HIV/Aids Q&A
The Department of Education has announced plans to have HIV education taught in every subject in the syllabus. Not before time, as new research from the Medical Research Council on HIV has shown that South Africa is not coping with an epidemic that is claiming more lives than any other cause of death, particularly among young people.
At present, teachers are ill or dying from the virus faster than they can be trained, and the teaching burden on healthy teachers is becoming intense. Each month, Positive answers letters from teachers, students and the public on how to manage the virus in order to extend life, and how to avoid it.
Q: Dear Charlene
I am HIV-positive. I discovered this during my pregnancy with my three-month-old son. I am not breastfeeding because I took Nevirapine to try to stop my baby getting HIV, and if I breastfeed, I know it will increase his risk. But I am battling to pay for milk formula, his clothes and other needs. I need to ask his father for maintenance, because I feel ashamed taking a shabby baby to clinic. We used a condom when I fell pregnant, and I don’t know how to explain this to the father.
– Lillian B, King William’s Town
A: Condoms stop only 45% of pregnancies. Sperm are very small and can get through a condom. The latex is better at stopping the HI virus, but if a condom doesn’t fit properly, breaks, leaks or comes off, both the sperm and HIV can be transmitted, so condoms are not 100% safe in stopping either pregnancy or HIV. If you can exclusively breastfeed for six months – without giving your baby water, juice or any food – do that. However, if you add anything while you are breastfeeding, you risk transmitting HIV to the baby. Some tests have shown that if a mother expresses milk into a jar, then puts the jar into a pot of very hot, but not boiling, water and leaves it there for not less than 15 minutes, it removes HIV from the milk and can be safely given to a baby. Otherwise, formula-feed the baby, which is the safest way to protect your baby from HIV. If you do, never give the baby breast milk and make certain that bottles and teats are sterilised in boiling water and kept very clean.
Q: Dear Charlene
I have been told that if you are HIV-positive you should stop smoking, drinking alcohol, smoking dagga, using snuff or taking illegal drugs. When you are HIV-positive and living with someone who smokes dagga in the house, does it affect you indirectly?
– Ayanda O, KwaThema
A: What you have been told is correct. Secondary inhalation is not good for you, but it is not as bad as if you were smoking. Ask your partner to smoke outside, or leave the room when he is smoking.
Q: Dear Charlene
“I’m 29 years old and have been HIV-positive for 11 years. I have lymph nodes on my neck but I don’t feel sick at present. I’ve been to several doctors but nothing seems to help. They keep giving me antibiotics. Where can I go for help?”
– GQX, Umuzimuhle
A: The most important thing to do in HIV management is to find one doctor you like and stick with him or her. It becomes difficult, if not impossible, to treat you properly if you jump from doctor to doctor. You need one person who monitors your progress. The size and number of lymph nodes indicate what might be wrong. A single node might not be important, unless it is hard. A number of lymph nodes that are big and are progressing rapidly generally means you should get to a doctor fast. Swollen nodes can indicate many things, from mild causes such as an ear or throat infection, to more serious causes such as lymphoma, leukaemia or stomach cancer. Find a doctor you like and trust, and get him or her to consistently monitor your progress.
– The Teacher/M&G Media, Johannesburg, October 2001.