight off infections. Aids is Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome and HIV is the virus that affects the immune system cells. Mentioned ahead are the popular myths about HIV and AIDS.
HIV means certain deathOne of the worst myths about HIV/AIDS, that the disease is a herald for death, has been enormously popular among people worldwide. Due to which, people who are newly diagnosed with the debilitating disease tend to become depressed and give up hope of survival. The serious illness has affected over 40 million people. The myth somewhere appears to be debunked as people diagnosed with this disease have been enabled to live longer than ever before. There’s no doubt that today’s advanced treatment methods and modern medicine have quite a lot transformed the facet of the disease and is still endeavoring to provide patients with normal, productive lives.HIV and AIDS can be curedAnother commonly held notion among people is that HIV or AIDS can be cured. When HIV patients discover that there is absolutely no cure, they tend to search for alternate therapies that give their word to treat this disease. A bit dismaying, after having spent heavy amounts of money and time, they realize that HIV or AIDS cannot be cured. And the allopathic treatment is the only way that could make their condition somewhat better. Experts believe that, ideally, one should stick to the tried and tested regimen for HIV and AIDS until its cure is finally discovered, which indeed is many years away.HIV or AIDS can be contracted if you are around the infected patientThe notion that the disease spreads by touching an HIV or AIDS patient is highly disrespectful and invalidated at the same time. According to the evidence, it’s been observed that the HIV infection does not pass on to others through tears, touch, saliva or sweat. In fact, the illness cannot even be contracted from hugging, shaking hands with, or kissing someone who is positive with HIV virus. Touching a toilet seat or drinking water from a water fountain after an HIV positive person also does no harm. However, it can pass on through infected vaginal fluid, semen, mother’s milk or blood.HIV infection can spread from mosquitoesThis probably is accepted as the truth by almost everyone who does not have adequate information on HIV or AIDS. Since HIV is spread by the flow of blood, people have assumed that biting and bloodsucking mosquitoes might spread the disease. However, several studies put forth absolute no evidence to lend support to the myth. To render an insight, when bloodsucking insects bite, they do not infuse the blood of the animal or person they last bit. Also, HIV infection survives only for a very short span of time inside an insect.Women with HIV cannot have babiesSome might have authenticated this myth a few years ago but it’s no longer true today. Whether you render credit to the advanced treatments and medicines or medical researchers’ constant efforts, the transmission risk of HIV from a mother to her baby has come down to 2 to 3 percent today. These days, the risk of disease transmission from a mother to a baby is kept at minimal by providing anti HIV drugs to the baby at birth, to the mother during her second and third trimesters, and advising mothers to avoid breast feeding.HIV and AIDS merely affects drug users and gay menThe widespread misconception that HIV and AIDS affects only gay men and people who use drugs probably came into existence since the time HIV was discovered. Some opine that people who inject drugs through injections and other mediums, and people who have sexual orientation towards their own gender tend to catch the infection. The fact, nevertheless, differs as anyone who leads a sexually risky life and puts himself at the risk of this illness can get infection irrespective of their social status, sexual orientation, race, or age.HIV and AIDS are samePeople believe that HIV and AIDS are the same thing; but HIV is actually the name of the virus that induces infection. On the contrary, AIDS is an accumulation of diseases that an individual acquires when their immunity has collapsed to significantly low levels due to HIV infection. And when an individual’s bodily immunity drops to a considerable extent, potent infections begin to attack the person; eventualizing into an even more severe health condition. This can prove incurable if the HIV positive person is not receiving or given antiretroviral drugs. Concurrently, the situation can be controlled from getting worse if the HIV patient follows up with their physician on a consistent basis and keeps a track on their CD4 counts.
