2. 若懷疑自己得到愛滋，有哪些檢驗方法可檢驗？
 In many countries, the standard testing method employs two cheap and relatively reliable Antibodytests: ELISA and the Western Blot procedure
 “Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is a biochemical technique used mainly in
immunology to detect the presence of an antibody or an antigen in a sample”
 “Like the ELISA procedure, the western blot is an antibody detection test”
 These antibody tests do not detect the HIV virus in the blood but rather measure the body's reaction
to it. This might lead to wrong results for some people that have been treated with certain types of
vaccines or who have other types of immune deficiencies
 One needs to wait for a period of time, called the window period, after the initial infection, and until an
AIDS test can actually determine the presence of the virus. This time varies, depending on the method
used. During the window period, many tests might give false negatives because the virus has not
spread enough to be detectable
 The window period for antibody tests is usually 3 months, sometimes 6 months and in rare cases has
to be extended to a full 12 months
 False negatives after the window period are still quite probable. Statistics show that only 97% of the
people have a detectable amount of HIV antibodies after 3 months
 False positives are also possible which is why usually a single test is not sufficient
 There are rapid AIDS test kits available, although none of them are FDA-approved (FDA = Food &
Drug Administration of the USA), except for one test, which collects a drop of blood which needs to be
sent to a laboratory for evaluation by experts (and thus is not rapid)
 Those rapid test kits use blood or spit, employ different kinds of antibody testing algorithms and give a
result within less than an hour
 Nucleic acid based tests (NAT) have a window period of about 12 days but are more expensive. They
are used to test donated blood, in addition to the antibody tests
 Antigen tests proved less effective than NATs and have been replaced by them
 As of 2001, the risk of receiving HIV from donated blood in the U.S. was approximately one in 2.5
million for each transfusion
 In 2005 it was reported that “many studies have confirmed the accuracy of current methods of HIV
testing in the United States, reporting false-positive rates of 0.0004 to 0.0007 and false-negative rates
of 0.003 in the general population”
 Some people, called AIDS denialists, do not only deny the effectiveness of these tests, but even claim
that HIV does not cause AIDS in the first place, or that the tests cause AIDS or other similar kinds of
statements which have mostly been disproved
 Foreigners in Taiwan need to screen for AIDS before they can get their visa
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV_test
3. 愛滋病有哪些治療方法？
 There is no known cure or vaccine for AIDS up to this point
 “Evidence showed the virus can persist even under intensive treatment”
 Many con-artists and fake websites scam HIV and AIDS victims by selling placebos (such as US
Patent #5676977 from 1997 which is supposed to be an AIDS vaccine)
 Prevention is still the only way to effectively fight AIDS
 Antiretroviral drugs can suppress HIV and thus delay outbreak of AIDS (A retrovirus is an RNA
virus that is replicated in a host cell via the enzyme reverse transcriptase to produce DNA from its RNA
genome.)
 Scientists recently were able to "create cells in mice immune to the virus causing the disease”. To
make this work on humans, might either be impossible or could still take years to develop
 Common misconception: News like “Bedbugs can cure AIDS” that raised and eventually
shattered the hopes of thousands of AIDS victims - HIV is known to only survive in the blood of
humans and some other mammals. The fact that the virus dies if injected into bugs or insects, does
not mean that this can be used to cure AIDS since humans would not be able to survive with
insect blood
Thailand Vaccine Trial RV 144
 The world's largest HIV/AIDS vaccine trial was conducted in Thailand between July 2006 and
September 2009
 “The Thai experiment, known as RV 144, tested the "prime-boost" combination of two vaccines:
ALVAC HIV vaccine (the prime) produced by SanofiPasteur, and AIDSVAX B/E vaccine (the boost)
produced by the Global Solutions for Infectious Diseases.“
 The drug did not reduce the count of HIV-infected cells in AIDS victims, but reduced the infection
risk by 31.2% in 16,402 non infected volunteers
 The drug only targets a specific strain of the virus and it is still unclear if it even works on other
variations of the virus
 The test group was still too small and the results not convincing enough for commercial use but the
fact that the drug shows any level of efficiency gives hope to a lot of people
Groundbreaking news on AIDS Immunity
 On the 5th November 2010 AIDS a research team at Havard published research that explains why some
people stay immune against AIDS:
 The researchers discovered that the immunity comes from genetic amino acid variations that change
key proteins in the immune system
 People who are immune carry (and can still transmit) the virus, but are unaffected by it
 If a person has the newly discovered amino acid variants, his T-Helper cells will be especially good at
displaying pieces of HIV in a binding groove, or pocket of their outer coat. That enables killer cells to
target and kill the infected cells before they can spew forth more viruses
 Small amounts of immune people can be found in all continents and cultures showing that theoretically
everyone could theoretically carry the gen
References:
http://www.examiner.com/technology-in-miami/scientist-believe-they-found-a-cure-for-aids-hiv
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/AIDS/cure-longer-letter-word-hiv-researchers/story?id=11229191
http://www.asiaone.com/Health/News/Story/A1Story20090925-169838.html
http://healthland.time.com/2010/11/05/study-researchers-crack-the-mystery-of-aids-immunity/
7. Gays as a high-risk group
Early prejudices against gays
 Aids was first reported on June 5, 1981, after it was discovered in 5 homosexual men in Los Angeles
 The disease did not receive its name before July 1982
 In the meantime, the press called it Gay-related immune deficiency (同性恋瘟疫), and sometimes
even “Gay Plague”
 “The CDC (center for disease control), in search of a name, and looking at the infected communities
coined “the 4H disease,” as it seemed to single out Haitians, homosexuals, hemophiliacs, and heroin
users.”
Facts about gay AIDS victims
 “Around 48% of all people diagnosed with AIDS in America in 2007 were probably exposed to HIV
through male-to-male sexual contact.“
 Similar results can be found in many other countries
 “Worldwide, HIV and AIDS have affected young gay men more than any other group of people. In
the UK and USA especially, the percentage of young gay men who have been infected with HIV and
the percentage with AIDS are much higher than those among other groups.”
 The high risk is examined because many gay men have sex with many different partners at the same
time, and because anal sex can more easily cause tears and injuries in the skin, than vaginal sex
which allow the virus to enter the blood stream
Reducing Stigma
 “Gay men suffered particular stigmatisation when they were widely perceived to be responsible for
the epidemic rather than affected by it. Raising public awareness and understanding has an
important play in challenging misconceptions like this.”
 “Feeling accepted and supported as a young gay man is very important in terms of self-acceptance and
self-esteem. Having high self-esteem among young gay men has been shown to have positive
impact on confidence about negotiating sexual relationships and practising safe sex.”
 Even today, scientific reports carry provocative language against gay men. In recent news saying Gay
Men "Out of Control" based on statistical information about small groups of men in Belgium and
France who have passed on the virus (as well as other STDs (sexually transmitted diseases)) by having
unprotected sex. These people need better sexual education, a better perspective on responsibilities,
and not harsh language
 “Young people can be very prejudiced about homosexuality and particularly towards gay men. […]
Schools need both, to have policies about behaviour which make it clear that this is unacceptable, and
to address the misconceptions on which prejudices are generally based through positive teaching.”
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay-related_immune_deficiency
http://www.avert.org/young-gay-men.htm
http://www.queerlife.co.za/test/out-there/movies/115-are-young-gay-men-particularly-affected-by-aids.html
http://healthland.time.com/2010/09/14/bad-science-hiv-rates-are-misunderstood-again/