September 2023   💚 

HIV : 

HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a virus that attacks cells that help the body fight infection, making a person more vulnerable to other infections and diseases. It is spread by contact with certain bodily fluids of a person with HIV, most commonly during unprotected sex (sex without a condom or HIV medicine to prevent or treat HIV), or through sharing injection drug equipment. 

If left untreated, HIV can lead to the disease AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome).

The human body can’t get rid of HIV and no effective HIV cure exists. So, once you have HIV, you have it for life.

Luckily, however, effective treatment with HIV medicine (called antiretroviral therapy or ART) is available. If taken as prescribed, HIV medicine can reduce the amount of HIV in the blood (also called the viral load) to a very low level. This is called viral suppression. If a person’s viral load is so low that a standard lab can’t detect it, this is called having an undetectable viral load. People with HIV who take HIV medicine as prescribed and get and keep an undetectable viral load can live long and healthy lives and will not transmit HIV to their HIV-negative partners through sex.

In addition, there are effective methods to prevent getting HIV through sex or drug use, including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), medicine people at risk for HIV take to prevent getting HIV from sex or injection drug use, and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), HIV medicine taken within 72 hours after a possible exposure to prevent the virus from taking hold. Learn about other ways to prevent getting or transmitting HIV.

AIDS : 

AIDS is the late stage of HIV infection that occurs when the body’s immune system is badly damaged because of the virus.

In the U.S., most people with HIV do not develop AIDS because taking HIV medicine as prescribed stops the progression of the disease.

A person with HIV is considered to have progressed to AIDS when:

the number of their CD4 cells falls below 200 cells per cubic millimeter of blood (200 cells/mm3). (In someone with a healthy immune system, CD4 counts are between 500 and 1,600 cells/mm3.) OR

they develop one or more opportunistic infections regardless of their CD4 count.

Without HIV medicine, people with AIDS typically survive about 3 years. Once someone has a dangerous opportunistic illness, life expectancy without treatment falls to about 1 year. HIV medicine can still help people at this stage of HIV infection, and it can even be lifesaving. But people who start HIV medicine soon after they get HIV experience more benefits—that’s why HIV testing is so important.

HIV TEST : 

The only way to know for sure if you have HIV is to get tested. Testing is relatively simple. You can ask your health care provider for an HIV test. Many medical clinics, substance abuse programs, community health centers, and hospitals offer them too. If you test positive, you can be connected to HIV care to start treatment as soon as possible. If you test negative, you have the information you need to take steps to prevent getting HIV in the future.

To find an HIV testing location near you, use the HIV Services Locator. 

Transmit HIV : 

You can only get HIV by coming into direct contact with certain body fluids from a person with HIV who has a detectable viral load. These fluids are:

Blood

Semen (cum) and pre-seminal fluid (pre-cum)

Rectal fluids

Vaginal fluids

Breast milk

For transmission to occur, the HIV in these fluids must get into the bloodstream of an HIV-negative person through a mucous membrane (found in the rectum, vagina, mouth, or tip of the penis), through open cuts or sores, or by direct injection (from a needle or syringe).

People with HIV who take HIV medicine as prescribed and get and keep an undetectable viral load can live long and healthy lives and will not transmit HIV to their HIV-negative partners through sex.

HIV Spread from Person to Person : 

HIV can only be spread through specific activities. In the United States, the most common ways are:

🔹 Having vaginal or anal sex with someone who has HIV without using a condom the right way every time or taking medicines to prevent or treat HIV. Anal sex is riskier than vaginal sex for HIV transmission. Learn more about the HIV risk associated with specific sexual activities.

🔹 Sharing injection drug equipment, such as needles, syringes, or other drug injection equipment (“works”) with someone who has HIV because these items may have blood in them, and blood can carry HIV. People who inject hormones, silicone, or steroids can also get or transmit HIV by sharing needles, syringes, or other injection equipment. Learn more about HIV and injection drug use.

Less common ways.:

🔹 An HIV-positive person transmitting HIV to their baby during pregnancy, birth, or breastfeeding. However, the use of HIV medicines and other strategies have helped lower the risk of perinatal transmission of HIV to less than 1% in the United States. 

🔹 Being exposed to HIV through a needlestick or sharps injury. This is a risk mainly for health care workers. The risk is very low.

HIV spreads only in rare cases :

🔹 Having oral sex. Oral sex carries little to no risk for getting or transmitting HIV. Theoretically, it is possible if an HIV-positive man ejaculates in his partner’s mouth during oral sex. Factors that may increase the risk of transmitting HIV through oral sex are oral ulcers, bleeding gums, genital sores, and the presence of other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), which may or may not be visible. However, the risk is still extremely low, and much lower than with anal or vaginal sex.

🔹 Receiving blood transfusions, blood products, or organ/tissue transplants that are contaminated with HIV. The risk is extremely small these days because of rigorous testing of the U.S. blood supply and donated organs and tissues. (And you can’t get HIV from donating blood. Blood collection procedures are highly regular and very safe.)

🔹 Being bitten by a person with HIV. Each of the very small number of documented cases has involved severe trauma with extensive tissue damage and the presence of blood. This rare transmission can occur through contact between broken skin, wounds, or mucous membranes and blood or body fluids from a person who has HIV. There is no risk of transmission if the skin is not broken. There are no documented cases of HIV being transmitted through spitting as HIV is not transmitted through saliva.

🔹 Deep, open-mouth kissing if both partners have sores or bleeding gums and blood from the HIV-positive partner gets into the bloodstream of the HIV-negative partner. HIV is not spread through saliva.

🔹 Eating food that has been pre-chewed by a person with HIV. The only known cases are among infants. HIV transmission can occur when the blood from an HIV-positive caregiver’s mouth mixes with food while chewing and an infant eats it. However,  you can’t get HIV by consuming food handled by someone with HIV.

HIV is not spread by : 

🔹 Air or water

🔹 Mosquitoes, ticks, or other insects

🔹 Saliva, tears, sweat, feces, or urine that is not mixed with the blood of a person with HIV

🔹 Shaking hands; hugging; sharing toilets; sharing dishes, silverware, or drinking glasses; or engaging in closed-mouth or “social” kissing with a person with HIV

🔹 Drinking fountains

🔹 Other sexual activities that don’t involve the exchange of body fluids (for example, touching).

🔹 Donating blood

HIV can’t be passed through healthy, unbroken skin. 

Risk of HIV Different for Different Groups : 

HIV can affect anyone regardless of sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, gender, age, or where they live. However, certain groups of people in the United States are more likely to get HIV than others because of particular factors, including the communities in which they live, what subpopulations they belong to, and their risk behaviors.

Communities. When you live in a community where many people have HIV, the chance of being exposed to the virus by having sex or sharing needles or other injection equipment with someone who has HIV is higher. You can use CDC’s HIV, STD, hepatitis, and tuberculosis Atlas Plus to see the percentage of people with HIV (“prevalence”) in different U.S. counties and states, as well as other data. Within any community, the prevalence of HIV can vary among different subpopulations.

Subpopulations. In the United States, gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men are the population most affected by HIV. According to CDC, of the 30,635 new HIV diagnoses in the U.S. in 2020, 68% (20,758) were among gay and bisexual men.a By race/ethnicity, Blacks/African Americans and Hispanics/Latinos are disproportionately affected by HIV compared to other racial and ethnic groups. Also, transgender women who have sex with men are among the groups at highest risk for HIV infection. People who inject drugs remain at significant risk for getting HIV as well.

Risk behaviors. In the United States, HIV is spread mainly through having anal or vaginal sex or sharing needles or syringes with an HIV-positive partner. Anal sex is the highest-risk behavior. Fortunately, there are more HIV prevention tools available today than ever before. These include using condoms correctly, every time you have sex; pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), medicine people at risk for HIV take to prevent getting HIV from sex or injection drug use; and treatment as prevention, a method in which people with HIV take HIV medicine as prescribed to achieve and maintain an undetectable viral load, a level of HIV in the blood so low that it can’t be detected in a standard blood test. People with HIV who take HIV medicine (called antiretroviral therapy or ART) as prescribed and get and keep an undetectable viral load can live long and healthy lives and will not transmit HIV to their HIV-negative partners through sex.

Acute HIV Infection & Symptoms : 

Within 2 to 4 weeks after infection with HIV, about two-thirds of people will have a flu-like illness. This is the body’s natural response to HIV infection.

Flu-like symptoms can include : 

🔹 Fever

🔹 Chills

🔹 Rash

🔹 Night sweats

🔹 Muscle aches

🔹 Sore throat

🔹 Fatigue

🔹 Swollen lymph nodes

🔹 Mouth ulcers

These symptoms can last anywhere from a few days to several weeks. But some people do not have any symptoms at all during this early stage of HIV.

💙

National HIV/AIDS

and Aging Awareness Day

September 18

With advances in effective HIV treatment, people with HIV are living longer, healthier lives. National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day (NHAAD) was launched on September 18, 2008, by The AIDS Institute. This day raises awareness about the complex issues related to HIV prevention, care, and treatment for adults aged 50 or older. NHAAD emphasizes the need for prevention, research, and data focused on the aging community and increased medical understanding of the aging process and its effects on older people with and affected by HIV.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than half of people with HIV in the United States are aged 50 or older. Approximately 16 percent of new HIV diagnoses occurred in this age group in 2021. People aging with HIV can face treatment-related challenges, such as drug interactions between HIV medicines and medicines used for other conditions. Also, the risk for comorbidities such as cardiovascular disease, some cancers, bone fractures/osteoporosis, liver disease, kidney disease, neurocognitive decline, and aging-related frailty is higher among people with HIV than among those without HIV.

Research to identify and address the long-term health needs of people aging with HIV across the care continuum is critical to support this growing population and their care providers. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) supports basic, translational, and clinical research across NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices (ICOs) to increase understanding of HIV-associated comorbidities and their prevention and management, as well as their relationship to aging and HIV. The NIH Office of AIDS Research (OAR) launched the HIV and Aging Signature Program in 2022 to meet increasing public health needs of people aging with HIV and to catalyze interdisciplinary research and training at the intersection of HIV and aging. OAR has convened a working group co-led by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) that endeavors to link NIH, people aging with HIV, researchers, and relevant U.S. government partners in discussions to foster collaboration, identify research gaps and opportunities, facilitate integrative research and training, and promote faster implementation of research results.

Check out these HIVinfo resources to learn more :

🔹bHIV and Older People (Fact sheet)

🔹 Living with HIV and AIDS (HIV Source)

🔹 Older Adults (HIV Source)  

Social Media : 

Use the hashtags #NHAAD and #HIVandAging to follow the conversation on social media. Check out the “Use Digital Communication” resources on the HIV.gov National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day webpage for tips on how to amplify the conversation and spread awareness on social media. Download graphics and find sample social media posts to help raise awareness of HIV, address stigma and other barriers to care, and encourage older adults to get tested and know their status on CDC’s National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day webpage. Find additional downloadable social media graphics on the National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day webpage from The AIDS Institute.

The path that ends AIDS : 

UNAIDS Global AIDS Update 2023 🟩  

This report makes clear that there is a path to end AIDS. Taking that path will help ensure preparedness to address other pandemic challenges, and advance progress across the Sustainable Development Goals. The data and real-world examples in the report make it very clear what that path is. It is not a mystery. It is a choice. Some leaders are already following the path—and succeeding. It is inspiring to note that Botswana, Eswatini, Rwanda, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zimbabwe have already achieved the 95–95–95 targets, and at least 16 other countries (including eight in sub-Saharan Africa) are close to doing so.  

FAQs : AIDS Awareness, September 2023  

1.   Why do we celebrate World AIDS Vaccine Day?

Ans:-   World AIDS Vaccine Day is a chance to thank the volunteers, community members, health professionals, scientists who are working together to find a safe and effective preventive HIV vaccine

. Moreover, it is also a time to educate communities about the importance of preventive HIV vaccine research.

2.   What is the theme of World AIDS Vaccine Day?

Ans:-   However, there is no specific theme

 to observe World AIDS Vaccine Day.

3.   Is HIV vaccine available?

Ans:-   No.There is currently no vaccine available that will prevent HIV infection or treat those who have it

. However, scientists are working to develop one. NIH is investing in multiple approaches to prevent HIV, including a safe and effective preventive HIV vaccine.

4.   Is HIV injection available in India? 

Ans:-  HYDERABAD: Aurobindo Pharma Limited has inked a voluntary sub-licensing agreement with the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), a UN backed public health organization, for developing and marketing a generic version of Cabotegravir tablets & long acting injectables, which was originally developed by ViiV Healthcare. 

5.    How many injections for HIV?

Ans:-   Every other month, and you’re. good to go. CABENUVA is given every other month or monthly by a healthcare provider as 2 injections

, initially 1 month apart for 2 months.

6.   What is the name of the HIV vaccine ? 

Ans:-   HIV vaccine

 is a therapeutic vaccine designed to stimulate an immune response against a variety of HIV antigens in patients with HIV. It consists of a suspension of killed HIV-1 virus particles. Remune is not currently FDA approved. HIV vaccine is available under the following different brand names: Remune.

7.   What is the name of HIV vaccine in India?

Ans:-   The first candidate vaccine to be tested in India will be modified vaccinia Ankara

, a live attenuated vaccine that will target HIV-1 subtype C. “This subtype is predominant in India, accounting for nearly 91% of cases,” said Dr Jean-Louis Excler, medical director of the initiative in India.

8.   What is the new HIV vaccine?

Ans:-   The new and unique vaccine design, described in a paper in Nature Communications on April 9, 2023, uses tiny protein “nanoparticles” to display multiple copies of HIV’s surface protein Env

, thus presenting itself to the immune system much as real HIV particles would without causing HIV infection.

9.   What is HIV vaccine used for?

Ans:-   A preventive HIV vaccine is given to people who do not have HIV, with the goal of preventing HIV infection in the future

. The vaccine teaches the person’s immune system to recognize and effectively fight HIV in case the person is ever exposed to HIV. 

10.   Who made HIV vaccine?

Ans:-   On January 17, 2022 IAVI and Moderna…

launched a phase I trial of a HIV vaccine with mRNA technology.

11.   Is there a vaccine for a HIV?

Ans:-   There are no vaccines to prevent or treat HIV

, but people with HIV can benefit from vaccines against other diseases.