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Did You
Know:
That AIDS/HIV
can be transmitted through ways other than
sexual contact? That AIDS/HIV can be transmitted
by sharing needles, and through open cuts in the
skin?
The CDC also states that HIV is unable to
reproduce outside its living host (UNLIKE
BACTERIA OR FUNGI, WHICH MAY REPRODUCE UNDER
OTHER CONDITIONS).
The reason for
bringing this is up is to encourage you to
always try to be safe. Although HIV has been
transmitted between family members in a
household setting, this type of transmission is
rare. You should, however, always take safety
precautions to ensure your safety. Some safety
guidelines are as follows:
Gloves should be worn during contact with blood
or other body fluids.
Cuts, sores, or breaks in the skin in both the
caregiver and the patient should always be
bandaged.
Hands and other parts of the body should be
washed immediately after contact with blood or
other body fluids.
SURFACES soiled with blood or other body fluids
should be DISINFECTED appropriately.
Dispose of any needles and other sharp
instruments in a PUNCTURE PROOF container.
Some HEPATITIS
VIRUSES can be as deadly as the AIDS/HIV virus.
Let’s take HAV (Hepatitis-A) for example. Even
though it is primarily a food virus, it can
lead to other illnesses. HAV accounts for
approximately 20,000 to 35,000 cases of
food-borne illness each year in the United
States.

Here
are some facts about HBV (Hepatitis-B):
Worldwide, 1
out of 3 people have been infected with the
Hepatitis-B virus.
HBV is one of the most common and serious
diseases in the world!
According to the Hepatitis B Foundation, there
are approximately 400 million chronic carriers
of HBV worldwide. Over 75% of these carriers
reside in the Asia-Pacific region.
One million
people die each year from acute and chronic
liver disease caused by HBV infection, making
it the ninth leading cause of death worldwide.
Nearly 300,000 people become infected each year
with HBV. Of that number, one out of ten
becomes a chronic carrier. HBV is 100 times more
infectious than the AIDS virus. In the United
States approximately 2 healthcare workers are
infected each day with HBV. There is a vaccine
for HBV, but for the 400 million who are already
carriers of HBV the
vaccine is of no use.
HBV can be
transmitted through any infected person’s mucus
membranes upon contact with infected body fluids
such as semen, vaginal secretions, saliva, and
blood. The highest concentration of the virus,
however, is found in the blood.
Because
of the availability of a vaccine, HBV is one of
the most preventable STDs (Sexually Transmitted
Disease). Most people don’t think of HBV as an
STD.
And then there is HCV (Hepatitis C virus) which
is a viral infection of the liver.
HCV is transmitted by exposure to blood from an
infected individual.
The greatest risk of transmitting HCV from
person to person is during a period of one or
more weeks before onset of symptoms. However,
since the majority of people infected with HCV
do not have symptoms, the period of
communicability is indeterminate.
Humans remain contagious as long as they carry
the virus.

What about
co-infection between HIV and HCV?
About
one-quarter of HIV-infected persons in the
United States are also infected with HCV.
HCV is transmitted primarily by passages through
the skin (cuts, sores, any kind of break in
the skin), as well as by exposure to
contaminated blood.
Another deadly
disease is TB (Tuberculosis). TB is a disease
that is spread from person to person through the
air.
An estimated 10 to 15 million Americans are
infected with the TB bacteria, with the
potential to develop active TB disease in the
future.
Approximately 2 billion people (one third of the
world population) are infected with
Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the cause of TB.
TB can also cause liver damage.
We have
performed extensive research into diseases that
can be spread when an area has not been
properly decontaminated. We believe that we can
make a major difference by helping to stop the
spread of such diseases. |