Myths And Misconceptions About HIV/AIDS, Part II

As promised, continued from part I.

3-You can tell if someone has HIV just by looking at them.

-Um, no. Like I mentioned above, it's possible for someone to live with the virus for years and show no physical symptoms.

On a related tip, we shouldn't assume that it only happens to gay men. I know this statement has been around for a very long time, but you'd be surprised. While many men have become HIV-positive through same-sex sexual contact, it can happen to anyone. In fact, it's said that roughly 78% of women and 16% of men get it through heterosexual contact.

4-AIDS is an attempt by the US Government to kill off minorities.

-Tell me-was the person who told you this wearing a foil hat at the time? I'm not kidding; this rumor has been spread by various conspiracy theorists since the beginning and it's just as false now as it was then.

Any higher instances of HIV infection in minority populations in the US is more likely to be the result of a lower level of health care and health education than anything else.

5-My partner and I are faithful and in love, so we don't need to practice safe sex.

-I wouldn't say this unless you are absolutely certain about your partner's sexual history and has tested negative. Like I said above, it's possible for someone to have the virus in their system for years and not know it or show symptoms. If there is any doubt, use condoms until you can both be tested. If a partner balks about being tested, you probably don't need to be sleeping with them anyway.

6-You can't get HIV through oral sex.

-While it might appear that oral sex isn't as risky as other sex acts, a latex barrier such as a condom or dental dam should still be used. It's possible for the virus to enter a person's system if they have any mouth sores or bleeding gums.

7-You can't get HIV from a man if he doesn't ejaculate.

-The virus can still be carried in pre-ejaculatory fluid. Sorry.

I hope I haven't bored you with facts that you've already known for a long time. As I said before, though, some people get really scared when they don't need to because they don't know the basics about how HIV is and is not spread. That, and a lot of our teenagers think that they're 'indestructible' when we know they aren't. I'd rather them not find out the hard way.