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Strollerderby
Q: Should your sexually active teenager be tested for HIV?
A: Yes.
That seems pretty straightforward. And yet it’s news.
A new recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics says that all sexually active teenagers should be tested for HIV. The recommendation is hardly surprising. What’s a shock to me is that it’s new. Where has the AAP been for the last 30 years?
Jezebel’s confusing response to this news seems to suggest both that it’s an overreaction to a relatively small risk and that it’s a good public health move. I’m going to have to come down firmly on the side of it being a good idea. Such a good one that I thought it was the standard already.
The XVIII International AIDS Conference is underway in Vienna, Austria, and researchers in the field of HIV/AIDS prevention have lots of positive news to share.
United Nations Joint AIDS Programme deputy director Paul De Lay announced that the “virtual elimination of mother to child transmission of HIV” is possible by 2015, according to USA Today. Anti-HIV drugs have eliminated almost all instances of mother-to-infant transmission of HIV in the U.S. and other developed countries. Antiviral medications have also been successful in allowing HIV positive women to breastfeed their infants without transmitting the disease, per The World Health Organization.
Treatment for children with HIV rose from 276,000 in 2008 to 355,000 worldwide in 2009. But “the WHO is calling for greater access to infant diagnosis starting at four to six weeks after birth. Without diagnosis followed by prompt treatment, roughly a third of HIV-infected infants will die before their first birthday. Half will die before reaching two years of age,” USA Today reports.
Mother-to-infant HIV transmission remains at a high level in sub-Saharan Africa, as the region is home to more than two-thirds of all people infected with HIV. UNAIDS prevention advisor Karusa Kiragu says that without intervention, “there is a 45 percent chance that a baby there will be infected by its mother,” per Voice of America.
Of course one way to prevent mothers from passing the virus on to their children is to help them avoid contracting the disease. Voice of America reports, “South African researchers have made a scientific breakthrough in the fight against AIDS with a vaginal gel that significantly reduces a woman’s risk of being infected with HIV. Experts say the gel could be a revolutionary prevention tool, empowering women to protect themselves against partners who refuse to use condoms.” Continue reading »
If new research on smallpox and its relationship with AIDS bears fruit, parents may be adding one more vaccine to the arsenal of shots their kids get. The BBC reports that the vaccine used to wipe out smallpox offered some protection against the AIDS virus. Some scientists believe its disuse since smallpox was eradicated has helped the rapid spread of AIDS.
Think there’s nothing nicer than a lactating mama? Think again. A woman in a Kentucky jail decided to use her ability to squeeze her breastmilk and make it shoot out to spray a corrections officer in the eye.
Now she’s facing assault on an officer charges, and the case is bringing to the forefront one big concern about breastmilk. Continue reading »
Teens today are pretty well-informed when it comes to protecting themselves from pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. They know they should use a condom every time they have sex and they know why. So why aren’t Washington, D.C. teens taking advantage of the Department of Health’s school‐based free condom distribution program? Continue reading »
And you thought the old wives tales from your gran were weird: a new survey of British women brought out reports of using everything from chicken skin to bread as birth control.
Yes, you read that right. Women are turning to the kitchen in search of the miracle that will keep them from landing a bun in their oven.
Surprise, surprise: Continue reading »
Hospital employees in Jamnagar, India get no gold stars this week. Yesterday, a 25-year old pregnant woman was first labeled with a badge stating “HIV+” then asked to wait in a separate line from other patients when she came in for a doctor-advised abortion of her 8-week pregnancy.
The woman was the mother of a six-month old baby, who was there with her at the hospital, along with her mother-in-law. When officials discovered her HIV status, they pasted a sticker on her and walked her through the hospital corridors. A health activist spotted her and came to her rescue, and later a protest broke out over the incident.
The nurse who initially pasted the sticker on the woman and the doctors in charge of her case were asked to take a leave of absence.
Clearly, the good news about HIV and pregnancy hasn’t reached Guru Govind Singh hospital. But it looks like the health activists are doing what they can to get the message across.
image: indianexpress.com
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