| Can I get AIDS
from toilet seats or silverware?
The biggest myth about AIDS is that it is extremely easy to get. However,
unlike other viruses, the AIDs virus cannot live in the air, food, or water.
You can't get HIV from swimming in a pool or sharing the same food with
someone infected with HIV. You can't get HIV from using the same bathroom
nor using the same silverware; you wouldn't get infected from shaking a
hand, talking, or even kissing another who is infected. The virus has to
come into directed contact with you. This happens almost exclusively through
sex, sharing needles, and receiving infected blood products.
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Can I get AIDS
from shaking hands with a person with AIDS?
Take a look at Question #19 to find your answer.
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Can I get AIDS
from kissing a person with AIDS?
Take a look at Question #19 to find your answer.
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Can I get AIDS
if an HIV positive person sneezes or coughs on me?
Nope. You can't become infected with the AIDS virus by just breathing it
in. If someone with HIV has sneezed on you, just take your ordinary precautions
by washing it off with water and soap.
However, you have to be careful of sneezing on an infected person.
Because he or she has a weakened immune system, it can be deadly if he
or she caught your virus. An infection that a healthy person can easily
fight off may be extremely dangerous to someone with a suppressed immune
system. Remember, just use common sense and cover your face when you sneeze;
if you see that someone else is about to sneeze, move back a little bit.
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Can I get AIDS
from mosquitoes, ticks, or other biting insects?
This is probably one of the most commonly asked questions, and the answer
is NO. Contrary to belief, mosquitoes, ticks, and other insects
that blood cant transmit HIV. Mosquitoes and ticks can only take blood
out of someone's body. They can't inject it back in. Basically,
if an insect sucked blood from an infected person, they couldn't inject
that same blood into your body. Even if they were capable injecting blood,
the amount of blood removed by a mosquito is not nearly enough to contain
sufficient quantities of the virus to infect anyone.
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Can I get AIDS from
getting a tattoo or getting my ears pierced?
You can, but the chances are unlikely to impossible if you just use common sense.
Since the needle that pierces ears does come in contact with blood, it
is possible to become infected with HIV if the needle was used on someone
infected and not cleaned and sterilized properly afterward.
So when you get a tattoo or your ears pierced, ask around and get suggestions on where to go just to be safe. Go with your gut feeling. If the place is in shambles, don't be stubborn and still go in.
Also, before you have anything done to you, ask whether the needle is sterilized or new.
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Can a person be born
with AIDS?
Unfortunately, yes. Transferring HIV from mother to an unborn child is
one of the few (and possibly most unfortunate) ways HIV can spread. The
fetus shares a blood supply with the mother, giving the baby a 30% chance
of passing the virus on to her unborn baby.
Even if the baby is fortunate enough not to contract HIV, the antibodies
to the virus will be present in his or her blood at birth. These antibodies
were produces by the infected mother's body and passed to the baby before
birth. In most cases, these antibodies are broken down over a period of
several months, and the baby will then test negative. This is why many
antibody tests must be done on the baby for months after birth.
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Can a HIV positive
woman pass the virus to her baby through breast-feeding?
During breastfeeding, the antibodies in the woman's bloodstream can
be passed through her breast milk. This means that the virus can
be passed too. Therefore the baby does have a chance in contracting
HIV through breastmilk.
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Can the AIDS virus
pass through the skin?
No. The AIDS virus is in most ways just like any other virus. It can be
killed by using soap and water, by heating it up, or by putting it in alchohal.
Plus, it can't pass through the skin because HIV must have direct access into
the bloodstream. You won't get AIDS is you is someone with AIDS vomits,
cries, or spits on you.
You can get AIDS if there are any cuts present on your skin. This is why
many nurses use rubber gloves. The chance is smaller than that of sex because
when you have a cut, the blood bleeds out, not in.
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If I know someone
who is HIV positive, should I be afraid to talk to her?
Definantley not. In fact, you shouldn't even be afraid to touch, hug, or even
kiss someone infected. People who are HIV positive are no different than
anyone else. Sometimes those are the people who need to talk to someone
becuase they are being shunned.
It used to be that some kids would be banned from school becuase of their virus.
Now there are federal laws stating that no one can be discriminated against if they
have HIV.
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People say that you
can't get AIDS the first time you have sex. Is this true?
Unfortunantly, it isn't. Just like pregnancy, getting AIDS is a one time
deal- you only need to be exposed once to the danger. Keep in mind, you
don't know who your partner has slept with and who they have slept with.
As long as you are participating in risky behavior, you are risking getting
HIV.
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Can I get AIDS from
my doctors or dentist?
The real answer is yes, but not if your doctor or dentist takes the proper
precautions when performing any invasive procedures.These can be
anything, from getting your teeth cleaned to having major surgery- anything
which results in direct contact with your blood. There have been a few
cases in the newspapers where people have claimed that they got AIDS from
a dentist or doctors, but it is believed that is these cases the patients
were either infected by a tool which was not cleaned properly or weren't
wearing any gloves and had cuts on his/her hands. If all of the instruments
are cleaned and sterilized and the doctors wears gloves, it is almost impossible
to get AIDS.
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What is the risk of
getting infected with HIV from a blood transfusion or organ transplant?
To be blunt, it is about 1 in 40,000, and decreasing. It's decreasing becuase
the American Red Cross is screening for HIV in donated blood. This is good,
becuase you have are more likely to be killed by the flu or being killed in a car accident.
(This is about 1 in 5,000)
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Can I catch the virus
from donating blood?
No way. There's a big different betwen giving blood and receiving blood.
When you donate blood you are having blood taken out of your body. The
needle used is a new one, and it is thrown away when you are done.
The only blood you come into contact with is your own, and you can't
catch anything you already have.
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Isn't AIDS a problem
only in big cities, like New York and San Francisco?
Although it seems like AIDS only affects people in the big cities, this
just isn't true. You basically have the same chance in contracting AIDS
anywhere. In fact, our statistics show
that AIDS diagnoses have increased dramatically in rural areas. Big cities
sometimes get the 'bad rep' because they have a higher number of AIDS cases.
But this is due to the fact that they also have a higher population. When
reading the stats, don't look at the number of cases, look at the rate
of infection for every 100,000 people.
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Am I able to tell
who is infected with HIV and who isn't?
Unless the person is very far along with an AIDs-related condition, you
probably can't. People infected with HIV look just like everyone else.
Some people think that everyone with AIDs is very thin, emaciated, balding,
and covered with sores. This just isn't true. Some people in the last stages
of AIDS do look like this, but the majority of people infected with HIV
look completely healthy.
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Don't only people
in certain "risk groups" get AIDS?
It used to be this way. Back in the early eighties, many people thought that
only homosexuals could get it. Then many believed that you could only get AIDS
if you constantly used intravenous drugs. Well, that's wrong now. You can
get AIDS regardless of your race, gender, age, or sexual preference. There is
no longer any such thing as a risk group because we all can be at risk.
However, you can increase your chance of being infected with HIV if you do
certain high risk behaviors, like drugs, unprotected sex, or even steroids.
The more you do those things, the more likely you are putting yourself at risk.
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Can people with HIV
still have sex?
Of course. Just because you have HIV doesn't mean you must stop having sex.
It does mean you have to be extra careful and wear a condom every time you have any type of sex.
However, this doesn't put you in the clear. Condoms aren't 100% efficient and
can break or fall off. Some poeple think that just becuase they are wearing
a condom they don't have to tell their partner about their infection. You
always have to tell your partner you are infected. In some states, if you
lie to your partner if he/she asks you and theiy become infected, it is considered
a 1st degree murder and punishable by death.
This isn't to scare you. Just be careful and tell the truth. The truth might
hurt, but it doesn't kill.
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Do married people
get AIDS?
Anyone can get AIDS. This includes married people or people who have been
with the same person for a long time. You never know what your partner
did before you were together, and your partner may not even be aware that
she or he has participated in any high-risk behavior. Remember, the AIDs
virus can be present in the body for as long as ten years before any symptoms
of infection begin to show. There is also the chance that the person you
are with is participating in high-risk behavior with someone else and you
don't know it.
This doesn't mean that you should be suspicious of your partner or demand
that he or she take an HIV antibody test. It just means that you should
keep in mind that just because you have been in a monogamous relationship
for a while doesn't allow you to assume that you are immune to contracting
AIDS. If you are in a relationship with only one person, you and your partner
may both want to take an HIV-antibody test. Even if you don't, it's a good
idea to discuss this issue with him or her.
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