INVC,,
Delhi,,
HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C all can be transmitted through blood and blood products and or by sexual route. The prevalence of HIV is only 0.3% in the general population the same of hepatitis C is up to 5%.
Getting injections from unqualified health care workers can spread HIV / AIDS, said Padmashri and Dr B C Roy National Awardee Dr KK Aggarwal President Heart Care Foundation of India.
More men are HIV positive than women. Nationally, the prevalence rate for adult females is 0.29 percent, while for males it is 0.43 percent.
Prevalence is also high in the 15-49 age group (88.7 percent of all infections), indicating that AIDS still threatens the cream of society, those in the prime of their working life.
While adult HIV prevalence among the general population is 0.36 percent, high-risk groups, inevitably, show higher numbers. Among Injecting Drug Users (IDUs), it is as high as 8.71 percent, while it is 5.69 percent and 5.38 percent among Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) and Female Sex Workers (FSWs), respectively.
In order to pass HIV from one person to another, HIV-infected internal fluid from one person needs to get into the bloodstream of another person. HIV is usually transmitted through: Sharing needles, unprotected anal, vaginal, and sometimes oral sex, and from mother to infant before or during delivery and while breast-feeding.
HIV can spread through unprotected sexual contact with multiple partners, blood products, mother to baby (before or during, or through breast milk) and sexual intercourse (vaginal and anal). In the genitals and the rectum, HIV may infect the mucous membranes directly or enter through cuts and sores caused during intercourse (many of which would be unnoticed). Vaginal and anal intercourse is a high-risk practice.
The mouth is an inhospitable environment for HIV (in semen, vaginal fluid or blood), meaning the risk of HIV transmission through the throat, gums, and oral membranes is lower than through vaginal or anal membranes. There are however, documented cases where HIV was transmitted orally, so we can’t say that getting HIV-infected semen, vaginal fluid or blood in the mouth is without risk. However, oral sex is considered a low risk practice.
An injection needle can pass blood directly from one person’s bloodstream to another. It is a very efficient way to transmit a blood-borne virus. Sharing needles is considered a high-risk practice.
It is possible for an HIV-infected mother to pass the virus directly before or during birth, or through breast milk. Breast milk contains HIV, and while small amounts of breast milk do not pose significant threat of infection to adults, it is a viable means of transmission to infants.
The most effective ways to prevent HIV Infection:
• Not having sex – whether vaginal, anal, or oral
• Sex only between two mutually monogamous, uninfected partners who do not share needles or syringes with anyone.
• Not injecting non prescribed drugs
• Not sharing needles or syringes for any reason (when injected illegal drugs, medications, vitamins, or steroid; tattooing; or body piercing)
• Not engaging in activities that involve exchange of blood, semen, vaginal fluids, or breast milk.
