AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) came into public attention in the early 1980s, around 40 (forty) years ago.
HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) was officially named so in May 1986.
However, the earliest identified case of HIV dates back to 1959, identified in preserved samples of a patient in the Congo. let's talk about HIV.
"HIV+" and "Poz" became terms used by patients and activists to refer to HIV positive people.
Combination Therapy đš (The Cocktail) is the approach of attacking the virus with a mixture of drugs, each disarming the virus in a different way. It does not eliminate infection but it reduces viral loads (the amount of virus present in a patient) to very low levels. In fact, viral load becomes so low that it is UNDETECTABLE by current tests.
TasP (Treatment as Prevention) relies on the fact that treated, UNDETECTABLE patients cannot transmit the virus. It is essential that EVERYONE infected with HIV receives treatment to stop, or at least reduce, the spread of the disease.
PREP (Pre Exposure Prophylaxis) and PEP (Pos Exposure Prophylaxis) are developments of Combination Therapy:
With PREP, people with higher risk of coming into contact with the virus (for WHATEVER reason) can reduce the risks of contracting the infection by taking specific drugs, components of the existing arsenal currently available to combat HIV, as a prophylactic treatment.
With PEP, people who have been in contact with the virus can reduce their chances of acquiring the infection by taking these drugs, a bit like the "morning after pill".
And if you still believe that HIV doesn't concern you, that it's a disease that only affects promiscuous people, mainly gay men, prostitutes and haemophiliacs, you better wake up and get informed:
Mode of transmission - UK, 2019
The majority (91,216 - 92.6%) of people accessing HIV care in 2019 acquired HIV through sexual transmission.
The proportion of people accessing HIV care in 2019 who acquired HIV transmission through heterosexual sex (45,445 - 46.1%) is very similar to the proportion of people who acquired HIV through sex between men (45,771 - 46.4%).
THERE ARE, AS YET, NO DRUGS AGAINST STIGMA AND PREJUDICE.
EDUCATE YOURSELF.
Having HIV is not much of a problem these days. It should be much less so.
LEARNING FROM THE PAST
Tomorrow, December 1st, we look into the past and think of all those that were lost to AIDS.
And we can look into how the AIDS pandemic ran (and is still running) to help us understand that it is nature, and it happens. And it takes a LOOOONG time before it is under control.
Now we have Covid to handle. We kind of just overcame the first hurdle. Omicron wasn't as devastating as first feared but this pandemic is far from over. Most likely, further hurdles and setbacks will come along.
The good news is this time around there is much more investment and collaboration than we had with HIV. There is a lot more interest.
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