Perhaps the most detrimental of the sexually transmitted diseases, HIV, has been a long standing pandemic since as early as the 70’s or 80’s. Now, that’s retro! And, so is HIV. It’s retro, a retrovirus. It doesn’t mean this fellow is kicking it back old-school; in fact, due to HIV’s replication mechanism, it continues to be new and improved (though sometimes not improved) via genetic mutations. Retroviruses contain RNA which upon entering a host is translated into DNA, reverse to the “normal” direction of replication (DNA>RNA>protein). According to a paper in Science, this process in HIV involves what is called a intasome, a nucleoprotein complex. They investigated the effectiveness of second-generation HIV integrase strand-transfer inhibitors. The drug is thought to bind to the protein complex but it is not well understood. An issue that has been arising is changing binding sites on the protein complex due to mutations. HIV is an ever-changing virus and as you can see, scientists will have to continue to develop new drugs to fight it back.
For that reason and not being a scientist myself, I believe an important way to alleviate and potentially eradicate HIV is education. One such study shows that persons coming from regions with less HIV education, or perhaps insufficient testing equipment, by a greater percentage are unaware of being infected by HIV. This is likely the biggest factor in spreading the virus. If you don’t know you have it, then no need to inform your sexual partner… But, perhaps it is better to be tested after each new sexual partner, unless you feel you can trust their answer. Condoms help, of course, but so does not having sex. And, frankly neither sound desirable. There is also monogamy… Like, it’s there and it’s a word, but maybe leave it at that. Anyway, free testing should be available to all and easily accessible. Self-test kits should be readily available, too, and ordering them by mail should be an option. Unfortunately, HIV has a bad stigma to it, and that prevents some folks from getting tested in public places.
Science Direct published a paper that shows the increased risk of contracting HIV for those who have herpes simplex virus type 2 (genital herpes). Herpes causes ulcers on genitalia. It is apparent how open sores would increase the risk of contracting HIV, a disease transmitted through bodily fluids or blood. However, herpes also causes an increase in the concentration of immune cells in the genitalia. This is beneficial for the infected individual in lessening frequency and/or severity of reoccurring ulcers. HIV targets these types of cells though, and as herpes causes a sustained increase in regional immune cells, it is more likely to contract HIV if you have herpes. This is just another example of why education and testing are so critically important in reducing the spread of the virus. With this knowledge, one would likely be more cautious when having sex, especially if infected with herpes. Education further acts to reduce the stigma of BOTH of these viruses. I think for Americans, sex is often an awkward topic (likely due to our Christian origins). Since sex is awkward for many, almost impure, any disease associated with it is inherently impure, too. The solution is simple, though, I believe. For the next generation of Americans, let us replace all of the violent and meaningless TV shows and films with ones full of love and sex. Our children will then grow up feeling free to love anyone they want and express that, in one of many ways, with sex. Sexually transmitted diseases will then take their seat next to chicken pox, leaving all stigmas behind. And, people will feel comfortable to ask their partners about these diseases for the sake of health and not disregard it to avoid awkwardness.
BillyBiome 