We're currently witnessing history in the making. The coronavirus pandemic is, in many ways, a new experience for humanity, as well as for medical professionals around the globe. What's new is the way we're dealing with it together, as the world gets smaller and smaller with each new invention — whether it's the internet, or faster means of transportation. Still, pandemics aren't a new thing. They have been around since the dawn of time.
While we're publishing this article, as a reminder, on National HIV Testing Day, any day of the year that offers you a reminder that you, too, should probably get tested for HIV — without shame or guilt — is a good one. The reason lies in the theme of 2020's HIV Testing Day; knowing your status is better than not knowing, even if your anxiety tells you otherwise.
What is HIV?
We've all heard this story a hundred times before. HIV is a sexually transmitted virus which attacks certain types of white blood cells, making them useless and rendering the patient prone to other diseases and different types of cancer. HIV came from the monkeys, and homosexuals and IV drug users are most affected.
Except that's not true — the tired, rehashed "facts" about HIV that are probably floating around in your head are error-infested.
Most of us vaguely remember high school healthcare classes, where they told us some stuff about HIV, an we attached that stuff to the half-truths we heard somewhere else. Along the way, we got a developed twisted image of this illness, which affects almost 38 million people globally.
While some of it is, sort of, true, there's a lot more to HIV, and you're far from safe even if you don't fall into one of the risk group categories.
For instance, while HIV is more prevalent in men who have sex with men than in the general population, that doesn't mean that homosexuals are more prone to this disease, or that straight people are immune to HIV. And yes, IV drug users are at risk of catching the virus if they share needles and syringes, but that doesn't mean that it's the only way to get infected.
What are the symptoms of HIV?
A lot of people don't even suspect that they could be HIV positive.
One of the reasons for this (aside from the "it's not gonna happen to me" motto) is that HIV doesn't show any specific symptoms. Actually, in 10 to 60 percent of cases, the symptoms are nonexistent. Those who do experience symptoms have a flu-like condition which is usually gone after a couple of weeks. After this initial phase, the disease turns chronic. If left untreated, this stage of HIV lasts for eight years, on average, but can last for more than 20 years. So, aside from occasional sweating, diarrhea, fever and enlarged lymph nodes, it seems like nothing is wrong with people affected.
The only way to know for sure if you're positive is to get tested.
How is HIV diagnosed?
HIV is diagnosed with the help of blood tests. This means that the doctor will need to draw some blood to test you, but the tests performed are different in every other way. The price, the sensitivity and specificity, the duration of the procedure, and the methods used are different. It should be noted that HIV can't be diagnosed immediately after the potential infection. The window during which the tests can't be used to diagnose the disease reliably, is, in the case of HIV, up to six months.
Why should I get a HIV test?
Because if you are HIV-positive, it's better to know.
While this disease is serious, and still incurable (although we've read the news of two patients being cured using STEM cell treatment), HIV is neither a death sentence, nor are things as grim as they used to be in the nineties.
The antiretroviral drugs used to manage HIV now are way more effective than the ones used a few decades ago, and people who take the therapy can live long and almost completely normal lives. Pregnant women can have healthy babies, if they take the medication.
The problem with HIV drugs is that they're both expensive, and unavailable in some regions. But, even without the medication, HIV-positive people can benefit from regular exercises and a healthy diet, and a change in lifestyle. Plus, knowing that you're HIV-positive can help your doctor prevent or monitor other diseases, which HIV/AIDS patients are more vulnerable to.
And, of course, you wouldn't want to infect those dear to you. If taken regularly, the antiretroviral meds help patients become non-infectious to other people, as their viral loads become undetectable.