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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance Times, 1995-10-04, Page 8• It vsI WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1995 Reaching out to educate the public • Illemories of a most PeCuliar dise uss ion 6 remember with some distant clarity the very first intellectual discussion I had on the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syn- drome. It was with a group of friends of mine from univer- sity at our favourite table in the Arts cafeteria. Two of those with us that afternoon were active homosex- uals and they were trying to explain this new disease that had the homosexual community terrified. It was most peculiar discussion because I generally am not open to alternative lifestyles. I grew up in an environment where a family was considered to be a mother and father with children: not the many varia- tions we, have today in our politically correct society. I freely admit that I am not po- liticaljy correct • and have a diffi- cult tirne under- With standing their choice; but also ®isease admit that their choice is theirs to make, not Cameron J. Wood mine to enforce. My two friends at university were the first gays that I had ever encountered that were open about their choice, and I guess I learned during those years that the world is made up of many different people. But their fear was something that could be shared with easy understanding. We all have something inside us that unites us in moments of dire concern, and this was one. The concept of a killer plague was most intriguing to us. This was 1986 and for the most part, AIDS was as of yet unheard of in mainstream society. It had been labelled as a "gay'disease" and the only way to get it was to live a homosexual lifestyle. Even the two who were slowly educating us at that cafeteria ta- ble were as of yet unaware of the scope of the dis- ease. We were intrigued by comments from around the table like AIDS was God's plague upon those who did not conform to His beliefs. Many actually still be- lieve that. But as time wore on, we soon came to un- derstand what HIV truly meant. We still maintain our stereotypical views of the ailment — that it is "God's plague". We don't look further down the list, so to speak. We fail to see who is affected by the disease: men and women, of both sexual orientations (straight and gay for those who still don't get it) and most trag- ically, children. AIDS in 1986 was a gay-4isease. Society allowed it to be just that and refused to look deeper. In 1991, one man literally blew the top of the stereotype. Mag- ic Johnson, the great L.A. Laker NBA star confessed he was stricken with the HIV virus — the precursor to AIDS. This was the first time that the world openly accepted that a heterosexual male could contact the disease. After all, Johnson had a reputation with the ladies — reportedly over 2,000 of them. But his disclosure showed how little we truly knew about AIDS and HIV. It was a much needed wake up call for those who didn't accept the reality at the be- ginning. The World Health Organization estimates that over 18.5 million adults and 1.5 million children are in- fected with the HIV virus. The fear is that many may not even know they are carriers and may be practic- ing unprotected sex — spreading the virus to a greater degree. Here we are, now 10 years after that most peculiar discussion. My one friend has since died of AIDS- related complications and his companion lives daily with the fear and uncertainty of his own fate. I remain politically incorrect — but at least a little"jucated on the disease once considered to be God's plague on gays. Perhaps now, with the scope of the impact a lit- tle mote understood, we can understand that there is only one constant with the HIV virus. No matter who it AFcts, the outcome is 100 per cent fatal. And no one is immune. BY CAMERON J. WOOD The Advance -Times GODERICH — The biggest challenge in the fight against the deadly HIV/ AIDS pandemic may not be finding a cure, but rather education. It seems despite the extent of infor- mation available on how to prevent the spread of the disease people still partic- ipate in high risk behaviour, either in the sharing of needles or unprotected sex. And in areas such as Midwestern Ontario, ongoing stereotypes about the nature of the disease and the people who deal with it daily. Jeff Hudson is hoping to put some of that to rest. As organizer of the first annual Walk-a-thon for AIDS in Gode- rich on October 1, Hudson was opti- mistic about spreading the message about the ailment and raising both lo- cal awareness and funds to continue the battle in Huron County. Over 100 people turned out for the walk here. The Huron County HIV/AIDS Net- work supports clients around the re- gion with assistance such as transporta- tion and contact with physicians, cooking meals. In addition, Hudson said , the. Network conduct education workshops throughout the year to raise local awareness. "Today we're actually trying to raise awareness of the Network as well for those people in the county who may be HIV positive and don't know about us. They need help," he said. The event was very much a family affair as throughout the interview, chil- dren were constantly hugging and be- ing picked up by Hudson. This was perhaps a more dramatic message than the Network was hoping to send out: shattering the stereotype that HIV and AIDS is a "gay disease". Tragically, children must also cope with the con- cern as HIV/AIDS bears no prejudice and can infect anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, gender, age and race. In Huron, the Network operates the 1-519-482-1191 24-hour AIDS phone line. Live operators work Wednesday's 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., other than that, the line is connected to an answering machine. Hudson explained all calls are confidential. Hudson said the Network, which be- gan in 1992, is unfortunately growing, both in size and demand. "There are more and more need and more and more clients." Reaching out in to the rural commu- nity is a difficult challenge, he said. Primarily, they rely on the media to spread their message; but with a region such as Huron where people are spread out across a vast area, that message sometimes doesn't extend as deep as is needed. "It's unfortunate that it usually takes being infected by the disease until peo- ple come and get help," he said of rural community. "It's sort of like if (HIV/ AIDS) not present in your life it's not there." AIDS Awareness Week events were taking place all across Ontario on Oc- tober 1. In Kitchener -Waterloo 400 gathered to Walk for Aids. In Toronto, some 18,000 participated. HIV and AIDS remain a complicat- ed issue. A great many people wrongl believe the two to be one of the same There are dramatic differences. HIV i the acronym for Human Immunodefi ciency Virus. This is the initial stage o infection - the virus that eventually leads to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, or simply, AIDS. People who are HIV positive do not necessari- ly have AIDS. The most famous exam- ple is fonner National IEasketball As- sociation star Magic Johnson tired Los Angeles Laker has ing healthy for the most part sensational disclosure in 1991 • According to the World H ganization, as of June 30 off over 1,169,811 cumulative AI in adults and children had bee ed. In a global sense, this was cent increase from 1994. Th Health Organization estimates million AIDS cases in adults dren have occurred worldwi the pandemic begin and '18.5 adults and 1.5 million child been affected with the HIV 'vi the. late 1970s. The origins of the disease mystery, although one sch thought has it connected to a M homosexual male in the late Others believe it existed in America, Europe and Africa before the earliest cases appe 1980. HIV identification was m 1984 by French and American fists°and gii'en its name in 1986. The HIV virus may lie dorm years in a person's body; someti long a.,10 years. In fact, clinical the, United State show that � per' cent of people infected wi HIV virus will exhibit symptoms in a decade of being infected. the HIV virus becomes active, tacks the individual's special T (CD4 cells that contribute to th fense against infection), making i er for that person to become sic more difficult to fight back from usually common ailments. As the virus slowly kills the cells, the body's ability to fight i tion weakens. The more serious th tial attack becomes, the weaker th mune system gets and AIDS - described as the end result of HIV velops. At this point, a person's mune system is so depicted that can no longer fight off infection. person usually becomes too weak eventually dies from other diseases their body cannot fight off, such pneumonia and various cancers. ailment has shown itself to be 100 cent lethal. . The re - been liv- since his ealth Or - this year, DS cases n report - a 19 per e World that 4.5 and chit - de since million ren have rus since remain a ool of ontreal 1970s. North decades ared in ade in scien- ant for mes as studies my 50 th the with - When it at - cells e de - t easi- k and often se T nfec- e ini eim- best - de- im- they The and that as The per "This disease isn't like chicken pox, which makes itself clearly evident. It's much more subtle -- at first" Physician Magazine The symptoms- of HIV may mask themselves as flu-like headaches, fever diarrhea, night sweats, swollen lymph glands and nausea. Often the only way to know if an indiyidual is HIV posi- tive is through a blood test, or the most widely used ELISA test. The test does not specifically look for the HIV virus, but rather the antibodies an individual's immune system starts to develop when under attack from infection. Most peo- ple, according to American Centre for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia, start producing antibodies to the virus Somewhere between two to 12 weeks after initial exposure. The ACDC rec- ommends that to ensure an accurate test, an individual at risk wait at least y three months before testing to ensure . accurate results. s How does one determine if they are - at risk or not? The ACDC recomrrtenda, f that any time an individual has contact with the virus in such a way that it can enter the blood stream, they consider themselves as being "at risk." The cen- tre also says that the likelihood of in- fection can vary with the four kinds of "ports of entry": ways that the virus ii%'.;¢�2`f Education...is a big aspect of reaching out to a rural audi- ence walk organizer Jeff Hudson says. Prior to the annual HIV/AIDS Awareness Week event, he thanked those who turned out in Goderich on Oct. 1 to help raise money and awareness. can enter the bloodstream. Blood to Blood Contact - the most ef- ficient mode of transmission. Exam- ples include: infected blood transfusion or sharing a hypodermic needle with an infected user. It should be noted that there is evi- dence in health care environments where workers have been infected after being stuck with needles containing HIV-infected blood. There is only one demonstrated instance where a patient was infected by a HIV positive health care worker. Anal Intercourse - risky sexual be- havior as infected semen can find an easy port of entry into the bloodstream through tears and abrasions in this area. Vaginal Intercourse - especially risky for women. Oral Sex - taking infected body fluids into the mouth where potential tiny cuts in the mucus membrane may ex- ist, providing a port of entry to the blood stream. It should be noted that the enzymes and' acids in saliva are very strong anti-viral agents so it is un- likely inflected blood or semen could survive in the mouth very long. In a 1993 issue of Physician Maga- zine, it was noted that sexual transmis- sion of the disease accounted for ap- proximately 65 per cent of the AIDS cases in the United States. Of this, 60 per cent of the cases involved homo- sexuals and five per cent heterosexu- als. It has been said that homosexual sex is a higher risk for the spread of the disease because of the sexual practices employed. Contrary to stubborn popular belief, the HIV virus cannot be transmitted from toilet seats, drinking glasses, mosquito bites or shaking hands. (However, Dr. Lorraine Day disputes this argument. See side bar) Experts suggest that if the virus was spread through those methods, the patterns of AIDS cases would be dramatically dif- ferent. Scientists contend that the virus does not survive well in the environ- ment. Regardless, the stereotypes remain and the tragedy of HIV continues. Edu- cation has proven to be invaluable when examining issues such as HIV/ AIDS. The key is wanting to learn more and wanting to protect ourselves against this killer. Controversial Findings of Dr. Lorraine Day Lorraine Day, fill D , is a San Fran- cisco area specialist in orthopedic surgery and has done considerable work toward a PhD in cell biology. She is the author of AIDS — What The Government Isn't Telling You. • The AIDS virus can survive on a dry surface for as long es seven days (F. Barre-Sinoussi, et al, Re- si`stance of AIDS Virus at Room Temperature) • It survives freezing (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Oct, 7, 1988) • It can transmit through saliva (Piaz- za, M., et al., Journal of American Medicine, Oct. 27, 1989) • It can transmit through oral sex (Rozenbaum W:, Lancet, June 18, 18813) .• ft seems to have transmitted at • twist price through a bite that did not break the akin (LLancet, Septerraber Ott 1586)., +lthas been found and judged ink*,tive on neadies itt atrrounts so hitrt» lie that they tlook hire "'dices nee fifes" ( hitwood, b et af,, 7erit:ant s. Journal of Public 01,..O.lib, Feb 1990) • Soule disinf its ftSrmerl'y leve tb . denah.,re ,the Uini t..irso'..