China Ends Entry Ban for People with HIV and AIDS

Recently, China has revoked a ban on people who have HIV or AIDS entering their country. Until now, China had regulations that banned foreigners from entering the country if they had psychiatric illness, leprosy, AIDS, sexually-transmitted diseases, active pulmonary tuberculosis, or their infectious diseases. The State Council in China issued amended rules to remove the ban on people who have AIDS or HIV and people with leprosy. Foreigners with serious psychiatric illness, infectious pulmonary tuberculosis, and other infectious diseases are still banned from the country.

HIV Causes Premature Brain Aging

A new research is showing that people infected with the HIV virus have premature aging of the brain. The research has shown that blood flow in HIV patients is the same as uninfected people who are 15 to 20 years older. In the study, researchers used MRI scans to study blood flow in the brains of 26 people infected with HIV and 25 people who were not infected. The ages and the educational levels all of the individuals were similar. Researchers found reduced blood flow in the brains of younger people infected with HIV recently infected with HIV as well as the older patients. It is unclear whether this is caused by the virus, the medication to treat the disease, or both. Currently, 14 to 18 percent of all AIDS patients in the United States are over 50 years old and older generations have an increasing high rate of new infections. By 2015, more than half of all AIDS patients may be over 50 years old.

China's Deadliest Infectious Disease is Now AIDS

For the first time last year, AIDS has become the most infectious disease in China. 6,897 of its citizens died within the first nine months of 2008 due to the disease. The Chinese government has improved the reporting of HIV/AIDS statistics and is acknowledging its presence in the country. China has denied that AIDS is a problem in the country for a long time, partly due to the low amount of reported deaths.

In recent years, leaders of China have more open about the disease, offered free treatment for the poor, anonymous testing, and have banned discrimination against people who have the disease. The government of China and UNAIDS estimate that the number of citizens in China living with HIV is estimated at 700,000 and 85,000 of these people have full blown AIDS. About 34,864 people have died from aids since its first reported death in 1985. The main causes of HIV infections are due to sex, drug abuse, unsanitary blood plasma, and tainted transfusions in hospitals.

Study Says Some People Having AIDS Aren’t Infectious

It is found in a recent study that AIDS patients that have been treated with the latest antiretroviral drugs can no longer infect other people through sexual contact. The drugs work so well that even though the patients aren’t cured, they make it able that only a small amount of the virus is circulating through the body. Researchers say that this fact prevents a HIV-positive person from transferring the virus through sexual intercourse.

The researchers also say that AIDS patients who took the drugs for at least six months can have unprotected sex with HIV-negative people without infecting them. Many activists and doctors don’t agree with doing this because it might have HIV-positive people having sex without informing their partners about their disease. If a HIV-positive patient missed a dose of their medicine, then they could be at risk of infecting their partners.

Possible Tattoo Health Risks

There are health risks to getting tattoos. The health risks include getting Hepatitis B or C, HIV, or AIDS from unsanitary equipment. You can protect yourself from Hepatitis B by getting a vaccination. There are no vaccinations against Hepatitis C or HIV. Drinking alcohol before getting a tattoo can cause excessive bleeding. You can’t donate blood within the first year because the Red Cross doesn’t accept blood from someone who has gotten a tattoo within the first year of getting a tattoo.