How do you get infected with HIV? Methods of transmission of AIDS (HIV) infection. Is HIV transmitted through oral sex: let's turn to statistics

What are the main routes of HIV transmission?

Main routes of HIV transmission:

• unprotected sexual contact with an HIV-infected person;
• sharing injection equipment (syringes, needles) with an HIV-infected person;
• vertical route of transmission of HIV from an HIV-infected mother to her child (during pregnancy, childbirth or after childbirth, through breast milk).

Other transmission routes are much less common. Among them, HIV infection should be noted through transfusion of blood or its products in countries where there is no mandatory testing of all donor blood samples for HIV. Extremely rare cases of infection when infected blood enters an open wound or mucous membrane. HIV is not transmitted through daily household contact, such as sharing a bathroom and toilet or drinking from the same cup. In healthcare facilities, there has not been a single case of infection of a healthcare worker after contact with saliva, urine or blood of an HIV-infected patient on intact skin.

Risk factors.

Sexual contacts.

Among all the possible ways of HIV transmission, sexual contact remains in the first place. A prerequisite for this is direct contact with biological fluids containing the virus. The highest concentrations of viral particles are found in the blood and seminal fluid. The risk of infecting a partner during sexual contact increases significantly if the partner had a pronounced immunodeficiency or a symptomatic stage of HIV infection. It is important to note that an accurate calculation of the likelihood of infection after sexual contact with an HIV-infected partner or partner is not possible. The risk of infection is influenced by many factors that are difficult to account for, including the type of sexual contact and the presence of sexually transmitted infections.

In situations where, for several days or weeks, there is an exchange of biological fluids between many people, such as blood, vaginal secretions, semen, it is highly likely that among these people there will be a person who has recently been infected with HIV, the risk of infection from which is very high. The late stages of the disease are also characterized by a high risk of transmission of the virus. It has been found that there is a negligible risk of contracting HIV through sexual contact with HIV-infected people who are receiving antiretroviral therapy, if they strictly adhere to the drug regimen, undergo regular medical examinations and do not have any symptoms of other sexually transmitted diseases.

Use of common injection equipment.

The use of shared injection equipment (needles, syringes, containers) is the most dangerous route of HIV transmission among injecting drug users (IDUs). There is a significant amount of blood residue on the items exchanged between IDUs while injecting drugs, so this route of transmission is characterized by a high risk of HIV infection. Thanks to needle exchange programs, methadone substitution therapy and many other social programs and prevention measures, the frequency of HIV transmission has decreased significantly.

Vertical transmission of HIV (from mother to child).

The probability of having an HIV-infected child in an HIV-infected mother in the absence of preventive measures is up to 40%.

Since 1995, mother-to-child transmission of HIV has dropped to 1–2%.

This rate of HIV transmission has been achieved through antiretroviral therapy in pregnant women and preventive measures, including elective pre-labor caesarean section, post-exposure antiretroviral chemoprophylaxis in newborns, and the use of breast-milk substitutes when breastfeeding is completely abstained.

Who is most at risk of HIV infection - men or women?

Women most at risk of contracting HIV. The probability of infection of a woman from a man during sexual contact is much higher (about three times) than a man from a woman.

This is explained as follows:

• the volume of seminal fluid is 2-4 times greater than the amount of secretion secreted by a woman, which means that the number of viral particles entering the female body is also greater;
• the surface area through which the virus can penetrate is much larger in a woman;
• in the seminal fluid, HIV is contained in a higher concentration than in the secretions of the vagina;
• hygienic procedures after sexual intercourse in men are easier and more effective than in women.

Can you get HIV through oral sex?

Such cases have been reported, but for a woman, the risk is higher due to the fact that the virus is usually found in semen, although not in the same concentration as in the blood. But men can also be infected. The higher the concentration of the virus in a particular body fluid (semen, blood, vaginal secretions), the easier the virus is transmitted by contact. Therefore, it is very important what stage of the disease the partner is in: if she was recently infected, then the risk is much less than if she was in the AIDS stage.

During oral sex, the virus is much less likely than during normal intercourse: the mucous membranes of the tongue, lips and oral cavity are less susceptible to disturbances than the mucous membranes of the genital organs.

Can you get HIV by kissing?

There is only one known example of HIV transmission through kissing in the US. It was there that studies were conducted that found out why infection almost never occurs with a kiss. HIV in small concentrations can be found in saliva. Saliva contains proteins that reduce the effect of virus proteins - a healthy immune system has time to destroy the virus before it has time to infiltrate the cells of the body. So it is very difficult to get infected through a kiss.

However, such a danger exists - if both partners have any damage to the mucosa, which happens with periodontal disease, stomatitis, inflammation of the mucous membranes or after dental operations. In these cases, the virus is transmitted not through saliva, but through the blood.

Transmission of HIV through blood.

The number of HIV infections through transfusion of blood and blood products has decreased significantly around the world, but the risk of transmission through this route still remains. In Belarus, blood and its products are considered completely safe. Since 1985, all donated blood has been tested for antibodies to HIV-1, and since 1989 also for antibodies to HIV-2. Over the past few years, donated blood has been additionally tested by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method to identify donors who are in the "seroconversion window" period, when the enzyme immunoassay for HIV antibodies still gives a negative result. People whose lifestyles are associated with an increased risk of HIV infection, including active injecting drug users, people who frequently change sexual partners, and migrants from countries with a high prevalence of HIV infection, are not allowed to donate blood.

Insects.

The results of studies that examined the possibility of HIV transmission through insects were unequivocal - this is impossible. In Africa, in areas with high HIV prevalence and large insect populations, the hypothesis of the possibility of HIV transmission by insects is also not supported.

Department of HIV/AIDS Prevention

Epidemiologist

Svetlana Sergeenko

Infection with HIV infection can occur when the blood, semen, vaginal secretions of an infected person enter the bloodstream of an uninfected person: either directly or through the mucous membranes. It is possible to infect an infant from the mother during pregnancy (intrauterine), during childbirth or during breastfeeding. No other routes of HIV infection have been reported.

Proportion of HIV infections by different modes of transmission

All reported cases of HIV infection in the world are distributed by route of infection as follows:

• sexually - 70-80%;
• injection drugs - 5-10%;
• occupational infection of health workers - less than 0.01%;
• transfusion of infected blood - 3-5%;
• from a pregnant or nursing mother to a child - 5-10%.

In different countries and regions, different routes of infection predominate (homosexual, heterosexual, injecting drugs). In Russia, according to the Russian Scientific and Methodological Center for the Prevention and Control of AIDS, in 1996-99, the route of infection through injecting drugs prevailed (78.6% of all known cases).

Risk for healthcare workers

At the end of 1996, the US Centers for Disease Control recorded 52 cases of occupational infection of health workers during the entire period of the epidemic in the country. Of these, 45 infections occurred through needle sticks, and the rest when infected blood or laboratory fluid with concentrated virus got into wounds on the skin, eyes, mouth or mucous membranes. The average statistical risk of infection was calculated: with an accidental needle stick, it is 0.3% (1 in 300), if the virus enters damaged skin, eyes or mucous membranes - 0.1% (1 in 1,000).

Sexual risk

It is estimated that the average risk of HIV transmission as a result of a single unprotected anal contact for the "receiving" partner is from 0.8% to 3.2% (from 8 to 32 cases per 1,000). With a single vaginal contact, the statistical risk for a woman is from 0.05% to 0.15% (from 5 to 15 cases per 10,000).

• for the "accepting" partner, when the second partner is HIV+, - 0.82%;
• for the "accepting" partner, when the HIV status of the second partner is unknown, - 0.27%;
• for the "introducing" partner - 0.06%.

Factors that increase the risk of infection through sexual contact

• The risk of infection for both partners increases with concomitant sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Sexually transmitted diseases are rightly called "virus gateways" because they cause ulcers or inflammation of the genital mucosa. At the same time, a large number of lymphocytes enter the surface of the mucous membrane, especially those that serve as a target for HIV (T-4 lymphocytes). Inflammation also causes changes in the cell membrane, which increases the risk of virus entry.
• The probability of infection of a woman from a man during sexual contact is about three times higher than that of a man from a woman. In a woman, during unprotected intercourse, a large amount of the virus contained in the seminal fluid of a man enters the body. The surface area through which the virus can enter is much larger in a woman (vaginal mucosa). In addition, HIV is found in higher concentrations in seminal fluid than in vaginal secretions. The risk for a woman increases with STDs, erosion of the cervix, wounds or inflammation of the mucous membrane, with menstruation, as well as with a rupture of the hymen.
• The risk of infection for both men and women increases if the partner has cervical erosion. For a woman - because erosion serves as an "entrance gate" for the virus. For a man - since in an HIV-positive woman, erosion can lead to exfoliation of cells containing the virus from the cervix.
• The risk of infection during anal contact is much higher than during vaginal contact, since there is a high probability of injury to the mucous membrane of the anus and rectum, which creates a "gateway" for infection.

Risk of mother-to-child transmission of HIV

HIV infection can be transmitted from an infected mother to an infant during pregnancy (through the placenta), at birth (through contact with the mother's blood), or during breastfeeding (through breast milk). This is called vertical or perinatal transmission of HIV infection. Factors affecting the risk of vertical transmission of HIV:

• Maternal health status: The higher the level of the virus in the mother's blood or vaginal secretions and the lower her immune status, the higher the risk of transmitting the virus to the child. If the mother has painful symptoms, the risk is higher.
• The living conditions of the mother: nutrition, rest, vitamins and others are a very important factor. Characteristically, the average risk of having a child with HIV in the industrialized countries of Europe and the United States is approximately half that in third world countries.
• Previous pregnancies: the more pregnancies, the higher the risk.
• Term baby: both premature and postterm babies are more likely to be infected.
• Duration of the second stage of labor: the risk is less, the shorter the period of time before the birth of the child.
• Inflammation or premature rupture of the membranes: increased risk of HIV transmission to the newborn.
• Caesarean section: Many studies have shown that a caesarean section, especially if delivered before the membranes have ruptured, reduces the risk of having a baby with HIV.
• Sores and cracks in the lining of the vagina (usually caused by infections) increase the risk of having a baby with HIV.
• Breastfeeding: Mothers with HIV are advised not to breastfeed their babies as it increases the risk of HIV transmission"1. The only exception is in those rare cases where the mother does not have facilities to prepare infant formula (no clean drinking water, bottles and nipples cannot be boiled) because it is believed that in this case the risk of gastrointestinal infections poses a greater threat to the life of the child than HIV.

One of the major advances in HIV prevention over the past few years has been the development of methods to reduce the risk of HIV transmission from an infected mother to her child during childbirth. If, without special treatment, the average risk of having a child with HIV infection is 15-25% in Europe and the USA and 30-40% in Africa, then with the help of a prophylactic course of treatment with the antiviral drug AZT (retrovir), the risk can be reduced by 2/3. In this case, the treatment is not carried out to achieve a stable improvement in the health of the mother, but to reduce the risk of having a child with HIV. After childbirth, treatment is stopped.

Science does not stand still, and there is a constant search for new, more effective and inexpensive ways to save newborns from HIV infection. For example, a study in Uganda supported by the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases found that taking a single dose of the antiviral drug nevirapine (brand name Viramune) by a woman during childbirth plus a single dose a dose to a child during the first three days of life reduces HIV transmission to 13.1%, while a short prophylactic course of AZT reduces the risk to only 25.1%. At the same time, prophylaxis with nevirapine costs 200 times less than a course of AZT, and can be used directly during childbirth, even if the woman has not previously been seen by a doctor. In some African countries, up to 30% of women are infected with HIV, and up to 1,800 infected babies are born every day. It is estimated that nevirapine can save up to 1,000 children a day.

How HIV is not transmitted

There are no other routes of HIV transmission other than those mentioned above. They are not so easy to get infected, in all situations that present any risk of HIV transmission, each person can protect himself and loved ones.

Let's look at the main absolutely safe cases that often worry people in terms of HIV transmission.

• Handshakes, hugs. Intact skin is a natural barrier to the virus, so it is impossible to transmit HIV through handshakes, hugs. And if there are abrasions, scratches, cuts and others? For at least a theoretical risk of HIV transmission in this case, it is necessary that a sufficient amount of blood containing HIV enters a fresh, open and bleeding wound. It is unlikely that you will get acquainted with someone bleeding by the hand if you are also gushing blood. In any case, we do not recommend that you do anything like this.
• Hygiene items, toilet. HIV can only be found in 4 body fluids: blood, semen, vaginal secretions and breast milk. HIV cannot be transmitted through clothes, bed linen, towels, even if a liquid containing HIV gets on clothes, linen, it will quickly die in the external environment. If HIV lived "outside" a person for many hours or even days, then, undoubtedly, there would be cases of domestic transmission, but they simply do not happen, at least this has not happened in more than 20 years of the epidemic.
• Swimming pools, baths, saunas. If a liquid containing HIV enters the water, the virus will die, and again, the skin is a reliable barrier against the virus. The only way to get HIV in a pool is to have sex there without a condom.
• Insect bites, other contact with animals. HIV is a human immunodeficiency virus, it can only live and multiply in the human body, so animals cannot transmit HIV. In addition, contrary to popular myth, human blood cannot enter someone else's bloodstream when bitten by a mosquito.
• Masturbation. How incredible it is, but there are people who are afraid of contracting HIV through masturbation. The only thing that can be said to this is: from whom, in this case, can it be transmitted?
• Kisses. A lot has already been written about the fact that HIV is not transmitted by kissing. At the same time, there are people who are concerned about the issues of "wounds and abrasions" in the mouth. In real life, in order for this virus to be transmitted by kissing, two people with open bleeding wounds in their mouths must kiss long and deeply, while one of them must have not just HIV, but a very high viral load (the amount of virus in the blood ). It is unlikely that anyone will be able, and even want to, reproduce such a "sadistic" kiss in practice. If such a route of transmission were possible, there would be cases of HIV transmission by kissing, for example, in permanent discordant couples (in which only one of the partners has HIV). However, such cases do not occur.
• "Injections" in transport, subway. The myth of "infected needles" arose in the foreign media at the very beginning of the epidemic. Our media is still actively replicating this myth. In reality, not only has not a single case of HIV transmission been recorded in this way, but not a single case of attempts to "infect" someone with a needle or syringe has been recorded. Unfortunately, this speaks to how people with HIV are treated in our society, since no one doubts that for some reason HIV-positive people need to "try to infect" someone. In all these twenty-odd years, not a single case of "AIDS terrorism," as it was quickly dubbed, has been recorded. Even if we imagine such a situation, the transmission of HIV in this case is excluded. HIV dies too quickly outside the human body, the amount of blood entering the bloodstream in this case is negligible. If it seemed to you that you felt a prick in transport, do not panic, there may be a thousand much more realistic explanations for this.
• Dentist, manicure, hairdresser. So far, in twenty years of the epidemic, HIV has not been transmitted either in a nail salon or at a dentist. This suggests that there is no practical risk of infection in these situations. The usual disinfection of instruments, which is carried out in salons or at the dentist, is enough to prevent infection.
• Delivery of analysis. It also happens that people who have been tested for HIV have fears that HIV could have been transmitted to them directly during blood sampling in the testing room. Probably, this fear arises from association with HIV infections, but this is absolutely excluded. Blood sampling is carried out using a disposable instrument, and the reasoning that it was you who was "swapped" with a syringe and so on is nothing more than suspiciousness.

All possible ways of infection and methods of prevention are widely known, but some people are still interested in the ways of transmission of HIV infection. Let's figure it out.

There are two concepts - HIV and HIV infection. On the one hand, there are no significant differences in them, but if you look at them from a scientific angle, then HIV is just an immunodeficiency virus, and the infection is caused by this virus. HIV can be deciphered as human immunodeficiency virus.

This virus destroys the human immune system, making it vulnerable to other diseases and infections.

The immunodeficiency virus completely destroys immune cells. Over time, microorganisms that do not pose any threat to a healthy person become dangerous to the body of an infected person. At a certain point in the course of the infection, he begins to destroy his own cells, trying to fight himself.

HIV is unstable to environmental influences, but at the same time it spreads catastrophically. It exists in the human body for a couple of days, and in the external environment for only a few minutes.

The virus has killed thousands of people who ignored doctors' advice to lead a healthy lifestyle or at least use a barrier method of contraception. That is why the question of treatment, as well as possible ways of transmission of infection in our days is particularly acute.

Before you know exactly how HIV infection occurs, you should understand which groups of people are most susceptible to this disease.

Homosexuals

Initially, it was believed that only same-sex couples, most often homosexuals, were susceptible to HIV. After it turned out that this is not so, but, nevertheless, homosexuals are more likely than others to become infected with HIV. Since gay men practice anal, moreover, most often, unprotected sex, they are one of the main carriers of HIV infection.

drug addicts and prostitutes

Drug addicts often use the same needles for several people, they are not able to control themselves and neglect their health just for the sake of the dose, which significantly increases the risk of infection. The most dangerous are people who practice promiscuity, mostly prostitutes. They, at the behest of the client, who may also already be HIV-positive, often practice sex without a condom.

Medical workers

Medical workers are at risk only because of their profession, and not because of the violation of simple precautions, like the rest. The number of infected among healthcare workers is not so high, but each of them runs the risk of being included in this list every day. Their work involves constant contact with infected people, which increases the risk of infection at times.

Methods of infection

Infection can get through the blood in case of direct contact - parenteral route. What can you get HIV from?

During blood transfusion

Infection with HIV infection can occur in the case of a transfusion of contaminated blood. In modern hospitals, this possibility is practically excluded. Donors are carefully screened for HIV infection before donation, and then the blood is also passed through several stages of testing. There is a strict regulation on the issue: after what time after the donation, the blood can be used for its intended purpose. In a blood bank, this is possible only after passing all the tests.

In some exceptional cases, when blood is needed urgently, doctors may neglect this duty in order to save the patient's life. But even when using tested blood, there is a risk: immediately after the donor is infected, it is almost impossible to detect the disease, it takes several months, since the first symptoms appear only then. Therefore, the blood may be contaminated, even if the test did not reveal it. There is a possibility of infection inside the hospital when reusing instruments in a medical facility.

As in the previous paragraph, the probability of such an infection is very small. Hospitals now use disposable instruments whenever possible. Reusable instruments go through several stages of disinfection, which reduces the risk of infection. But if this happens, the infected can sue the institution and receive compensation.

This mode of infection is common among drug addicts who, while under the influence of drugs, neglect their health and can reuse injection materials. In this case of infection, one syringe used by a person with AIDS can infect dozens of other people. Poor cosmetic manipulations can also cause HIV infection. These include all types of piercings and permanent tattoos. Clients of underground unlicensed salons are most at risk. The prices in them are much lower than in the usual ones, but the quality of services and the contingent of customers is appropriate.

Sexual contact

Unprotected sex is the main cause of HIV infection. This refers only to barrier contraception, that is, condoms. Oral contraceptives only protect against pregnancy, but not against sexually transmitted diseases. During heterosexual intercourse, microcracks appear on the mucous membrane of the vagina and penis, which cannot be seen or felt. Contact with infected fluid on one such wound guarantees sexual transmission of HIV if sex occurs without a condom.

Also, despite the fact that oral sex is recognized as one of the safest, infection with it is still possible. Virus cells are found in large numbers in sexual secretions (lube and semen). A small sore or scratch in the mouth is enough for infection.

There are several factors that increase the risk of HIV transmission through sexual contact many times over - this is the presence of any STD.

Also, how HIV infection occurs in men is somewhat different from that of women. This is due to the larger area of ​​the female genital mucosa and the fact that the concentration of the virus in the semen is much higher. Days of menstruation also increase the risk of infection.

Vertical path - from mother to child

It is possible that HIV can be transmitted from a sick mother to her child during pregnancy. During intrauterine development, the fetus receives all the substances it needs through the mother's circulatory system, since it is connected to it. Therefore, if you do not suppress the activity of the virus with the help of special drugs, there is a high risk of giving birth to an infected child. There are especially many viral cells in breast milk, so breastfeeding should be discontinued in case of illness.

Sometimes, even if all precautions are observed: taking medications, careful actions of doctors, the child can become infected right during childbirth. It will depend on the duration of pregnancy and the professionalism of doctors. Many people believe that an infected mother will definitely give birth to an infected child. This is a very common misconception. According to statistics, 70% of children from such mothers are born absolutely healthy. There is always a chance to give birth to a healthy child, but you should remember after what time the baby can be diagnosed.

How long does it take to find out if a child is infected or not? Until the age of three, it is not possible for a child to be diagnosed as "HIV-infected". Until this age, the mother's antibodies developed to the virus remain in the child's body. If, upon reaching this age, antibodies completely disappear from the child's body, then he is healthy. If his own antibodies are detected, the child has been infected.

Myths about HIV infection

Science has not identified any method of transmission of HIV other than those listed above. Despite the fact that the medical literacy of the population is increasing, many are still wondering: is it possible to get infected through a handshake or in a household way? The correct answer is no. You should know the basic myths about HIV in order to be able to communicate normally with sick people and not be afraid of getting infected.

Infection through saliva

The virus is contained in the waste products of the human body, but it is negligible in saliva. It contains almost no virus, as it is not on the surface of the skin. Do not be afraid of infected people and bypass them. Couples are known where one partner is infected and the other is not. This is proof that HIV cannot be transmitted through kissing.

airborne way

The virus is transmitted only through fluids such as blood and genital secretions. Saliva, as we have already found out, is harmless. Therefore, you should not be afraid of a sneezing or coughing person: he will not be able to infect others.

Through food and drink

You can safely drink from the same mug with an infected person or eat from the same plate of a bowl: it is impossible to get infected from this. through household activities. It is quite easy to live under the same roof with an infected person. You can use the same dishes and even hygiene products with him without fear of infection. Healthy, intact skin and mucous membranes will keep the virus out and protect you from infection.

Get infected in a bath or pool

Can you get infected in a public bath or swimming pool? No. The virus dies almost immediately when it enters the environment. Therefore, do not be afraid of a common toilet, public pool and bath, as the virus simply will not survive in water. Animals are carriers of HIV. Animals cannot carry the virus, under any circumstances. HIV is a human immunodeficiency virus, so it is not dangerous for animals. Mosquitoes also cannot carry HIV.

As we have already understood, you should not be afraid of people infected with HIV if you follow simple precautionary rules and monitor your health.

Not a small number of people do not know how they become infected with AIDS. Something they heard, read, but did not fully understand.

Now there is a lot of information on the Internet, saying that the epidemic of the "plague of the century" is gaining momentum. This is problem number one, the answer to which has not yet been found.

How to get AIDS is available:

Nobody hides - there are already more than 40 million HIV-infected patients in the world. The main share is young residents under 30 years old. Many do not understand, we are talking about AIDS, HIV is mentioned. What is the connection?

The most direct - I will try to explain in a simpler way.

How to decipher HIV, what does it mean:

• This is the human immunodeficiency virus, a tiny microorganism.
• From above it is covered with a protein coat. Inside it contains genetic material in the form of two RNA molecules. When it enters the body, it hides by introducing it into the hereditary substance of the cell.
• As long as the infected cell grows and multiplies safely, the virus goes through all the cycles of reproduction along with it. The problem is that our immunity detects it after three or four months, and not immediately. After all, he still needed to be recognized.
• If antibodies to HIV are found in the blood, the result will be positive.
• If they are not, it is negative.
• The test is done more than once to confirm the diagnosis. Usually after three months.
• This is where killer cells come into play. They are called T4. It is these cells that protect us from SARS and other infections. Before the HIV virus, they are powerless. It is stronger, calmly destroys T4 cells, puts other cells on alert - T8. This type of cell turns off the immune system of the patient.

Deterioration of health:

• The body temperature rises (you can’t lower it even with medicines).
• Lymph nodes increase, especially on the neck (from 1 to 5 centimeters).
• The tonsils are inflamed.
• The person becomes weak, sweaty at night, sleeps badly.
• I do not want to eat.
• Examination shows an enlarged spleen and liver.
• The patient suffers from frequent diarrhea.
• Some people have esophagitis (inflamed esophagus).
• A rash is visible on the skin.
• Blood tests will already show whether a person is infected. Until this period (three months) nothing is determined. Doctors call it the “window period”. There will be an increase in lymphocytes, leukocytes.
• Mononuclear cells are present.
• This period lasts two weeks, then all the symptoms simply disappear without a trace.

Disease development:

For five or seven years, the virus does not manifest itself at all. He does his job quietly - kills a person. If you look inside the patient at this time, we will see a decreasing number of protective cells, T8 cells, on the contrary, multiply, their number is growing rapidly.

Everything - a person is defenseless against any infection: herpes or tuberculosis, SARS. Immunity is also powerless before internal infections: fungi, bacteria. In a healthy body, they always live, immunity does not allow them to multiply, but not in this situation.

Any of the infections listed above can lead to the end of life. This final stage is called AIDS.

Stages of HIV infection:

1. Latent or incubation period.
2. Primary infectious manifestations.
3. Secondary manifestations of infection (at this stage, it is most often detected).
4. Terminal stage.

How to decipher AIDS:

• Now, perhaps, it is clear what AIDS is. It is easy to decipher it - acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.
• This is the stage of all kinds of infections from tuberculosis and pneumonia, damage to the nervous system, malignant neoplasms. There is no cure for AIDS.
• Although at the very beginning the patient could have been helped - scientists have invented a medicine that prevents the virus from being introduced into the hereditary substance of immune cells.
• This would stop its development. But time is lost, you only have to take drugs that facilitate the course of the disease.

Where did the virus come from:

• To this day, there is no consensus, as well as on the question of where man came from on earth. Some argue about a bacteriological weapon, which is a virus, to destroy a person on earth.
• Others talk about some meteorite that flew in from space to us. The most real is the mutation of the virus from chimpanzee monkeys and its gradual adaptation to the human body.
• The infection came from natives who ate the meat of infected animals. There are many hypotheses, only irrefutable evidence.
• The sad thing is that the largest number of infected patients is in Russia. Officially - more than 200,000 thousand people. Experts are sure that there are more than a million of them.

How can you get AIDS and how is it transmitted:

• We have the opinion that such patients are entirely drug addicts, representatives of sexual minorities or persons who have a large number of partners in sex.
• Trouble can hit anyone.
• Transmission routes are officially approved and proven. In humans, four biological fluids are capable of containing a concentration of the virus sufficient for infection. These are blood, semen, breast milk, vaginal discharge.

Transmission routes:

From mother to child:

1. An infected woman transmits the virus to her child during pregnancy, then a great risk is during childbirth or breastfeeding. This route of transmission is estimated at 20-45%.
2. Modern medicine has drugs that reduce the chance of infection by up to 6% if treated during pregnancy.
3. All children after birth have antibodies to the virus, whether they are infected or not. This is due to their passage through the mother's placenta.
4. If the baby is healthy, they will disappear by one and a half years. Starting from this age, you can determine whether the baby is sick or not.

Through objects and blood contaminated with blood:

1. You don’t have to go far for examples - syringes without sterilization transmit a virus from an infected person to a healthy one.
2. The most common risk group is drug addicts with the use of "high" through injections or shared syringes.
3. You need to be careful in tattoo parlors, when piercing your ears, manicure, pedicure. With untreated instruments, the risk of infection is high.
4. The virus is transmitted through a razor, a patient's toothbrush. The risk is less, but there is.
5. Infection will also occur through wounds when an infection enters.
6. When transfusing blood, the risk is minimal, there the blood must be checked.
7. During anal sex without the use of a condom, vaginal or oral. Of great importance is the general use of sex toys without a condom, with a torn or slipped condom. It doesn't matter if the man with you is a partner or a woman.
8. We do not exclude petting due to the presence of wounds and infected fluid, their contact.

How not to get AIDS and HIV:

1. It is never transmitted due to household contacts or the term of doctors - by airborne droplets.
2. Safely:
3. Dance with a sick person, hug.
4. Eat from one plate.
5. Swim in the same pool.
6. Go to a shared toilet.
7. Travel together in crowded vehicles.
8. Kissing (if the mucous membranes of the lips or oral cavity are not damaged).
9. All ticks, flies, mosquitoes, fleas do not carry the virus.

How to avoid infection:

• Always use a condom when having sex with an unfamiliar partner.
• Follow the processing of tools in service salons (manicure, tattoo).
• Do not use drugs, among them up to 90% use them intravenously. So many people are infected.

Don't waste your life!

There are people on earth, even when in contact with the infected, they do not become infected with the virus. They found mutated genes responsible for the production of specific proteins in immune cells.

These proteins make contact with the virus, but are unable to interact with it. Because they are "wrong, mutated." HIV dies due to the inability to infiltrate cells for reproduction.

Scientists seized on this phenomenon to manufacture drugs for HIV, and therefore AIDS.

Well, we briefly met - how they get AIDS. Learn what HIV is. If you or your family have this trouble, do not despair, do not blame yourself. We all make mistakes - we are human. The weak are sometimes impossibly strong, when it concerns others - there is only one way out, to be treated

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The main mechanism of infection transmission is contact. There are natural, conducive to the preservation of HIV infection in nature and artificial ways of transmission. The natural routes of transmission include sexual (through sexual contact) and vertical (from an infected mother to a child during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding).

An artificial (artificial) transmission route - parenteral - is realized when the virus enters the bloodstream during various manipulations associated with a violation of the integrity of the mucous membranes and skin.

Among the factors influencing the likelihood of infection of a sexual partner with HIV include the titer of the virus at the source of infection: the presence of various diseases in the recipient; contact intensity.

Modern epidemiology of HIV infection excludes the existence of aerosol, fecal-oral and transmissible mechanisms of pathogen transmission.

Human susceptibility to HIV is almost 100%. A factor of resistance to HIV infection may be the absence of certain specific receptors. Currently, genes (CCR5, CCR2 and SDF1) are isolated that control the synthesis of molecules involved in the penetration of HIV into host cells. Thus, people who have a homozygous genotype for these genes are resistant to sexually transmitted HIV infection; individuals with a heterozygous genotype are less resistant. It was found that long-term contact with HIV-infected and not infected people have a mutation in the gene responsible for the expression of the CCR5 co-receptor on the surface of lymphocytes (it is found only in 1% of Europeans). However, this feature is not associated with resistance to HIV in blood transfusions or intravenous drug administration.

HIV infection is ubiquitous. Currently, it is officially registered in almost all countries of the world. At the same time, the prevalence of HIV infection is extremely uneven in different regions, different age, social and professional groups. The largest number of HIV-infected people live in Central Africa (south of the Sahara Desert) and the Caribbean. An important indicator is the increase in the number of new cases. In the early 1980s, the maximum number of HIV infections was recorded in Central Africa and the United States. and by the end of 2000, all continents were already involved in the epidemic. In Ukraine, HIV infection has been registered since 1985, initially among foreigners, mainly people from Africa, and since 1987 - among citizens of the USSR.

Until the mid-1990s, sexual transmission was considered the main route of HIV transmission in Ukraine. This determined the originality of the epidemic process of infection. Since the second half of 1996, there has been a change in the leading route of infection transmission. The first place was taken by "injection" infection, as a rule, among drug addicts practicing parenteral administration of psychoactive substances. In recent years, the importance of the heterosexual route of transmission of HIV infection has increased. This is evidenced not only by an increase in the number of infected people (the main risk factor for which is heterosexual contacts), but also by an increase in the proportion of infected women. As a result, the likelihood of transmission of HIV infection from mother to child increases.