WORLD AIDS DAY 2013: Get Involved!

The World Health Organization established World AIDS Day in 1988. Click on the logo below to find out how you can get involved, and make a difference in your local community!

Comments

[private health insurance]

The moment we discard AIDS as a stigma is a sign of progress. That said, a worldwide commemoration and information drive will help spread awareness about AIDS.

[Jan]

Yes, and they react positive to nelray 100 unrelated conditions Factors Known to CauseFalse Positive HIV Antibody Test Results 1.Anti-carbohydrate antibodies 52,19,132.Naturally-occurring antibodies 5,193.Passive immunization: receipt of gamma globulin or immune (as prophylaxis against infection which contains antibodies) 18, 26, 60, 4,22, 42, 43, 134.Leprosy 2, 255.Tuberculosis 256.Mycobacterium avium 257.Systemic lupus erythematosus 15, 238.Renal (kidney) failure 48, 23, 139.Hemodialysis/renal failure 56, 16, 41, 10, 4910.Alpha interferon therapy in hemodialysis patients 5411.Flu 3612.Flu vaccination 30, 11, 3, 20, 13, 4313.Herpes simplex I 2714.Herpes simplex II 1115.Upper respiratory tract infection (cold or flu) 1116.Recent viral infection or exposure to viral vaccines 1117.Pregnancy in multiparous women 58, 53, 13, 43, 3618.Malaria 6, 1219.High levels of circulating immune complexes 6, 3320.Hypergammaglobulinemia (high levels of antibodies) 40, 3321.False positives on other tests, including RPR (rapid plasmareagent) test for syphilis 17, 48, 33, 10, 4922.Rheumatoid arthritis 3623.Hepatitis B vaccination 28, 21, 40, 4324.Tetanus vaccination 4025.Organ transplantation 1, 3626.Renal transplantation 35, 9, 48, 13, 5627.Anti-lymphocyte antibodies 56, 3128.Anti-collagen antibodies (found in gay men, haemophiliacs, Africans of both sexes and people with leprosy) 3129.Serum-positive for rheumatoid factor, antinuclear antibody (both found in rheumatoid arthritis and other autoantibodies) 14, 62, 5330.Autoimmune diseases 44, 29, 1O, 40, 49, 4331.Systemic lupus erythematosus, scleroderma, connective tissue disease, dermatomyositis Acute viral infections, DNA viral infections 59,48, 43, 53, 40, 1332.Malignant neoplasms (cancers) 4033.Alcoholic hepatitis/alcoholic liver disease 32, 48, 40, 10, 13, 49, 43, 5334.Primary sclerosing cholangitis 48, 5335.Hepatitis 5436. Sticky blood (in Africans) 38, 34, 4037.Antibodies with a high affinity for polystyrene (used in the test kits) 62, 40, 338.Blood transfusions, multiple blood transfusions 63, 36, 13, 49, 43, 4139.Multiple myeloma 10, 43, 5340.HLA antibodies (to Class I and II leukocyte antigens) 7, 46, 63, 48, 10, 13, 49, 43, 5341.Anti-smooth muscle antibody 4842.Anti-parietal cell antibody 4843.Anti-hepatitis A IgM (antibody) 4844.Anti-Hbc IgM 4845.Administration of human immunoglobulin preparations pooled before 1985 1046.Haemophilia 10, 4947.Haematologic malignant disorders/lymphoma 43, 53, 9, 48, 1348.Primary biliary cirrhosis 43, 53, 13, 4849.Stevens-Johnson syndrome 9, 48, 1350.Q-fever with associated hepatitis 6151.Heat-treated specimens 51, 57, 24, 49, 4852.Lipemic serum (blood with high levels of fat or lipids) 4953.Haemolyzed serum (blood where haemoglobin is separated from red cells) 4954.Hyperbilirubinemia 10, 1355.Globulins produced during polyclonal gammopathies (which are seen in AIDS risk groups) 10, 13, 48 cross-reactions 1057.Normal human ribonucleoproteins 48, 1358.Other retroviruses 8, 55, 14, 48, 1359.Anti-mitochondrial antibodies 48, 1360.Anti-nuclear antibodies 48, 13, 5361.Anti-microsomal antibodies 3462.T-cell leukocyte antigen antibodies 48, 1363.Proteins on the filter paper 1364.Epstein-Barr virus 3765.Visceral leishmaniasis 4566.Receptive anal sex 39, 64 Christine Johnson, a researcher and author, compiled this list of conditions documented in the scientific literature to cause positives on HIV tests, and provides references for each condition. Christine notes: Just because something is on this list doesn't mean that it will definitely, or even probably, cause a false-positive. It depends on what antibodies the individual carries as well as the characteristics of each particular test kit. For instance, some, but not all people who have had blood transfusions, prior pregnancies or an organ transplant will make HLA antibodies. And some, but not all test kits (both ELISA and Western blot) will be contaminated with HLA antigens to which these antibodies can react. Only if these two conditions coincide might you get a false-positive due to HLA cross-reactivity. There are conditions that are more likely than others to cause false-positives. And there are some conditions that we aren't aware of yet which may be documented in the future to cause false-positives. Some of the factors on the list have been documented only for ELISA, while some have been documented for both ELISA and Western blot (WB) tests. People may be eager to argue that if a factor is only known to cause false-positives on ELISA, this problem won't be carried over to the WB. But remember, a WB is positive by virtue of accumulating enough individual positive bands to add up to the total required by whatever criteria is used to interpret it 39. So the more exposure a person has had to foreign antigens, proteins and infectious agents, the more various antibodies he or she will have in their system, and the more likely it isthat there will be several cross-reacting antibodies, enough to make the WB positive. It is to be noted that all AIDS risk groups (and Africans as well), but not the general US or Western European population, have this problem in common: they have been exposed to a plethora of foreign antigens and proteins. This is why people in the AIDS risk groups tend to have positive WBs (i.e., to be considered HIV-infected ) and people in the population don't. However, even people in low-risk populations have false-positive Western blots for poorly understood reasons 47. Since false-positives to every single HIV protein have been documented 36, how do we know if the positive WB bands represent the various proteins to HIV, or a collection of false-positive bands reacting to several different non-HIV antibodies?

[Nisha]

the high number of inicetfon cases amongst black women. Also the fact that gay men speak on this very matter about DL brothers in the community. Ignoring reality is ignorant. Either these statistics are bogus or something's up. This man has vids up which address black women also, perhaps you should view them. Also I barely see any black men defending black women from the way we get bastardized online so I don't even want to hear it.