New HIV Infections Pose Greatest Risk
If someone looks healthy, then you don’t need to worry about catching HIV from him, right? Wrong! This is one of the greatest myths under which people operate in making risky choices.Actually, for almost 15 years we’ve known that newly infected people are more likely to transmit HIV, compared with people in later stages of the disease, and they still look and feel completely healthy. Initially the virus is growing unchecked in the body, and the infected person has a very high viral level. The more virus present, the greater the likelihood of spreading HIV.
But how much more infectious are they? Try about five and one-half times more likely to infect others during the first five months, compared with the likelihood during the next year or two. That was the conclusion of a Johns Hopkins University study presented at a major AIDS conference in Boston last week. After initial infection, the immune system brings the virus into partial control, and virus level falls. However, if the disease progresses, viral load and infectivity climb again, rising sharply in the 15 months before death from AIDS.
The study was done in Uganda, so researchers cautioned against extrapolating precise risks to the U.S. population, but regardless of what the exact numbers are, it’s clear that what appears to be someone’s good health is not protection against his or her transmitting HIV to his or her partner(s).
Research published in 2001 demonstrated that an individual becomes infectious to others quickly — within as little as five days after his or her infection. The Hopkins study proves that early infectivity is at the highest possible level. So, this is one time that you truly can’t judge a book by its cover. Unless you know a potential partner’s HIV status, make your choices firmly for safety: Postpone sex until you do know, choose low-risk activities, or at least use a condom. Have fun, but play safe!
This article appears in February 21 • 2003.