Myter om HIV/AIDS

Myter om HIV/AIDS

MYTHS ABOUT GETTING OR AVOIDING HIV/AIDS.

You don't risk HIV infection if you stick to fat women/men

Comment : This is absolutely FALSE, anyone no matter his/her body size can be infected with HIV, so the risk is equally big if you are not protected with a Condom.

Virgins are the safest thing on earth.

Comment : Completely FALSE. Virginity does not guarantee any safety of any kind. Using a Condom is much much safer

You don't have AIDS or You are not HIV positive if you look healthy.

Comment : FALSE indeed. You cannot tell whether anyone is HIV positive by merely looking at the person. Someone who is HIV positive or has AIDS can certainly look healthy but the person is HIV positive or has AIDS all the same.

If you touch an HIV positive person you risk HIV infection.

Comment : Certainly FALSE. HIV does NOT infect by mere touch. The virus has to gain access into your blood stream before it establishes an infection.

If you share a bathroom or a toilet with an HIV positive person, you will get AIDS.

Comment : Of course this is FALSE. The virus is not transmitted through the air or through water, it must enter your bloodstream in order for it to cause infection.

If you have tested negative to an HIV test, it means that you will never be HIV positive.

Comment : Utterly FALSE. Testing negative once does not mean that you will not get AIDS later, it only means that you are not infected for now, but you can CERTAINLY be infected later.

If you eat from the same plate as an HIV positive person, you will get AIDS.

Comment : Thoroughly FALSE. HIV does not infect that way at all. It does not infect through food, water, dininig sets or cutlery.

If you and your partner wash your genitals after sex, you can avoid HIV.

Comment : This is FALSE. If the virus has gained access into the blood stream no amount of washing of genitals can keep out the HIV. The best way of preventing the virus from getting into your blood stream is application of a Condom.

If you kiss an HIV positive person, you will get infected with the virus.

Comment : FALSE. As long as there is no bleeding and/or wound in your mouth or your kissing partner's mouth, you will not be infected. Remember that the virus must gain entry into your blood stream before an infection arises.

If your partner is not a prostitute, drug addict or gay, you will never get AIDS.

Comment : Entirely FALSE. AIDS is not restricted to these groups although they are high risk groups. However, all other groups, prostitutes or faithfuls, drug addicts or sober, gays or straights, everybody is a potential source as the virus does not discriminate between homosexuals and heterosexuals, drug addicts or not, prostitutes or otherwise, men or women, young or old.

There are different kinds of HIV : European HIV, African HIV, Asian HIV, Gay HIV. This is why Africans suffer more than Europeans.

Comment : There are variants of the virus but infections and symptoms are the same no matter in which geographical area of the world the infected person lives. There is no such thing as European HIV, African HIV, Asian HIV Gay HIV etc. As a matter of fact, the same type of HIV found in Central and East Africa also occurs in Europe.

Professor Ade Ojeniyi, MD, Dr. Phil., DVM, Cert. Internat. Health, D. Ac.

MYTHS ABOUT BEING HIV POSITIVE - HAVING AIDS.

HIV is not dangerously infectious, many people live with HIV positive partners without getting the virus themselves.

Comment : That HIV is not dangerous is completely FALSE. It may be true that some people may not be infected even though they live with HIV positive partners, but there is no guarantee that exactly you are the one that will not get infected by your HIV positive partner. So take no chances. The best thing you can do is to protect yourself by using a CONDOM AT ALL TIMES.

HIV does not cause AIDS, but causes many other diseases like pneumonia etc.

Comment : FALSE. When HIV weakens, impairs or destroys the immune system, then all sorts of diseases, big and small arise as a result of the gradual failure of the immune system from defending the individual. The net outcome of this is the development of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome otherwise known as AIDS.

If you eat Vitamins everyday, you do not develop AIDS.

Comment : FALSE. Vitamins cannot prevent AIDS. What you can do to effectively prevent AIDS is to use a CONDOM. This will keep the virus away from reaching your blood stream to cause AIDS.

HIV positive children cannot get AIDS.

Comment : FALSE. Anyone that is infected with the virus will ultimately develop AIDS. It is a matter of time before the AIDS disease complex develops when the immune system gradually weakens so it can no longer defend the individual effectively.

Pneumonia and Coughs are sure signs of AIDS.

Comment : FALSE. These symptoms can occur quite independently of AIDS, so they are not absolutely sure signs of AIDS.

Fever and Weight loss are sure signs of AIDS.

Comment : FALSE. You can have fever from a variety of other ailments such as malaria or other infectious diseases apart from HIV/AIDS. Weight loss can occur if you are undernourished for instance or if you suffer from diarrhoea, bowel infections or other nutritional diseases that have nothing to do with AIDS.

There is no cure or medicine for HIV and AIDS.

Comment : TRUE. There is no outright cure for the disease complex. This is why PREVENTION is the only option, and the best way of doing this is to use CONDOM AT ALL TIMES.

Professor Ade Ojeniyi, MD, Dr. Phil., DVM, Cert. Internat. Health, D. Ac.