Do They Test Them?

When I share that we are in the process of adoption, everyone seems to be excited.  I think most people are curious and the questions begin to flow.  "Are you adopting from here?" "Oh really, from where?" And then it comes.  Not every time of course, however, I'm sure many times the question is still there.  Unasked.  After the word Africa the question comes, "Do they test them, for AIDS I mean?"

I try to have a good attitude, as I know this is only the beginning.  I know it will be harder hearing personal questions like this with my child at my side.  The first sinful response I feel welling up in me is, to lash back with sarcasm, "Of course they do, but would we not love whatever child God puts in our family with or without HIV?"  However, I know that they, like I was a few months ago, have not been educated beyond the 1980s.  And while the questions hurt, it was probably this frequent question that I think helped prompt me to do more research.  And here's the thing we are all stuck in a 1980s world when it comes to this issue when our country has made leaps and bounds in treating this infection.  There is still no cure, but persons able to receive medications are able to greatly reduce the amount of the infection in their body and extend life well into the twilight years.

The sad thing is we live in a country, with the means to get the drugs affordably through insurance, and we still think we can get HIV through touching someone or being in the same room as them, like it's the flu.  I grew up in the 80s, I was taught to be paranoid just like the rest of the world when it comes to this issue.  I'm not trying to act like if I were around someone who was HIV+, I wouldn't have to fight back that irrational fear that is ingrained in me that what if they just started coughing up blood and a little bit just happened to get on that tiny cut I got yesterday.  Unlikely, and even if it happened, the chances of becoming infected through that situation are still VERY small, probably even miniscule.

So for those of you who are still reading and are interested in the current facts about HIV, here are the facts:

• Yes, all of the children are tested for HIV, Hepatitis, and TB and families are able to specify if they would like to adopt healthy or special needs children

HIV FACTS (borrowed from Project Hopeful)

#1: HIV is spread in three main ways: Sexual contact, IV drug use (through the sharing of dirty needles), and mother to infant (through pregnancy, birth or breast feeding).

#2: Medications called ARV’s can mean the difference between life and death. Children who receive treatment are expected to live a normal lifespan.  My add: Most insurance companies (actually I think it is now required, a good thing from "ObamaCare") accept adoptive children just as they would a newborn regardless of pre-exhisting conditions.

#3: HIV is not found in sweat, urine, feces, tears, saliva or snot. It is found in blood, semen, vaginal fluids and breast milk. While HIV may live for a short while outside of the body, HIV transmission has not been reported as a result of contact with spillages or small traces of blood, semen or other bodily fluids. This is partially because HIV dies quite quickly once exposed to the air, and also because spilled fluids would have to get into a persons bloodstream to infect them.

#4: You don’t have to fear catching HIV through day to day activities with people who are HIV+. You are free to share plates, cups, utensils, food, toilets, towels, linens and other household items without risk of transmission. –American Academy of Family Physicians

#5: Today, HIV is considered a chronic, but manageable disease, much like Type II Diabetes (though Diabetes cannot be transmitted).

#6: If a pregnant mother does not receive medical treatment, there is approximately a 30% chance she will transmit the virus to her child. By treating mother and infant, doctors can reduce that rate to approximately 1%.

#7: A persons HIV+ status is protected medical information. There are US laws in place to protect the privacy of individuals living with the virus. There are also laws to protect citizens from being discriminated against because they have HIV/AIDS should they decide to disclose their HIV status.

#8: Social stigma is perhaps the greatest challenge an HIV+ individual will face.

#9:  A persons viral load is the amount of HIV found in their body. Through the use of HAART treatment it is possible for a patients viral load to become undetectable in laboratory tests. Having an undetectable viral load does not mean a person is cured. It simply means the medications are working to prevent the HIV virus from replicating within the body.

#10: In 2009 the Kaiser Family Foundation conducted a study titled “Survey of Americans about HIV/AIDS” which found that levels of knowledge about HIV/AIDS had not increased in the US since 1987.

#11: Families should use universal precautions whether or not someone in the family has HIV. Kids should be taught not to touch anyone’s blood anyway! This enables them to offer assistance to injured persons in a safe and healthy way.

#12: In the West, HIV is now considered a chronic illness rather than the terminal disease it used to be. Sadly, this isn’t the case for those children infected with HIV who are living in resource-poor settings, where 50% of infected and untreated children are not expected to live past the age of two.

#13: Today, 6,500 people will die as a result of AIDS. 6,000 of those people will leave children behind. Those children will join the already 15 million children who have lost parents to this treatable disease. (note: HIV is NOT AIDS. Patients receiving treatment for HIV (with ARV’s) can be expected to live long healthy lives without ever developing AIDS. In the U.S. ARV’s are readily available, however this is not the case in 

most developing parts of the world)

#14: There is no reason to fear that a mosquito or other insect could transmit HIV from one person to another through HIV-infected blood left on its mouth parts. Studies conducted by the CDC and elsewhere have shown no evidence of HIV transmission from mosquitoes or any other insects–even in areas where there are many cases of AIDS and large populations of mosquitoes. Lack of such outbreaks, despite intense efforts to detect them, supports the conclusion that HIV is not transmitted by insects.

#15: There are no documented cases of HIV being transmitted during participation in sports. The very low risk of transmission during sports participation would involve sports with direct body contact in which bleeding might be expected to occur. If someone is bleeding, their participation in the sport should be interrupted until the wound stops bleeding and is both antiseptically cleaned and securely bandaged. There is no risk of HIV transmission through sports activities where bleeding does not occur.

#16: No incident of food being contaminated with HIV-infected blood or semen has been reported to CDC. Furthermore, CDC has received no reports of HIV infection resulting from eating food, including condiments. HIV does not live long outside the body. Even if small amounts of HIV-infected blood or semen was consumed, exposure to the air, heat from cooking, and stomach acid would destroy the virus. Therefore, there is no risk of contracting HIV from eating food.

#17: Many scientific studies have been conducted to examine all the possible ways that HIV is transmitted. These studies have NOT shown HIV to be transmitted through air, water, insects, or casual contact.