There are a lot of myths surrounding HIV/AIDS. One out of many is that you can contact HIV by checking hands with an HIV patient. This article attempts to distinguish the myth from the fact. Most times, the mere mention of the word HIV /AIDS create fears among people. To even mention that MR. D is tested positive will scare people away. Although People with HIV look just like everybody else around the world, there are a number of different myths about HIV and AIDS.
Here are some of the more common ones: ‘
You would have to drink a bucket of infected saliva to become infected yourself’ . . . Yuck! This is a typical myth. HIV is found in saliva, but in quantities too small to infect someone. If you drink a bucket of saliva from an HIV positive person, you won’t become infected. There has been only one recorded case of HIV transmission via kissing, out of all the many millions of kisses. In this case, both partners had extremely badly bleeding gums.
‘Sex with a virgin can cure HIV’ . . . This myth is common in some parts of Africa, and it is totally untrue. The myth has resulted in many rapes of young girls and children by HIV+ men, who often infect their victims. Rape won’t cure anything and is a serious crime all around the world. ‘It only happens to gay men / black people / young people, etc’ . . . This myth is false. Most people who become infected with HIV didn’t think it would happen to them, and were wrong. ‘HIV can pass through latex’ . . . Some people have been spreading rumor that the virus is so small that it can pass through ‘holes’ in latex used to make condoms. This is untrue. The fact is that latex blocks HIV, as well as sperm – preventing pregnancy, too. Â
What does ‘safe sex’ mean?
 Safe sex refers to sexual activities which do not involve any blood or sexual fluid from one person getting into another person’s body. If two people are having safe sex then, even if one person is infected, there is no possibility of the other person becoming infected. Examples of safe sex are cuddling, mutual masturbation, ‘dry’ (or ‘clothed’) sex . . .In many parts of the world, particularly the USA, people are taught that the best form of safe sex is no sex – also called ‘sexual abstinence’. Abstinence isn’t a form of sex at all – it involves avoiding all sexual activity. Usually, young people are taught that they should abstain sexually until they marry, and then remain faithful to their partner. This is a good way for someone to avoid HIV infection, as long as their husband or wife is also completely faithful and doesn’t infect them.
What is ‘safer sex’? Â
Safer sex is used to refer to a range of sexual activities that hold little risk of HIV infection.
Safer sex is often taken to mean using a condom for sexual intercourse. Using a condom makes it very hard for the virus to pass between people when they are having sexual intercourse. A condom, when used properly, acts as a physical barrier that prevents infected fluid getting into the other person’s body. Â
Is kissing risky?
 Kissing someone on the cheek, also known as social kissing, does not pose any risk of HIV transmission.
Deep or open-mouthed kissing is considered a very low risk activity for transmission of HIV. This is because HIV is present in saliva but only in very minute quantities, insufficient to lead to HIV infection alone. There has only been one documented instance of HIV infection as a result of kissing out of all the millions of cases recorded. This was as a result of infected blood getting into the mouth of the other person during open-mouthed kissing, and in this instance both partners had seriously bleeding gums.
Can anything ‘create’ HIV? Â
No. Unprotected sex, for example, is only risky if one partner is infected with the virus. If your partner is not carrying HIV, then no type of sex or sexual activity between you is going to cause you to become infected – you can’t ‘create’ HIV by having unprotected anal sex, for example.
You also can’t become infected through masturbation. In fact nothing you do on your own is going to give you HIV – it can only be transmitted from another person who already has the virus. Â
Is there a cure for AIDS?
HIV medication can slow the progress of the virus worryingly, surveys show that many people think that there’s a ‘cure’ for AIDS – which makes them feel safer, and perhaps take risks that they otherwise shouldn’t. These people are wrong, though – there is still no cure for AIDS. There is antiretroviral medication which slows the progression from HIV to AIDS, and which can keep some people healthy for many years. In some cases, the antiretroviral medication seems to stop working after a number of years, but in other cases people can recover from AIDS and live with HIV for a very long time. But they have to take powerful medication every day of their lives, sometimes with very unpleasant side effects. There is still no way to cure AIDS, and at the moment the only way to remain safe is not to become infected.
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