HIV Quiz

1. HIV Quiz How well informed are we or “who wants to have an HIV test?”

2. True or False • You can tell by looking who has HIV • False – of course you can’t, any more than any other sexually transmitted infection

3. True or False • HIV is a disease of gay men and drug addicts • False – while anal intercourse and injecting drugs do make a higher risk of contacting HIV, heterosexual spread is not uncommon. Just because someone is gay does not mean they are necessarily practicing random acts of unprotected anal sex. • A drug addict may not necessarily be injecting either, but is more likely to be participating in risky behaviour.

4. True or False • You can catch HIV from oral sex • True – while the transmission rate appears to be lower (unless you have open sores in your mouth) it can still be contracted

5. True or False • You have to declare if you have had an HIV test on any life insurance form • False – you only have to declare a positive result. Screening is routine in pregnancy and some professions

6. True or False • Life expectancy on modern antiretrovirals (HARRTs) when HIV positive can be on average an extra 49 years • True – a study in the Lancet in the last few years showed this, and according to sites run by HIV positive people for HIV positive people treatment is still improving. However – this is the case in the West, in developing countries the picture is nothing like as rosy.

7. True or False • Some countries have travel restrictions if you are HIV positive • True – unfortunately some countries (US included) have restrictions if you have a “communicable disease”

8. True or False • HIV testing is always positive at the point of seroconversion • False – seroconversion occurs typically 2-4 weeks after infection but the antibodies typically are picked up 6-12 weeks after infection. • This is why the standard situation is test 3 months after exposure • If it is suspected a test during seroconversion can be done but the patient needs to be advised that a negative test does not rule out HIV infection

9. True or False • You can catch HIV from kissing or giving mouth to mouth resuscitation • False – salivary carriage is very low and the oral mucosa generally inhospitable

10. True or False • HIV is now best considered a chronic disease like diabetes • True – according to most sources. • In this case screening should be more prevalent as it saves lives (needs to become more acceptable) • Lots of people are HIV positive on treatment and are working normal jobs and getting married etc

11. True or False • The main cause of death from HIV/AIDS in the UK is late diagnosis • True – the vast majority of deaths from AIDS related illnesses in this country are down to late diagnosis and therefore late commencement of treatment (ideally needs to start at least once CD4 count starts dropping before other infections occur.)