Ten Common Myths About HIV And AIDS | Sexual Health articles | Family Health center

The majority of people alive on earth today can't remember a time when there wasn't an AIDS pandemic. But despite 30 years of experience with the disease and enormous, world-wide education efforts, myths and misconceptions about the disease persist.

Here are 10 of the most common misunderstandings about HIV and AIDS, and the facts everyone needs to know:

1. Only gay men get AIDS.

World-wide, the overwhelming majority of people who have HIV or AIDS contracted it through straight sex.

Different locations, however, have different groups in which the virus is most common. AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) can affect people of any gender, sexual orientation, or age. It is important to understand that AIDS is a condition caused by advanced HIV infection (Human Immunodeficiency Virus).

In one area, the most commonly infected group may be men who have sex with female prostitutes who pass the infection on to their wives. In another area, the most commonly HIV-positive group may be men who have sex with men. In yet another area, the virus may be most common among intravenous drug users.

2. Young people can't get HIV.

In the United States, the fastest growing HIV-positive population is males aged 13 to 24, about 25,000 new cases a year. In this group, about 80% of new cases among males occur during sexual intercourse with other males in the same age group. About 57% of the young males getting HIV are African-American, about 20% are Hispanic, and about 20% are white.

The greatest number of new cases of HIV in the US occur in young adults aged 20 to 24.

Engaging in unprotected sexual activities, having multiple sexual partners, engaging in high-risk behaviors such as sharing needles for drug use, or being exposed to HIV-positive blood or bodily fluids can all increase the risk of contracting HIV, regardless of age.

3. You can't get HIV through oral sex.

Actually, any kind of sex with a partner can transmit HIV, but there are vastly different risks with different acts:

If you share a syringe to shoot up drugs with an HIV-positive person, your risk of contracting HIV from that act is 1 in 150.

If you are the passive partner in unprotected anal intercourse with an HIV-positive man, your risk of contracting HIV from that act is up to 1 in 30.

If you are the active partner in unprotected anal intercourse with an HIV-positive man or woman, your risk of contracting HIV from that act is up to 1 in 250.

If you are a man having unprotected penile-vaginal intercourse with an HIV-positive woman, you risk of contracting HIV from that act is up to 1 in 250.

If you are a woman having unprotected penile-vaginal intercourse with an HIV-positive man, your risk of contracting HIV from that act is 1 in 300.

If you perform oral sex on an HIV-positive partner, your risk of contracting HIV from that act is up to 1 in 500.

If you are a man receiving oral sex from an HIV-positive partner, your risk of contracting HIV from that act is up to 1 in 20,000.

Performing or receiving cunnilingus (oral sex on a woman) may result in HIV infection, but this is only likely if there is an existing infection in the gums or mouth of the person performing it.

Various forms of mutual masturbation are only likely to transmit the disease if body fluids fall on broken skin.

Just because it is highly unlikely that you will get HIV if you engage in a specific kind of unprotected sex, however, doesn't mean it's impossible.

There are people who got infected with HIV the very first time, and in some cases, the only time, they had sex with an infected partner.

Seven More Myths About HIV Busted

Just as wrong is the idea you can catch HIV without intimate contact.

4. You can catch HIV from someone who has AIDS through casual contact.

You can't catch HIV from someone by:

Using the same drinking glass.

Using the same toothbrush.

Handling their bed linens or laundry.

Hugging or shaking hands with a a person who has HIV.

Touching a door knob or toilet seat after someone who has HIV.

Using the same water fountain.

Using the same furniture or gym equipment.

Dipping a chip into the same bowl of dip.

Handing them a pencil, a plate, a book, or similar object.

Wearing their clothes after they have been laundered.

However, that doesn't mean that no precautions are needed in living with or taking care of someone who has AIDS. Many people who have AIDS acquire other infections, and sometimes those infections can be transmitted by personal contact. Syphilis and herpes, for example, are spread through contact, and require much more stringent precautions. Speak with your physician for guidance on universal precautions and additional precautions that may be needed in your particular situation.

5. If I'm straight, and I don't use intravenous street drugs, I can't get HIV.

About 16% of new cases of HIV among men and up to 78% of new cases of HIV in women occur in heterosexuals who don't use drugs.

The transmission of HIV is most likely during rough sex, but sometimes the sheer number of exposures (there are people who have sex with hundreds or even thousands of partners) leads to infection.

6. AIDS was a government-sponsored program of genocide.

This rumor has been going around for about 20 or 30 years--and if you seriously pursued it 20 or 30 years ago, you quickly found yourself in trouble with authorities and getting advice to keep quiet. However, even if AIDS were created in a government lab to wipe out gays, or Blacks, or Hispanics, or to stimulate the pharmacuetical industry,

The real question is whether it's a threat to you, and how you can keep it from being a threat to you.

7. Two people who both have HIV can have unprotected sexual intercourse without problems.

This attitude is very common among gay men in the USA, but it's based on a fallacious understanding of the disease. If you are on medications for HIV, your medications have been fine-tuned for your strain of the virus. Having sex with someone who has a different strain of the virus can make your medications ineffective.

Even worse, HIV-positive people who have unprotected sex with other HIV-positive people often develop the idea that the low risk of transmitting the disease in any given act of sexual intercourse makes it safe for them to have unprotected sex with others who don't have the virus yet. Or young people want to "get it over with." It's simply never safe to have unprotected sex with someone has HIV--even if you do, yourself. Condoms and dental dams for oral sex are simply a must.

8. You can't get HIV the first time you have sex.

Unfortunately, you can. And if the first sexual experience is physically traumatic, transmission is more likely.

Engaging in unprotected vaginal or anal sex, especially if one or both partners are living with HIV or have an unknown HIV status, carries a risk of transmission. It is important to note that HIV can be present in the body even if the infected individual does not show any symptoms.

9. People who don't have a detectable viral load (that is, who are getting effective AIDS treament) can't spread the virus.

Unfortunately, even if a blood test shows that the virus is at undetectable levels due to effective treatment, there may still be virus in semen or vaginal secretions.

You are less likely to spread HIV when your viral load is "zero," but it's still possible.

Read More: Living with AIDS

10. Once you get HIV, your life is over.

HIV isn't yet a curable disease, but it's a lot easier to manage than it used to be. There are even single-pill programs available for treating some strains and some stages of the disease; it used to necessary to take up to dozens of pills daily on precise schedules. Even if you develop AIDS, you may have decades of productive and enjoyable life.

Medical treatment, however, is essential. While there are a few rare individuals who have gone into remission from the disease because of their unusual genetics, there is no herbal remedy, no treatment based on radionics or radiation, no alternative that gets rid of the virus for good. In combination with other treatments, however, complementary and alternative therapies can sometimes be a good investment of time, money, and effort, but it's essential to work with your doctors rather than against them.

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