Duel Infection of HIV Protecting Yourself From Another HIV Infection

Duel Infection of HIV Protecting Yourself From Another HIV Infection Duel infection or more commonly referred to as re-infection is not commonly considered between sexual partners who are already HIV positive. Mike* and Betty *are very busy making their wedding plans. They have friends and family who support their decision to marry and are very willing to assist them with their plans for the "Big Day". There is nothing unusual about two people getting married, but this is not the case with Mike and Betty. They are both HIV positive and belong to a support group for people living with HIV and AIDS. The general thinking amongst everyone is that since they are both HIV positive, all will be well because there is no chance that one of them may infect the other. According to Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in Washington, this is not the case with HIV. He said normally, if a person is infected with a microbe, the immune system builds up enough of an immune response that protects a person against exposure to the same microbe. " Not so with HIV. There are plenty of examples of somebody who is infected with sub type what-ever then gets infected for a while then gets exposed to somebody else then gets infected with that other person's virus which is almost not heard of in other infections", Dr Fauci says. He warns that a duel infection is possible if no protection is practised between two people who are HIV positive. "If you are infected don't think you can have sex with an infected partner without protection and say I don't have to worry, I am already infected - you may get re infected with an even more potent virus that you are not able to handle as well as the virus that you are already infected with. " Several people who deal with providing care, support and counselling to people living with HIV said it is important that people living with the virus understand that they can become re infected if they do not practice safer sex. One man from a support group for people living with HIV/AIDS said counselling for partners who are both positive points out the importance of protection from re infection. He however said he was concerned that people who are already infected think they do not need to protect themselves from duel infection. " People who are both HIV positive and know their status often do not follow the advice to use protection with a condom when having sex". He added: " Even if you are both positive, the virus you have may be different from that of your partner and you can become infected with a different virus - that is why even if you are both positive, you must use a condom to protect each other". Making sure that she is protected against duel infection, one young lady said she uses protection more for herself rather than others. "I am HIV positive, I am the one with a weakened immune system, and so other people's ordinary infections like flue are more dangerous to me than I am to them. If they have any kind of infection that can be passed on, my system is not strong enough to fight it. That is why I use protection with a condom when having sex with my partner". She says she makes sure that she is protected from any sexually transmitted infections. Concerns have been raised about the number of people who are HIV positive being re infected with a different strain of virus because of the lack of information on protecting oneself from becoming re infected. Of greater concern is the possibility of a drug resistant virus emerging because of unprotected sexual intercourse between a person who is on antiretroviral (ARV) therapy having unprotected sex with someone who is HIV positive and not on therapy. Although there are no proper reliable statistics available at present of the number of people who have multiple HIV infections, there are studies being carried out to determine the approximate number and the cause of duel infections in people who are HIV positive.