You may have recently contracted HIV
DID YOU know that within the first two to four weeks of contracting HIV (the acute period), a person has about the highest concentration of HIV in his/her blood? Did you know also that that during this period, the possibility of infecting other persons is almost 20 times greater than later on?
Well, if you didn’t, in this week’s edition of the HIV/AIDS Mailbox, we’ll be bringing you some useful insights, which all underscore the importance of learning more about HIV and getting tested for HIV early.
That apart, when it comes to such a test, time is of the essence. The sooner one takes the test, the better, for if he/she tests positive, it allows for timely medical intervention and ultimately, immune reconstitution and a prolonged and improved quality of life.
Where a person does not know his status early enough, there is the possibility of greater damage being done to the immune system before therapy could be embarked upon.
But while there are implications for late testing and the late stage development of HIV, so too, are there points to note about early or primary HIV infection.
Insofar as transmission of HIV is concerned, studies have shown that a person is ‘most infectious’ (has the potential for passing on the virus to others) during the early stages of their own infection, referred to as the ‘acute infection’.
Usually, within the first two to four weeks of HIV-infection, there are higher particles of HIV in the blood, and some researchers say that the possibility of a person infecting another during this stage is up to 20 times higher than during the later stage of the progression of HIV.
While persons at this stage rarely have a clue as to what is going on within them, the symptoms are generally flu-like, or the person may experience fever, disorientation, fatigue, headache, feeling achy, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, night sweats and a swollen lymph gland.
DANGEROUS ASSUMPTION
In our last issue, we shared with you some of the difficulties experienced by some women and staff of the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) Programme in getting male partners to accompany their spouses to the clinics to get tested.
One of the responses we highlighted was the dangerous assumption by some men that if their wives/female partners do not have HIV, then automatically they, too, do not.
Not true. There is absolutely no guarantee that if one person is HIV-negative, their intimate partner will also be negative. This development is referred to as being ‘sero-discordant’, a very real scenario. Hence, nothing should be taken for granted. The only way a person could know for sure whether they have HIV or not is by taking the HIV test, observing the guidelines governing behaviour during the window period, then taking a second test about three months later.
IMPORTANCE OF TESTING
The importance of getting tested for HIV, especially as it relates to matters of pregnancy or conceiving babies, cannot be over-emphasized.
Here are some of the primary reasons:
• If the mother tests positive for HIV during pregnancy, it means that without the intervention of the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) programme, she could pass the virus on to her unborn child (vertical transmission ). Therefore, by joining a PMTCT clinic, she will be acting in the best interest of safeguarding the health of her unborn child.
• If the woman tests HIV-negative, it is equally important for her husband to take the test as well, since, if he is HIV-positive and does not know, it is possible for him to, at some point in time, pass the virus on to her through unprotected sex. If this happens during her pregnancy and neither party knows, she will be denied the chance of benefitting from the PMTCT programme, hence the child will very likely be born with HIV.
• If on testing the couple is found to be serodiscordant, the implications are greater for having a baby through natural pregnancy, since in the process, the uninfected partner may become infected. (Next week, we will look at that scenario)
• Finally, have you considered that both parties could test negative for HIV at the inception of a woman’s pregnancy, but later, while the baby is yet in the uterus, her male partner becomes infected? Based on what was outlined above about the r ate of primary infection, the implications are evident.
• What a tragedy it would be if, throughout the pregnancy, she continues to assume that she is HIV negative, ultimately seeing no need to for her to join a PMTCT Clinic?
Parents, do be careful! Think about that unborn child whose health and wellbeing depend upon you.
