myth about aids

In the past, some ARVs displaced fat in people s bodies. One such drug, D4T, also known as Stavudine, was on the South African list for HIV treatment until early last year. It is a cheap drug that works efficiently but has many side effects, such as the loss of fat in the legs, arms and face, resulting in people s bodies looking

HIV infected women are fertile and can have children. If mothers and their babies use the correct medication, it s possible for HIV positive women to have HIV negative babies.Without using drugs, there is a 30% chance that HIV infected women will pass the virus on to their babies in the womb, during birth or by breastfeeding. But if the mother and baby, or even just one of them, use short courses of ARVs,, transmission rates are reduced significantly. This treatment is available for free at government clinics and hospitals.

Today s medications have cut the death rate from AIDS by about 80%. They are also easier to take than they used to be. However, they still have side effects, are very expensive, and have to be taken every day for the rest of your life. If you miss too many doses, HIV can develop resistance (see fact sheet 126) to the drugs you are taking and they can stop working.

Medications today are fairly forgiving. Although you will have the most consistent blood levels of your drugs if they are taken at even intervals through the day, they won t stop working if you re off by an hour or two. However, some drugs can require careful timing.

It s very important to take AIDS medications correctly. In fact, if you miss more than about 5% of your doses, HIV has an easier time developing resistance and possibly being able to multiply even when you re taking your medications. However, 100% adherence is not realistic for just about anyone. Do the best you can and be sure to let your health care provider what s going on.

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It s true that some people get serious side effects from AIDS medications: When the first AIDS drugs became available, they weren t as good as current medications. People still died of AIDS related conditions, but the death rate in the US has dropped by about 80%. Researchers are working hard to make HIV treatments easier and safer to use.

Till dated, there is no cure for HIV or AIDS and there are no vaccines to prevent HIV infection. There is no cure for HIV, so practice safe sex habits.

Anyone can be susceptible to HIV/AIDS, regardless of their sexual orientation. Everyone is at risk of getting HIV from blood to blood contact, sharing needles or unsafe sex. Worldwide, HIV is spread most often through heterosexual contact.

A sequence of scientific advances indicate that significant progress is being made toward the creation of an effective HIV/AIDS vaccine.A vaccine will not solve the AIDS crisis,while many advances have been made in vaccine research, significant gaps remain in the scientific knowledge needed to develop an effective vaccine.HIV vaccine research is often slow due to lack of financial incentives to develop such a vaccine. Lack of coordination among researching groups exacerbates the problem.Due to the difficulties in creating an effective vaccine, the first vaccines deployed will probably be of low efficacy.By the time a vaccine has been developed and fully deployed in developing countries, millions and millions of people will have become infected and died of HIV/AIDS if no other steps are taken.