What do you know about AIDS?
Today is the 34th World AIDS Day and this year's theme is "Life First End AIDS Health Equality". Dr. Park Jian Yun, deputy director of the STD and AIDS Prevention and Control Office of the CDC, suggests that the AIDS epidemic in the city is always in a low epidemic state, but low epidemic does not mean low risk.
Misconceptions about AIDS
Many people who do not know about AIDS have misconceptions about the disease. For example, there are rumors on the Internet that people have been infected with AIDS by needle sticks while riding in a car. In fact, there is a risk of infection from needle sticks containing HIV, but the risk is low, and the probability of infection is about three per thousand. The general public need not panic, even if there is HIV in needles and other places, in a dry environment will soon die, monitoring over the years has not yet encountered the occurrence of cases of HIV infection.
There are also questions about whether HIV-infected people can give birth to healthy children. In fact, it is possible to have a healthy child from an HIV-infected person. AIDS can be transmitted from mother to child, and the probability of mother-to-child transmission is about 1/3 if no interruption measures are taken, but those who are already pregnant with AIDS can control their viral load with medication during pregnancy and undergo mother-to-child interruption treatment. If these points are taken into account, the chance of the baby being infected with HIV will be very low.
Some people wonder, "If you have AIDS, you will die? Although there is no vaccine to prevent AIDS and there is no effective drug or method to completely cure the disease, the available treatments and drugs can do a good job of keeping the virus in the body of a person infected with AIDS at a low level, so AIDS is also known as a chronic infectious disease. If a person is infected with HIV, he or she may look like a normal person or feel healthy for a long time.
What to do if you suspect infection
What should I do if I have high-risk behavior and suspect HIV infection? It is important to note that people living with HIV look like normal people from the outside and have no particular symptoms or signs. Some infected people may experience flu-like symptoms such as fever, fatigue, headache, laryngitis, diarrhea, etc. at the beginning of the infection, but they are more easily ignored. To confirm the infection, medical testing is necessary. The "Easy Test" is an HIV antibody consultation and testing platform built by the Tianjin Center for Disease Control and Prevention for the public. The testing process and results are completely confidential, and you can book free HIV antibody consultation and testing services through the cell phone WeChat search "Easy Test" app.
The test is mainly divided into professional institutions testing and self-testing. Each district CDC in the city has a voluntary counseling and testing clinic (VCT), which can provide free counseling and testing services. All medical institutions above the second level in the city can provide testing services. Groups of social organizations that carry out AIDS prevention can also provide testing counseling and referral services.
If you do not go to a professional institution, you can also purchase HIV testing reagents in pharmacies or on the Internet to test yourself. It is important to note that self-testers may have some errors in sample collection, testing process and understanding of results due to lack of training. A positive self-test does not confirm a diagnosis of HIV infection, and testing must be done at the CDC or a regular medical institution. A negative self-test, in general, indicates that there is no HIV infection, but because of the window period, it is recommended that counseling and testing be done at a CDC or regular medical facility after 3 months of high-risk behavior.
In addition, taking a blocking drug within 72 hours after having high-risk sex can reduce the risk of HIV infection. Before taking the medication, you need to go to the Second People's Hospital designated outpatient clinic by the medical staff to assess the risk of infection and select the medication, which is generally taken for one month, while regular follow-up testing is required. (Reporter Liu Bo)
Source: Tonight Newspaper