Sunday, November 8, 2009

North America and Western Europe

North America and Western Europe


HIV spread in USA 1977-2006

In North America and Western Europe (as in the USA, see graphic) the HIV initially affected the homosexual population and injecting drug addicts. As long ago as the 1980s, the HIV epidemic was insidiously spreading from these key groups into the heterosexual population.

Nevertheless, the rate (percentage of HIV infections within a risk group) among homosexuals and injecting drug addicts is still 30 to 40 times higher than among heterosexuals.

In most western countries, new infections among homosexuals have increased strongly again in the last ten years. On the other hand, the number of new infections among injecting drug addicts fell sharply, e.g. in Switzerland from the most common transmission path at the start of the 90s to 4% of new infections in 2008.

Friday, November 6, 2009

A congregant’s first AIDS-related counseling

A congregant’s first AIDS-related counseling often revolves around being tested for AIDS antibodies; a positive result means people can transmit the AIDS virus and may develop AIDS themselves. Just deciding to take the test is excruciating. Even those who imagined they were prepared to face a positive result are often devastated by feelings of grief, guilt and betrayal when the verdict is presented.

AIDS-related counseling also means providing home and hospital visitation, funerals, memorial services and bereavement support. An unforgettable example occurred in summer 1987 when one of us visited an AIDS hospice to take communion to a member, his parents visiting from the East Coast and a few close friends. The man, obviously near death, urged everyone to pray not just for him but for their own needs — a reversal of the angry response he expressed earlier in his illness. “I can see heaven,” he told them. “It’s a beautiful place, the place you’ve always wanted to go to, and anyone who wants to can go there.” The boundaries of heaven and earth seemed to shift that afternoon, so that they no longer corresponded to birth and death; it felt possible to reach into the skies and tug heaven into the present. Death became “a foretaste of the feast to come.”

The man died a few hours later. His mother spoke at his memorial service, with tears in her eyes: “He was the best son a mother could ever have.” But she and her husband dreaded going back to their home church, being reluctant to tell anyone in their United Methodist congregation that their son had died of AIDS. They didn’t think anyone there would understand.

Another set of parents, also United Methodists, asked one of us to come to their son’s hospital bedside to join them in prayer. There the mother asked, “Why are people so mean?” She was referring to unsympathetic church members back home. The next question was even harder: Was it OK to pray for their comatose son to die soon? The whole church is coming to see that physical death is not necessarily something to avoid; it can even mean healing.

MCC-SF also strives to educate people outside the gay and lesbian community about AIDS, through letter-writing campaigns, public presentations and workshops on AIDS, which have been given in a variety of settings, including the San Francisco AIDS Interfaith Conference, the United Methodist Consultation on AIDS Ministries, the Presbyterian Ministers Association, and Pacific School of Religion’s AIDS Awareness Week. In addition, MCC-SF members enrolled at Pacific School of Religion continually pressure the seminary to live up to its policy of fair treatment for students with AIDS. Joint activities with Double Rock Baptist Church have been educational, too. While we have confronted our racism, the Baptists have had to surmount unfounded fears about catching AIDS. One Double Rock usher described holding hands with gay people during prayer time as “the most growing I have ever done.”

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

How is HIV Transmitted? en español

How is HIV Transmitted?
en español

Introduction

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was established as the cause of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in 1983. Ever since then, a lot of research has been conducted and a great deal of information has been generated regarding the ways HIV can be transmitted from one person to another.

The problem with much of the information about HIV transmission, especially on the Internet, is that it speaks in very general terms. All too often, advice from one site will directly contradict advice from another site as well. For example, some sources refer to oral sex as "risky," whereas others say it is "low risk" or "no risk." This can be very frustrating and it also leads to the spread of misinformation, and frequently a lot of unnecessary worry, about the transmission of HIV.

HIV infection—and HIV testing—is a medical issue. We have developed this lesson to provide straightforward and accurate information regarding HIV transmission. However, it is important to stress that this lesson—and other sources of HIV information on the Internet—should not be consulted as an alternative to medical care and testing. If you fear that you have been exposed to HIV—regardless of how low the perceived risk and no matter how much information you find on the Internet—you need to get in touch with your health care provider or an HIV testing center.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

WHAT IS VIRAL LOAD?

WHAT IS VIRAL LOAD?

The viral load test measures the amount of HIV virus in your blood. There are different techniques for doing this:

* The PCR (polymerase chain reaction) method uses an enzyme to multiply the HIV in the blood sample. Then a chemical reaction marks the virus. The markers are measured and used to calculate the amount of virus. Roche and Abbott produce this type of test.
* The bDNA (branched DNA) method combines a material that gives off light with the sample. This material connects with the HIV particles. The amount of light is measured and converted to a viral count. Bayer produces this test.
* The NASBA (nucleic acid sequence based amplification) method amplifies viral proteins to derive a count. It is manufactured by bioMerieux.

Different test methods often give different results for the same sample. Because the tests are different, you should stick with the same kind of test (PCR or bDNA) to measure your viral load over time.

Viral loads are usually reported as copies of HIV in one milliliter of blood. The tests count up to about 1 million copies, and are always being improved to be more sensitive. The first bDNA test measured down to 10,000 copies. The second generation could detect as few as 500 copies. Now there are ultra sensitive tests for research that can detect less than 5 copies.

The best viral load test result is “undetectable.” This does not mean that there is no virus in your blood; it just means that there is not enough for the test to find and count. With the first viral load tests, “undetectable” meant up to 9,999 copies! “Undetectable” depends on the sensitivity of the test used on your blood sample.

The first viral load tests all used frozen blood samples. Good results have been obtained using dried samples. This will reduce costs for freezers and shipping.