More Adults Have HIV in Washington, D.C. Than Rwanda

Although we sometimes think of HIV/AIDS as a global problem, it’s important to shine a light back on how it affects us at home. The New England Journal of Medicine recently revealed that 1 in 30 adults in Washington, D.C. are infected with HIV – a greater prevalence than the rates in Ethiopia, Rwanda, or Nigeria.

There are many countries with less serious HIV/AIDS problems than the US.

There are many countries with less serious HIV/AIDS problems than the US. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, Washington, D.C. would fall in the 2 to 5 percent range, the first shade of brown/red. Click to expand.

What is the solution to this dilemma? According to Brad Ogilvie of the Mosaic Initiative, the answer is to get tested.

In an article by Jennifer Grant in the Chicago Tribune, Ogilvie describes the mission and strategy of his organization.  Their goals are to ensure everyone knows their HIV status and to expand home testing from the FDA Approved blood tests (that we currently carry) to other types of test, including a saliva test.  This would make the cost of getting an HIV self test only $8 instead of $50.  The technology is available and put to use in clinics each day but such tests are just not available over the counter yet.

Why aren’t these tests available over the counter?  This question has caused some frustration among HIV/AIDS activists such as Ogilvie.  The primary reasons seems to be concern that a person might self test incorrectly.  Here is a list from The Body of the conditions that are placed on the sale of rapid HIV tests:

“1. Sale is restricted to clinical laboratories that have

  • an adequate quality assurance program, including planned systematic activities to provide adequate confidence that requirements for quality will be met, and
  • where there is assurance that operators will receive and use the instructional materials.”
  • 2. The test is approved for use only by an agent of a clinical laboratory.
    3. Test subjects must receive a “Subject Information” pamphlet and pre-test counseling prior to specimen collection and appropriate counseling when test results are provided.
    4. The test is not approved for use to screen blood, cell, plasma, or tissue donors.”

Do you think that sales should continue to be restricted? Or should such tests be available in the home market? Let us know what you think and remember that you can still obtain anonymous HIV testing with a home HIV test today.

7 Things You Should Do To Protect Against HIV/AIDS

AIDS or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, as we all know today is caused by HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). The moment one is infected with HIV the human body starts to fight the infection by producing specific antibodies. The HIV/AIDS tests that are performed in laboratories or the home HIV test looks for these antibodies to detect the presence of HIV in the system.

While not everyone who is infected with HIV may start to show any symptoms, it is a known fact that the HIV/AIDS virus tires and weakens the immune system over time. Other viruses, fungi and bacteria find it easy to attack your body. These opportunistic infections cause a lot of harm and the human immune system is not able to fight back adequately.

How Does HIV Spread?

The only manner in which you can fight HIV/AIDS is to ensure that you are not infected with the virus. And therefore it is pertinent for you to understand the manner in which the virus spreads. The HIV/AIDS virus spreads in three ways – sexual transmission, blood transmission and mother to child transmission. While the specific method or manner may differ, these are the three main ways in which the virus spreads.

Symptoms of acute HIV infection.

Symptoms of acute HIV infection.

Things You Can Do To Protect Against HIV/AIDS

With adequate knowledge of the manner in which the HIV/AIDS virus spreads, there are various things that you can do to ensure that you protect yourself against the virus.

1. Abstain from sex till you are older and make sure that you delay having sex for the first time until you are old enough to not get carried away and forget to take adequate preventive measures.

2. Practice the equivalent of monogamy and try and be faithful to one partner. This will ensure that you are not indulging in sex with those whom you do not know too well. It is assumed here that sex in a relationship will be caring and therefore your partner shall let you know if there is an issue and protect you from getting infected with HIV/AIDS if he already has been infected in some manner or another.

3. Irrespective of the situation, abstain from sex unless you or your partner have a condom tramadolmain that you can use. Make sure that the condom that you purchase is made by a reputed company and that it has not been lying around in your closet or cabinet for months (in other words, make sure it is not expired!).

4. Comprehensive sex education has been shown to reduce the incidence of HIV/AIDS in communities. It is obviously essential that the communication be modified to suit the specific requirements of the community in terms of detail, language and explicitness. The education also needs to be practical. Asking teenagers to abstain from sex until marriage without any further explanation may not work in specific cultures.

5. Sharing of equipment (needles, etc.) while indulging in recreational drugs is another very common method in which the HIV/AIDS virus spreads. While a drug rehabilitation program and giving up an addiction are the best options, those who are not able to kick the habit must make sure that they do not reuse needles.

6. It is essential that you ensure a disposable one-use syringe is being used every time you are injected (at a hospital, for example). Though this is the norm in all medical institutions, greater caution does not hurt anyone in the case of HIV/AIDS.

7. In case you need blood to be transfused into your body after an accident or for some other reason, make sure the blood has been tested completely for HIV/AIDS.

The mother-child transmission of the HIV/AIDS virus is the most difficult to manage. However, this can also be attended to by using antiretroviral drugs that need to be administered during pregnancy and delivery. In some cases a caesarean section is helpful.

While these protection methods should be adhered to at all times, it is also necessary that you know your HIV status. This is especially true for the times when you do not stick to any of the aforementioned prevention methods. You can always test yourself privately and anonymously with an FDA Approved home HIV test. Early detection helps prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and can result in a better lifestyle after you contract the HIV/AIDS virus too.

You can check out our FDA Approved home HIV test kits here.

– Article by Anne Hamilton

A History of the HIV Epidemic

HIV is a recent discovery and not much is known about its history prior to 1980. If HIV infection and AIDS did exist then it was marked by silence because human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was not known and infection did not manifest symptoms prominent enough to be noticed.

Initial History of HIV

What led to the discovery of HIV and consequently to AIDS was the sudden occurrence in 1981 of Kaposi’s Sarcoma, a rare and an indolent form of benign cancer usually associated with the elderly, in gay men in New York. At about the same time, in California, a sudden surge in demand for the drug pentamine pointed towards an increase in the number of cases of a rare lung infection known as Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP). PCP occurs in infants or in persons with impaired immune systems. Whatever assumptions that were made about the possible causes were shown to be unfounded and HIV and AIDS still remained unknown.

Till that time it was considered that there was no risk from transmission and contagion to non-homosexuals as no case was reported outside the gay community. But by the end of the year, it became apparent the disease affected other population groups as well. Cases of PCP were reported among abusers using injections for delivery of drugs. This was also the time when the first case of HIV/AIDS was documented in the UK.

In June 1982, a group of cases among gay men suggested that the infectious agent could be transmitted sexually. In the US, 452 cases in 23 states had been reported by July 1982. Reports started filtering in of similar cases from Haiti and hemophiliac camps.

In September 1982, the Center for Disease Control defined the disease as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or AIDS. It was an appropriate name for a set of diseases (syndrome) caused by an immune deficiency that was not inherited but acquired.

A startling discovery was made in 1999. A similar virus, simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) was discovered among simians in Africa.

How SIV became HIV

It was suggested that zoonosis (an animal disease that can be transmitted to humans) took place either due to eating the killed animal or infected blood getting into human wounds or a polio vaccine prepared from local chimps infected with SIV. Whatever the route, it is now generally accepted that HIV is a descendant of SIV. This is mainly because certain strains of SIV closely resemble the two types of HIV, HIV-1 and HIV-2.

How Did HIV Spread So Rapidly?

Disposable plastic syringes appeared on the scene in the 1950s. These were considered to be cheap as well as a more sterile method of injecting medicine. However, it is thought that in poor African nations doctors did not stick to a one-needle-one-injection formula due to the great cost of inoculation programs. Injecting multiple patients with one needle without sterilization could have led to rapid transmission of HIV infected blood from one person to another.

The world has become a smaller place with convenient means of fast travel. International travel by young men to take advantage of the gay revolution during the seventies and eighties may have played a part in taking HIV worldwide. HIV can also be transmitted through unprotected sex. Lack of awareness during the early years (and even now) can also be considered to a major reason for the fast spread of HIV.

Blood transfusion is part of medical treatments. In many countries, donors are paid to give blood. These were people who were desperate for cash and intravenous drug users could be among them. What made matters worse was the fact that doctors were unaware of HIV transmission and that it could spread so fast.

The HIV epidemic and the consequent disease, AIDS, along with the dangers associated with it, has led to extensive research. It is now possible to determine the presence of HIV in blood or plasma. There are even home HIV test kits that can be used to determine HIV infection with the same accuracy as a clinic or hospital without the need of having to go to a clinic.

Be sure you don’t have HIV.  Take an anonymous home HIV test today.

5 Differences Between Anonymous and Confidential HIV Testing

Did you know that there is a difference between anonymous and confidential HIV testing?  There are actually a number of differences.  What we offer on our site is an anonymous home HIV test.  Read on to learn the differences between the two:

1.  Anonymous testing is not offered in every state. This is one of the reasons why the FDA Approved home HIV test is so important.  You simply cannot walk into a clinic and obtain an anonymous test in 11 states.  Your testing will still be accurate and confidential, but the anonymous testing option will not be available to you.  (Check out the Kaiser Family Foundation site for more information on this subject).

2.  In anonymous testing your name is never revealed.  In confidential testing, your name is reported to local government health officials. This is perhaps the greatest difference between the two types of testing.  If your test is found positive in confidential testing, your name is reported to local public health officials.  This is not necessarily a bad thing – such information is collected to provide better medical services and allows health officials to gauge the impact of HIV/AIDS on their population.  Confidential testing does NOT release your name by default to insurance companies or employers.  The federal government does not receive your name either, only the state.  Regulations vary state by state with confidential testing – if this is a concern of yours, please check with your state government for more information.

3.  Anonymous testing protects you from any and all risk of discrimination, or negative social impact from your test results. As mentioned above, confidential testing does not mean that your insurance company or employer will learn you were tested, or that you tested positive.  But as HIV/AIDS resource The Body points out, if you sign a release form to notify your personal physician, your status will be entered into your medical record forever, and may be available to employers and insurance companies.  In the case of anonymous testing, you run no risk of this whatsoever – you’re never a name, only a number.

4.  Anonymous HIV testing can be done in your home; confidential testing cannot. ALL of the FDA Approved home HIV tests on the market are anonymous.  You receive your results over the phone by supplying a numeric code – no-one ever knows your name, and only you know your results.  Since at the moment there are only two FDA Approved home HIV tests (both of which we carry), we can guarantee that home testing is 100% anonymous.

5.  Anonymous testing is the most private type of HIV testing you can get. If privacy is your priority, confidential testing will probably fall short for you for the reasons above – your name is reported, and you will have to go to a clinic or a doctor of some sort.  An anonymous home HIV test comes to your door in discreet packaging, and identifies you with an anonymous 11 digit code.  The package that is shipped to the lab doesn’t even include your return address.

The most important thing is to get tested, whether your choose anonymous or confidential testing.  Lots of people are doing it – the CDC reports 16-22 million people get tested per year – but still, not enough people are.  Make sure you take time to learn your status, either through confidential or anonymous HIV testing.

How Malden Is Targeting HIV

With HIV on the rise in Malden and Everett, Massachusetts, public officials have come up with an interesting new strategy on how to deal with the problem in their community.  It comes in a form that is probably familiar to you if you are, for example, on a tiny little social networking site called Facebook.

An online survey!

The goal is to get 500 people in the community to take it and use this information to better the serve the community and receive a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.  As the Boston Globe describes in their story, the grant money would help get new, more far-reaching surveys off the ground.

This is a really good idea and like Malden Public Health Dept. we want more people to get tested!  Lady Gaga provides a great reason why…a not so obvious one:

Gaga tells MarieClaire.com, “I had an HIV test two days ago – and it’s not because I’m taking off my clothes every night with a different man. When I’m on the road, I forget about taking care of my body.

“I don’t go to the doctor as regularly as if I were in one place all the time. So I woke up and thought, ‘Oh, I’m home in New York. I’m going to see my gyno and I’m getting an HIV test.'”

The message?  Getting tested is part of your general health.  It’s not only for unprotected sex or something like shared needles.

So make sure you know your status!  You can do so with a home HIV test kit, sold by us.

Promoting HIV Awareness With Lady Gaga

It’s not everyday you have something in common with Lady Gaga, no?  Yet this week we found ourselves in that position, as pop stars Lady Gaga and Cyndi Lauper took to the airwaves to raise awareness for HIV/AIDS, especially the degree to which it effects women.

Their campaign is part of an effort to support the M-A-C AIDS fund.  With cosmetics company M-A-C they have created a line of lipsticks, 100% of the profits of which will go to the AIDS fund.

But why lipstick you ask?  Because they are trying to reach out to a younger generation of women who may go out with friends and not think about the importance of safe sex.  Instead of worrying about HIV/AIDS after the fact, keep it in mind at all times.  Too many segments of the population don’t think as much as they should about it, as often the disease is thought of as a disease klonopintabs affecting needle users, gay men, and African-Americans “only.”  But you don’t have to be in a high-risk group to be at risk.

It is important to make sure you are not at risk of spreading HIV/AIDS if you have had unprotected sex by HIV testing.  The CDC recommends that everyone gets tested annually regardless of risk.  You can get results quickly and anonymously from an FDA Approved Home HIV Test.

The campaign of Lady Gaga and Cyndi Lauper comes at a great time.  Hopefully it will also give a boost to the efforts of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (link is to our blog about that event) as well.

It’s good to be in such good company on this very serious issue.  You can check out an interview with Cyndi Lauper and Lady Gaga here at ABC News.