Articles

March 2009 - Issue 1, vol. 1

The Business of News

The Other Woman

State vs. Private College

Where Have All The Newsmen Gone?

OMG…I’m the Grasshopper

Hype and the Improper Brand

Who's Pulling The Strings?

Voyeurism and the Modern World

The Thinker

The State of Broadway

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HIV Myths

7. HIV is transmitted by mosquitoes.

There is no evidence of HIV transmission via mosquitoes. The tiny amount of blood and the probable lack of HIV being able to spread within the mosquito would be why. Malaria on the other hand actively multiplies in the mosquito. 

 8. Showering after intercourse will prevent AIDS.

Showering will make no difference at all as the virus will have already bound to the cells it infects after unprotected contact. You cannot wash it off.

 9. HIV survives for only a short time outside the body.

This is true, it doesn't last long outside the body at lower temperatures and on exposure to air. However if large quantities of blood or body fluids are involved, or a puncture wound like a needle stick, there is still a risk of infection and precautions should be taken.

 10.  HIV can infect only homosexual men.

Absolutely untrue. The majority of HIV infected people are now heterosexual women, many infected by their partners. This myth has arisen because HIV spread rapidly in some gay communities due to risky sexual practices. Heterosexuals who take the same risks have the same chances of being infected. 

 11.  HIV was introduced to North America by a Canadian flight attendant.

It is rarely possible to identify the exact source of an epidemic, and HIV is no exception.

 12.  The AIDS epidemic began when a human male had sexual intercourse with African monkeys, transmitting the virus to modern humans.

In Africa, monkeys are regularly hunted for meat. It is far more likely that SIV, the monkey form of the virus mutated and jumped during blood-blood contact through butchering/hunting of monkeys.

 13. There is no AIDS in Africa. AIDS is nothing more than a new name for old diseases.

Subtle point - AIDS is an immune deficiency caused by HIV that leaves the body completely vulnerable to a host of other diseases, including 'old' diseases like TB, which kills around 40% of HIV + people. Without HIV-AIDS, many of these diseases would be less prevalent.

 14.  HIV is not the cause of AIDS.

Extensive research in animal models and isolation of the HIV virus, it's effects on immune cells, etc, gives the evidence that HIV causes AIDS.

15.  AZT and other antiretroviral drugs, not HIV, cause AIDS.

Antiretroviral drugs inhibit the HIV virus ability to infect and destroy immune cells. They slow the progression of AIDS, they do not cause it. They can have unpleasant side effects, but hopefully future ARVs being developed will be more specific and have fewer side effects.

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Answers provided by Evelyn Harvey, a biochemist and freelance science writer with public health experience. http://www.hdnet.org/v2/home/

Provided with the help of Sense About Science, a small charity that equips people to make sense of science and evidence. www.senseaboutscience.org

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