Introduction to HIV/AIDS

Becky Kuhn, M.D., co-founder of Global Lifeworks, covers critical basic information about HIV and AIDS. HIV is a virus that causes the disease AIDS, which can be fatal. There are treatments but no cure. HIV is spread by contact between body fluids (blood, semen, vaginal fluids, and breast milk) and mucous membranes (eyes, nose, mouth, and genitals). It is spread by sexual contact, injection drugs users sharing needles, from mother to child during childbirth or nursing, and (early on during the epidemic) by receiving blood transfusions. You can reduce your risk by abstaining from sex before marriage, being faithful to a single partner and using a condom and/or dental dam if you are sexually active, and by never injecting drugs or by never sharing needles if you do. It can take up to six months after exposure to HIV for a person to test HIV positive; even before they test HIV postive, the infected person can spread the disease to others. A doctor can prescribe antiretroviral (ARV) drugs to prevent HIV from progressing to clinical AIDS. It is critical to take every ARV dose on schedule to avoid developing a resistant strain of HIV. If a person is HIV positive, they still need to practice safer sex to avoid spreading HIV to others and to avoid contracting a different, resistant strain of HIV. This video refutes misinformation from the "Lee Evans HIV Tests" video. This video is freely downloadable from http://www.archive.org/details/av_intro . Disabled accessibility: The transcript for this and many other AIDSvideos.org videos can be downloaded from http://aidsvideos.org/translate.shtml . Visit http://www.GlobalLifeworks.org and http://AIDSvideos.org to learn more. [Do you want to help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS? Are you fluent in a language other than English? Then volunteer to translate our videos into other languages! Click http://AIDSvideos.org/translate.shtml to to learn how you can help!!! © Copyright 2006-2011 Global Lifeworks. All rights reserved. This work is licensed to be used for non-commercial purposes under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/.]

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• HIV
• AIDS
• prevention
• antiretroviral
• abstinence
• faithful
• condom
• virus
• education
• care
• orphan
• charity

[CrystalCastles2o11]

@AIDSvideos

No my friend ...HIV is primarily transmitted through gay and lesbo sex.

And condoms cant protect you ...HIV - 0.01 mcr ...Condom - 5.0 mcr.

My mother work in red-line of AIDS/HIV(Europe).

When you hetero...and you have only one partner...you in safety.

But we know what a lot gays cant have one partner...and they dont like use condoms and they love a much drugs.

[AIDSvideos]

@CrystalCastles2o11: You are displaying (1) bias against gays and lesbians, and (2) ignorance of the facts of HIV transmission patterns. (A) The Padian study showed that "typical use" of condoms reduced heterosexual couple HIV transmission by 85% and perfect use for all acts eliminated it completely. (B) You appear to be citing the old canard about latex pores. A single sheet of latex does have pores, but a condom is made of multiple sheets (layers) of latex, and the pores don't overlap.

[AIDSvideos]

@CrystalCastles2o11: Moreover, condoms are electrically tested for integrity before being shipped. Bottom line: condoms, used correctly every time, GREATLY reduce the risk of HIV transmission. That fact has been proven beyond any doubt in numerous scientific studies. (C) The rate of HIV transmission between lesbians is extremely low. (D) Being heterosexual with a single partner does not mean you're safe from HIV. If your partner has HIV, you are at risk.

[checkme42]

can u get aids when u eat a gals vagina

[AIDSvideos]

@checkme42: Yes. See our video "Some Ways You Can Contract HIV and the Risk of Each One" for estimates of the relative riskiness of various sexual practices.

[CrystalCastles2o11]

AIDS/HIV infection:

~50% - gays(men)

~35% - lesbians(women)

~10% - bisexuals.

~5% - victims who was infected from bisexuals.

[AIDSvideos]

@CrystalCastles2o11: Worldwide, HIV is primarily transmitted through heterosexual sex. In the U.S., 53% of new HIV/AIDS diagnoses in 2006 were among men who contracted it through sex with men, 31% heterosexual, 12% IDU, 4% MSM/IDU. (CDC, "HIV in the United States," Last Modified: July 20, 2010, accessed 26 October 2011) Don't know where you got your stats about lesbians, but don't trust that source next time.

[AIDSvideos]

@SnickleFritz79: What religion do you consider yourself to be a member of? The Church of Hate I suppose? For my part, I am a Christian. I believe that: (1) we are ALL God's children and God takes no joy when people sicken and die; (2) God wants us to be healthy and whole, not sick; (3) God loves all his children; (4) God hates hate; (5) people like you who spew hatred and vitriol for others have the most to fear from God. I'll pray for you.

[alalande123]

I ain't fucking again

[BigKahunaz888]

@CrystalCastles2o11 you conspicuously left out IV drug users. Clearly that is a significant part of the HIV population.

[bdbtbb]

That is the clearest and most cogent explanation of the HIV/AIDS virus I have heard for years - also good to hear sound, practical, uninhibited advice about how to reduce or eliminate the risk of infection depending on your lifestyle.

Very impressive.