As a society are we more tolerant of H.I.V and AIDS sufferers ? since the 80s

[zzxxee]

or do you think people would on the whole recoil in horror , if they knew a new work collegue or classmate in their childs class was starting.

[craft1948]

Sorry ttfn...........no offense intended.

[mollykins]

Yes. But I think people should be aware of those with it for their own safety. I think it was the bill or some other drama that I saw where someone with it had a bleeding wound. But for their protection, the person that went to help them with first aid (possibly smithy) wasn't told, but he found out afterwards and he had a cut aswell that he could have caught it from!

[jackthehat]

Perhaps we could them to wear a yellow star, or a pink triangle or something, molly......?

[ttfn]

Thanks craft
To answer zzxxee - a good friend of mine is HIV positive and I it makes no difference to me at all. I hope I always treat people the same, regardless of any illness or disability they may have.

[NOX]

Yeah molly brilliant idea, then their families can be stigmatised as well as the unfortunate individual. It is actually very difficult to catch HIV from normal day to day living, and in a scenario such as the ficticious one you described you'd expect the HIV positive person to mention it to the paramedic.

[DTCwordfan]

crafts comment - I think a lot of people were scared out of ignorance. Unfortunately, given a lot of young peoples' antipathy to condoms, they seem unaware of the dangers which still exist today - brings up a very good point

Is Bernie's avatar snowman wearing a condom?

[mollykins]

But if people aren't aware that someone has it they may treat them medically, and catch it. I think in the bill episode to which I'm referring smithy didn't have gloves for whatever reason, but in an emergency situation you have to improvise.

[Invictas]

molly,
You cannot catch HIV from blood(that was disproved long ago)except by transfusion.
HIV is only transmittable by bodily fluids (i would hope you know what they are)
First Aiders are trained to know what to do when treating a person,and HIV precautions would be amongst those.
Please do not trust TV soaps/dramas they will say anything for a good show.
The HIV virus cannot exist outside the temperature of the human body for any longer than about 5 minutes.Considering what it does to humans it is actually a weak organism when away from them.

[mollykins]

Maybe it wasn't blood then, as i told you i'm not even certain it was the bill let alone the injury.

[NOX]

Yes but the point is molly you are demonstrating perfectly everything that is wrong about the knowledge of HIV / AIDS amongst young people- it's gleaned from fiction, and that is dangerous- because it leads to a mine of misinformation which you just demonstrated.

[Invictas]

Well said NOX

[237SJ]

Invictas - you say that people can`t catch aids from blood but they can from body fluids. What is blood if it is not a body fluid?

[Invictas]

Bodily fluids the medical profession defines as semen,and saliva,and vaginal fluids.
The HIV virus requires these bodily fluids to use as a method of transference,either in vagina,anus or mouth.
It does so as it cannot for very long survive in a lower or higher temperature to it's critical requirements.
When it is contained in semen,saliva or vaginal fluids it can stay alive.
You may class blood as a bodily fluid(and indeed it may be so) but for the purposes of HIV it falls outside the medical professions warnings.

[NOX]

As a P.S to what Invictus just wrote it also depends on the viral count of the infected person as to how catchable the virus is through any means- if they have a very low count bc of good drug therapy you are less likely to catch it- to the point where a couple I know who are sero-discrodant were advised to concieve normally because the man's viral level was so low as to be undetectable.

[237SJ]

Well I have to say I`m quite surprised by that. I never thought one could catch HIV from saliva, but I thought blood was a prime source of infection. I must have got it all wrong

[NOX]

It's virtually impossible to catch HIV from saliva oweing to the low levels of the virus found there- and I think invictus was saying that under normal circumstances you aren't likely to be able to catch it from blood because the virus dies so quickly when not at the right temperature wheras a blood transfusion is of course quite different.

[lcg]

invictus...no it does not. active treatment of an open wound counts the same as other body fluids - there is always a risk of infection if the health professional has a site where infection can be transmitted. ok, some may be more difficult than others and the virus does not remain active in blood outside the body for long...but the risk is there. it's the same as deciding to use a condom or not - you should always make an informed choice about keeping yourself safe...but you do not have the right to discriminate against people with hiv or aids x