Facts About HIV/AIDS That Might Totally Shock You

Did you know that some of the early symptoms are often mistaken for the flu?

Let these numbers number sink in: UNAIDS estimates that 36.7 million people in the world are living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)—and 1.1 million of them are in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Yet for an illness that’s so prevalent across the globe, there is little awareness of just how impactful HIV is, how it’s spread, and how many medical advancements have been made in treating and preventing the virus, which was once thought of as a death sentence for those who were infected by it.

Most people have a pretty good idea of what HIV is: an easily transmitted viral infection that attacks the body’s immune system. The virus is typically passed from one person to another by way of bodily fluids. So, any activity in which you come into direct contact with another person’s bodily fluids—such as sex (including oral and anal), sharing of intravenous needles for drug use, childbirth and breastfeeding, or contact with infected blood—puts you at high risk of acquiring the illness, especially if you don’t know if the other person is HIV-positive.

“HIV is principally spread by sexual contact, and anyone who has unprotected sexual intercourse could possibly be HIV-infected,” says John Bartlett, M.D., director of the AIDS Research and Treatment Center at the Duke University School of Medicine. “And once acquired, it is a lifelong infection.”

If left untreated, HIV can destroy so much of your immune system that your body can no longer fight off subsequent infections and cancer, eventually leading to acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and death, he says. Although the HIV/AIDS infection and survival rates were bleak in the past, new advances have made it possible to keep the virus under tight control. Unfortunately, many people don’t know this information exists, and medical professionals all over the country are working to raise awareness of HIV in hopes of one day eradicating it altogether.

Because it’s only through a deeper understanding of the virus that you can truly protect yourself against infection, here are six HIV/AIDS facts that medical professionals want you to be informed about right now—whether you believe you’re at risk or not.

1

WORLDWIDE, HIV IS MORE COMMON IN WOMEN THAN IN MEN

On a national scale, women's numbers look pretty good: According to the CDC, only one-quarter of the people living with the virus in the U.S. are female. In 2015, women accounted for 19 percent of the 39,513 new HIV diagnoses in the United States. That’s about 7,402 women—a number that has actually been on the decline in the past few years.

When you take a step back and view the number of women affected by HIVAIDS from a global perspective, however, the statistics are staggeringly different. AIDS research foundation amfAR reports that in 2016, approximately 17.8 million women around the world were HIV-positive—that’s 51 percent of all adults in the whole world who are infected by the virus.

The main cause of transmission, globally speaking, is unprotected heterosexual intercourse. “Assuming a lack of prevention method, such as condoms or medicines to prevent HIV, women have a higher risk for getting HIV during vaginal sex than men do, and the riskiest behavior for getting HIV is receptive anal sex,” says Hilda Morales, N.P., a nurse practitioner in the HIV/AIDS Center at Montefiore Medical Center.

“In a behavioral survey of heterosexual women at increased risk of HIV infection, 92 percent of HIV-negative women reported having vaginal sex without a condom in the previous year, and 25 percent reported having anal sex without a condom," she says.

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2

THERE'S A PILL THAT HELPS PREVENT HIV

Having protected sex is one of the most widely recommended ways to safeguard yourself against HIV, but it’s certainly not the only way. Thanks to the wonders of modern medicine, high-risk HIV-negative women now have the option to take TRUVADA, a type of prescribed medication called pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, which is more than 90 percent effective in preventing the virus when taken daily.

“It’s no longer just about how you should use condoms if you’re sexually active, or use clean needles if you inject drugs,” says Carlos Malvestutto, M.D., assistant professor in the division of diseases at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. “There are new medications that are going to be coming out in the near future as well as TRUVADA, which is two drugs combined in one. Essentially somebody who’s at high risk can take this medication every day and they will be protected, even if they’re exposed to HIV, as long as they are taking the medication. So we’re trying to raise awareness about these prevention methods."

If your partner is HIV-positive, if you or your partner use intravenous drugs, or if you have multiple sexual partners, being open and honest about HIV prevention with your partner(s) is another great way to ensure you’re not infected. “Talk with each new sexual partner about risks,” says Laurie Mortara, M.D., infectious disease specialist at MemorialCare Medical Center in Long Beach, Calif. “Agree to have both of you tested for HIV and sexually-transmitted diseases before becoming sexually active, and regularly if other partners are involved and/or IV drug use is involved. Also, control your use of condoms. Ask yourself: Is the night without a condom worth a lifetime of HIV infection and medications?”