1 - AIDS is caused by HIV: AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) is a disease caused by HIV, a virus that attacks the human immune system. In people with AIDS the immune system is no longer able to defend the body against disease, and the degenerative process continues until the death of the patient due to so-called "opportunistic" infections. There is no cure or vaccine to permanently eliminate HIV from the body.

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2 - HIV and AIDS are not the same things: People who contract the HIV virus (HIV-positive) are not affected by AIDS, even if they are destined to become infected without proper treatment. However, if the diagnosis is timely and the ARV therapy is followed scrupulously, an HIV-positive person may have an indefinite life expectancy, while remaining a carrier of the virus. Only when the level of infection (viremia) exceeds a certain threshold, the subject is considered to have AIDS.

 

3 - How the virus is transmitted: HIV is transmitted through the exchange of infected body fluids at any stage of the disease. Blood, semen, vaginal secretions and breast milk are fluids that can effectively carry the virus. Saliva is not one of them, so it is a false belief that HIV infection can be transmitted through kissing.

 

4 - Sexual Infection: The most frequent mode of HIV transmission is sexual because during unprotected sexual intercourse there is the maximum possible exchange of bodily fluids, especially when aggravating circumstances occur (genital injuries, venereal diseases, anal sex or violent forms of penetration). Younger girls are particularly susceptible to infection because an immature genital system is physiologically more prone to injuries and infections.

 

5 - HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases: Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are a particularly high-risk factor (5 to 10 times higher than average) of contracting or transmitting HIV. Individuals who are aware of having these infections should only have protected sexual intercourse (with a condom or without penetration), inform their partner and provide treatment.

 

6 - How to avoid sexual infection: The risk of transmitting HIV/AIDS sexually can be reduced if the person abstains from sex (which is absolutely sure), has unprotected sex exclusively with an uninfected partner, has only safe sex (with a condom or without penetration). 

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7 - HIV/AIDS and drugs: Injected drug users are at a very high risk of contracting HIV/AIDS through the exchange of infected syringes and needles. The risk factor is so high that they are advised to always have protected sex with a partner who uses injecting drugs.

For the same reasons needles, razors, surgical instruments or piercing or tattooing equipment that have come into contact with infected blood and have not been sterilized can carry the HIV virus.

 

8 - Who to contact: If a person suspects that he or she has contracted the virus, the only way to find out is to have it tested for HIV at an equipped healthcare facility. If the person is a minor, he/she should know that consulting a health care professional and carrying out the test in full respect of privacy is a right recognised by the International Convention on the Rights of the Child.

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9 - HIV and daily human contact: HIV is not infected with everyday social behavior: it is completely risk-free to shake hands with an HIV-positive person, hug them, share food, clothing or other utensils (except of course those that may have had occasional contact with blood, such as razors and toothbrushes). An HIV-positive person does not transmit the virus by coughing, sneezing, or swimming in the same pool. The belief that mosquitoes can carry HIV by biting sick and healthy people in succession is also unfounded.

 

10 - Solidarity and humanity: The last, and no less important among the things to remember, is that every person deserves welcome and solidarity. People who have contracted HIV/AIDS, are members of a family in which there are people infected, or belong to a category at risk must not be discriminated!!