Now let's take a little closer look at HIV and AIDS.
HIV- the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, attacks the body's ability to protect itself against
disease, which is the autoimmune system.
HIV eventually will progress to AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) on average within
10 years of HIV infection.
This time varies greatly from person to person and can depend a lot on many factors including
a person's health status, behaviors of that individual and then medications that are being
taken.
Since 1996, the introduction of powerful anti-retroviral therapies has changed the natural progression
of HIV infection to the development of AIDS.
Did you know that approximately 1.1 million people in the US are living with HIV infection?
It is estimated that over 18% do not know they have HIV because they have not been tested
or have no symptoms.
Approximately 50,000 people become infected with HIV each year.
About 15,000 people die every year in the USA from AIDS.
Of the estimated 50,000 HIV infections diagnosed in 2011 among all adults and adolescents,
approximately 62% were attributed to male-to-male sexual contact.
An additional 3% of diagnosed infections were attributed to male-to-male sexual contact
and injection of drugs.
· An estimated 18% of all diagnosed infections were attributed to heterosexual contact for
females and 10% for males.
An estimated 5% of all diagnosed infections were attributed to injection drug use for
males and 3% for females.
· Less than 1% of diagnosed infections were attributed to other transmission categories.
This less than 1% includes babies born to infected mothers, blood transfusions, hemophilia,
sources such as needle sticks, and sources that weren't identified.
To put the numbers in perspective of what causes the spread of HIV in the United States,
out of the estimated total of 50,007 people each year that become infected with HIV, over
30,896 are attributed to male to male sexual contact, 1,423 are attributed to male to male
sexual contact and injection drug use, 13,800 HIV infections are attributed to heterosexual
contact, 3,800 infections are related to injection drug use, and 51 cases are related to other.
So you might be saying after hearing all of those numbers and statistics, what does this
all mean to me?
And the good news is, what we should really see is that by using good work practice controls,
and using personal protective equipment, ordinary occupational exposures are really the minority
when it comes to why people get infected with blood borne pathogens.
The majority of the reasons people do are from behaviors that are controllable.
So use your personal protective equipment and your work practice controls, and you can
be fairly confident that you'll be safe and sound for you and your patients.
HIV is a deadly virus that causes AIDS.
Symptoms are unreliable and may or may not be present.
A person can be infected with HIV or AIDS for many years and not even know it.
Only a blood test can determine the infection.
If symptoms were present they might include: Fever
Fatigue Night sweats
Weight loss Rash
Dry cough
The HIV virus is fragile and dies within seconds outside the body when it is exposed to air.
The amount of HIV present in the body fluid and the conditions will determine how long
the virus lives.
HIV is primarily spread by sexual contact with an infected person or by sharing needles
and/or syringes.
Babies could become infected before or during birth or through breast-feeding.
Only a fraction of less than 1% of the people contract the virus from providing medical
care.
And, that small number is mostly from needle sticks.
HIV is not spread by casual contact like handshakes, hugging, doorknobs, using the same equipment
like toilets or water fountains.
There is no vaccine yet, and there is no cure.