HIV/AIDS and Hep C

HIV is not the same as AIDS.

HIV is the virus that can lead to a person developing the condition (or the set of symptoms) known as AIDS.

IT'S NOT WHO OR WHAT YOU ARE BUT WHAT YOU DO THAT PUTS YOU AT RISK.

Can HIV/AIDS be transmitted by casual contact?

HIV is not spread By:

The Virus

Good hygiene practices will protect against infection.

Common sense is a good barrier to any potential risks.

Personal Care

• Cover cuts with waterproof plasters or band-aids.
• Wear latex or rubber gloves when dealing with blood.
• Wash with hot soapy water after handling body fluids.

Body Spills

• Wear latex or rubber gloves
• Mop up with tissue or disposable cloth
• Clean with cold water to remove blood
• Use bleach to wipe over area (diluted 1 part bleach to 10 parts water)
• Rinse with hot water
• Burn tissues or dispose of cloth carefully.

Source: Working around AIDS together - Angela Flux, AIDS Ministry & Education, Division of Community Care, Diocese of Melbourne.

Transmission

Prevention

• anything that will break the transmission cycle.
• non-penetrative sex
• barriers: condoms, female condoms, dams
• no unprotected sex outside main relationship
• no sex at all (abstinence)
• no sharing of injecting equipment

It Can Happen to Anyone

Main Modes of Transmission per region:

• Africa & Middle East - Heterosexual transmission
• USA, Western Europe, Australia and Latin America - Homosexual transmission

• Eastern Europe, China & Vietnam - Heterosexual transmission

How People Become Infected With HIV

• Having sex - vaginal, anal, to a lesser extent, oral
• From an infected mother to her baby through pregnancy and breastfeeding
• Through blood transfusion and organ transplants in countries where supplies are not screened - this includes many poorer countries, and also includes Australia before 1985
• Using drug - and steroid-injecting equipment that has been used by someone who is infected.
• Any other activity where semen, breastmilk, blood (including menstrual blood) and vaginal fluid from an infected person enters the body of an uninfected person and enters the bloodstream.

The .pdf files below require Adobe Acrobat Reader to view Overview of HIV Infection 102kb HIV/AIDS Your Questions Answered 26kb download Adobe Acrobat Reader

HIV Hypotheticals

Risk of Infection

A man you think might be gay gives you a big hug and a kiss on the lips or on the cheek.
No risk whatsoever of transmission, even if either of you is HIV positive.

A complete stranger offers you a bite of her sandwich.
No risk whatsoever of HIV transmission unless you have sex with her afterwards.

You find a used syringe with blood in it on the footpath.
Very low risk if you jab yourself with the needle, as HIV dies quickly outside the body. No risk at all if you pick it up by the barrel and throw it in the bin.

Your regular partner tells you they have been having an affair.
If they have had unprotected sex, that is, penetrative sex without condoms or female condoms, they have been at risk, and if they have had unprotected sex with you since then you are also at risk.

Your regular partner goes overseas for 12 months.
If either of you has unprotected sex or share needles and injecting equipment with other people during that time, you are at risk.

Your friend confides to you that they suspect their spouse is sleeping with someone else.
Your friend may be at risk if their spouse is having unprotected sex and having sex with your friend as well.

Your neighbour receives a box of 1000 condoms through a parcel delivery service. Since there is nobody home the delivery person asks you to sign for it.
You are not at risk, and neither is your neighbour.

At the party on Saturday you got so drunk you can't remember a thing except that there were several very attractive people there.
You are at risk if you had unprotected sex or if you shared needles. If you are HIV positive, then the people you had sex with or shared needles with are at risk.

A close work colleague tells you they are HIV positive. You have often had lunch together.
You are not at risk unless you have had sex together or shared needles. Having lunch together will not pass on HIV.

You have just made an insulting comment to an HIV positive person and they have spat in your eye and punched you in the nose.
There is no risk of transmission in ordinary physical contact.

Your friend wants to take you out to a restaurant which is owned by a famous homosexual chef.
Food does not pass on HIV, and the chef's sexual identity has nothing to do with whether or not they are HIV positive. Neither does their country of origin or their political affiliation. HIV does not discriminate, but people do.

Symptoms
Symptoms vary although often there is a flu-like illness within a month after exposure to the virus.

Anti-Retroviral
Although not a cure, this group of drugs can effectively treat the virus if used correctly under proper medical supervision. HIV can quickly become resistant to a particular class of drugs so it is best to use a combination.

AZT
AZT is an anti-retroviral and women who use it in pregnancy and delivery significantly reduce the chances of the baby becoming infected with the virus. It is also recommended the baby use AZT for the first six weeks of life.

Hepatitis C

Liver - Asymptomatic - Carrier - Cirrhosis - Symptoms

Unlike Hepatitis A and B, there is no vaccine and no cure at the moment.

Hep C is passed from one person to another through blood to blood contact, for example through sharing injecting equipment, razors or toothbrushes.

People infected with Hep C may develop one or more of the following symptoms over a period of years: fatigue, irritability, nausea and vomiting, intolerance for alcohol and fatty foods, liver damage including cirrhosis, liver failure, cancer of the liver.

Many people infected with Hepatitis C never develop any symptoms. It can stay alive outside the body for up to 90 days.

Often people decide that an illness is shameful becuase it can be caught in certain ways - through sex or intravenous drug use. This provides a convenient excuse for people to decide that it's "not their problem". I'm not one of them, one thinks, therefore I will never catch one of their diseases. It might be useful to remind people that there are non-stigmatised modes of transmission that everyone needs to know about in order to stay healthy, and that there are people living with Hepatitis C from every single age group, nationality, religion, sexual preference, social class and hat size.

How People Catch Hepatitis C

• Through blood transfusions and through donated blood products (in Australia the blood supply has been safe from Hepatitis C since 1990)
• Through inoculation (vaccination) programs where the nurse or doctor used the same needle with more than one person (this is no longer permitted in Australia)
• Through sharing contaminated needles and injecting equipment. For example when using drugs or steroids intravenously as part of a group.
• Through accidental needle-stick injuries with contaminated needles.
• Through using someone else's toothbrush or razor. These can hold traces of blood, even if it can't be seen.
• Through sex. This is unusual, but possible, for instance during sexual practices involving blood or broken skin and/or menstrual blood.
  

  If 100 people catch Hepatitis C at the same time .

  Between 80 and 85 people have chronic (long-term) hepatitis C infection.

  Between 15 and 20 people will get rid of the virus within 6 months, although they will continue to be carriers for some time after that.

  Between 60 and 65 people will develop some symptoms or some liver damage after 12 to 15 years.

  Twenty of these people will never develop any physical symptoms or liver damage, but they will continue to be capable of infecting others.

  20 to 25 of these people will develop cirrhosis of the liver (it will take on average 20 years to develop).

  5 to 10 people with cirrhosis will experience liver failure or liver cancer (after an average of 25 to 30 years).

  HEP C Hypotheticals

  Risk of Infection

  The person who fixes you a sandwich goes to the toilet and fails to wash their hands on their way back.
  No risk of passing on Hep C, Typhoid, food poisoning, Hep A and other nasties: high risk.

  You want to shave your legs or your face. There is a razor on the side of the bathroom sink, which looks used but clean.
  Don't use it. Hep C is present in blood and people cut themselves with razors all the time. Even if there is no blood visible on the razor, the virus might still be present.

  Your house is broken into. The burglar breaks a window to get in and accidentally cuts themselves. When you come home your stereo is gone and there are drops of blood on the floor.
  Don't touch anything until the police have investigated. Where there is blood, there could be Hep C. Clean the blood spots, wear gloves, and throw the gloves away when you've finished. Be careful of blood on the broken glass too.

  Your daughter's boyfriend is a bodybuilder. He says he regularly injects performance-enhancing steroids.
  No risk of Hep C transmission unless he shares needles or injecting equipment.

  You want to get a tattoo put on your shoulder which says "Born to be Wild"; your next-door neighbour says he'll do it for you for ten dollars.
  Brr. Back-door tattoos are always risky. Better to stick to professionals, even if they're more expensive. A professional tattooist will use sterile disposable equipment.

  There is a disaster in your area, with many people hurt. The nurse from the Blood Bank is asking you to donate blood.
  Donating blood poses no risk whatsoever.

  You find a used syringe on the ground in a park where young children regularly come to play.
  Pick it up by the barrel, try not to touch the needle, place it in a glass or plastic bottle and throw it in the bin. You might also want to point out the incident to whoever is responsible for keeping the park clean school or local council.

  Your next-door neighbour's kid gets her hand scratched by a stray cat. She is bleeding.
  Where there is blood there might be Hep C. Use gloves to treat her, and put a waterproof bandage on the scratch. Throw the gloves away afterwards. There is no risk of the child catching Hep C from a cat. Other minor infections are possible.

  You are standing at the bus stop when the man standing next to you collapses. Somebody near you says: "Yuck, he threw up on himself."
  Since you can't always tell, assume there is blood present in the vomit. Some risk of Hep A if you come into direct contact with the vomit.

  One of your guests is helping you in the kitchen. All of a sudden a glass breaks, and your guest has a cut in his/her hand.
  Where there is blood, there might be Hep C. Take universal precautions. (rubber or latex gloves)

  Your child falls off their bicycle and has a minor cut to their head. Like all head wounds, there is a lot of bleeding.
  Where there is blood there might be Hep C. Be cautious.

  Your child wants to go to a public swimming pool with some friends for the afternoon.
  No risk of Hep C.

  In your school when you were little, you remember vaccination days where the needle was really blunt by the time your turn came.
  High risk situation. If one person in the school was Hep C positive, chances are all the children who got inoculated after them got it too.

  While away on business you have an accident and you require a blood transfusion.
  You are at risk if you are in a country where the blood supply is not safe from HCV. You are also at risk of becoming infected with HIV. Blood transfusions are safe in Australia since 1990.

  Your female partner enjoys unprotected sex during her menstrual period. She says she's more relaxed because she doesn't have to worry about getting pregnant.
  If she is a carrier of Hepatitis C, you are at risk if her menstrual blood comes in contact with a break in your skin. Since breaks in the skin can be too small to see, this means you are at risk.

  RDNS / AIDS Dementia Complex - Facts Sheet

  The .pdf files below require Adobe Acrobat Reader to view RDNS / AIDS Dementia Complex - facts sheet 35kb download Adobe Acrobat Reader

  Acknowledgment

  Tony Savdié

  The information in this section is from Everybody's Business. (First Edition, January 1999). A resource kit published by the Multicultural HIV/AIDS Service (MHAS) - Printed by J.S. McMillan Printing Group. The resource was made possible by a grant from the Commonwealth Department of Health and Family Services.

December, 2002

Local & International Warnings - Hep C infections in Australia jump – urgent funding needed

The Australian Hepatitis Council (Oct 6) has accused State and Federal governments of ignoring the growing health problems associated with Hepatitis C.

A new study claims there are 16,000 new cases of the disease each year,or one new infection every 32 minutes. The report found the number of people being infected each year jumped by 45 percent in 2001 compared to 11,000 in 1997.

Council Executive Officer Jack Wallace has appealed for more research and resources to counter the upward surge.

It’s been estimated that between 320,000 and 836,000 people in Australia would … not could … be living with the infection by 2020 depending on the degree of injecting drug use.

The Australian AIDS Fund has already called for a separation in the composite funding given to HIV/AIDS & Hepatitis C ... it’s grossly and unjustifiably lopsided with little regard to the plight of the Hep C infected.

Even though the trauma both share is so similar.

In Victoria especially, the amount given to Hepatitis C is quite pitiful compared to the millions provided to the State’s AIDS Council.

This situation has to be reversed, and quickly.

You could write to your local State and federal MP in this regard.

Political clout has to give way to real needs rather than continuing to feed burgeoning bureaucracies.)

The following is intended as a guide for those who want to send letters.