According to data released by the United Nations, the number of people living with HIV over the age of 50 rose from 5.4 million in 2015 to 8.1 million in 2020.
According to data released by the China Center for AIDS and STD Prevention and Control, the proportion of people living with HIV in the elderly group (over 50 years old) in the mainland has increased from 22% in 2011 to 44% in 2022. Among them, the 2020 AIDS epidemic analysis report released by the Guangdong Provincial Health Commission pointed out that the oldest AIDS patients in the elderly group in Guangdong are over 90 years old.
Why more and more elderly people are getting AIDS, the following two patients' personal experiences may give you some information.
The experience of one or two rural women is alarming
01, "I've been a decent person all my life, why did I get this disease"
Sister Rong is 65 years old this year, not tall, but slender, wearing a cheongsam, perming curly hair, and looking quiet. Talking about the incident 6 years ago, Sister Rong still can't let go.
In the spring of 2018, Sister Rong went to the hospital to see a doctor because of dizziness, and after a blood test, the doctor told her with a serious face that she was infected with AIDS.
"No way, I didn't mess around outside, how could I get this disease? It must have been infected by my husband, this bastard!" She went home in a hurry and dragged her husband to the hospital for examination, but her husband played a trick and asked the doctor to help him check for syphilis, and the results showed that he was not infected.
As soon as the result came out, Sister Rong fell into silence, and she couldn't understand why she had this disease because she had been a decent person all her life, so she was depressed all day long, and even looked for death for a time.
Later, in the company of the child, I reluctantly accepted this fact and began to cooperate with the treatment.
The turning point of things came 2 years later, Sister Rong has been treated and her physical condition has gradually stabilized. But her husband's body began to look abnormal, with sores all over his body, and he was reluctant to go to the doctor, and finally was forced by Sister Rong to go, and the truth was revealed.
Sister Rong's husband was also diagnosed with AIDS, and it is speculated numerically that his condition has reached an advanced stage, which should be earlier than Sister Rong's infection. The reason why my husband contracted HIV was because he had many high-risk sexual behaviors while working outside the home.
02, "I don't prostitute myself, and my boyfriend doesn't engage in prostitution, why did I get infected?"
55-year-old Aunt Li, since the death of her wife due to illness a few years ago, has been living alone, originally thought that this life was like this, last year under the help of a friend met the same widowed and lonely 60-year-old Uncle Wang, the two talked very much, came and went, and naturally together. Because he has already gone through menopause, the two never wear condoms when they are intimate.
I thought that God favored me and I could have a happy old age, but a piece of news broke this status quo. One day, Uncle Wang suddenly told Aunt Li very heavily, saying that his former subject was diagnosed with AIDS and was critically ill, and he was also diagnosed with infection when he went to get tested, and Aunt Li may also be at risk of being recruited, so she should also go to the hospital as soon as possible to check. Unfortunately, in the end, Aunt Li was also infected!
When the results first came out, Aunt Li was stupid, and she didn't understand why this kind of thing happened to her, she was neither a prostitute, nor did her boyfriend solicit prostitution, and her boyfriend's ex-girlfriend was also a serious person, why did all three of them get recruited.
2. Why are more and more elderly people infected with HIV?
According to a paper published in the Chinese Journal of Epidemiology, the vast majority of elderly people living with HIV are men, and the number of male patients is three times that of women, and most of them are mainly engaged in agricultural activities and have a low level of education. Among them, more than 90% of the transmission routes are heterosexual transmission. Why do so many older people get AIDS?
First of all, this has a lot to do with the lack of attention to the long-term needs of the elderly.
When the elderly talk about "sex", many people's first reaction is that they are not serious. But in fact, although the level of sex hormones declines with age, and sexual function is affected, this does not mean that the elderly do not have sexual needs.
According to relevant research surveys, the elderly over 60 years old in China still have sexual life, and 75.1% of men have sexual life. Therefore, we need to take a correct view of the sexual needs of the elderly, maintain respect, and provide appropriate support to help them raise their awareness of health risks.
Secondly, there is a lack of awareness of AIDS and self-protection, many people feel that they are old and will not conceive, so it doesn't matter if they don't use condoms, but in fact, unprotected sex, multiple sexual partners and prostitution are all high-risk behaviors for HIV infection, so if the elderly have sex, they must use condoms correctly throughout the whole process, and must not be left to chance, so that AIDS has a chance.
Finally, the disorganization of the private life of the elderly due to widowhood is also the reason for the high incidence of AIDS in the elderly. Many elderly people feel lonely because they are alone, so they will recognize the same sex or the opposite sex through some ways and have a relationship, or restrict the choice of some commercial sex activities for various reasons, which eventually leads to infection.
The high incidence of AIDS in the elderly once again reminds us that we must face up to the sexual life of the elderly and help the elderly improve their awareness of self-protection, so as to reduce the occurrence of AIDS in the elderly.
3. If your private life is too indulgent, it is easy to attract 4 kinds of sexually transmitted diseases
There are three main ways of transmission of AIDS: sexual transmission, blood transmission and mother-to-child transmission, among which sexual transmission is the most important mode of transmission of AIDS infection in mainland China, and the main culprit of this result is high-risk sexual behavior. In addition to HIV, the following sexually transmitted diseases are also transmitted through unprotected sex.
syphilis
Syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease, is mainly caused by infection with Treponema pallidum. It is mainly transmitted through sexual contact and occurs 2-4 weeks after infection, and the symptoms of early syphilis are generally mild, mainly chancre and swollen lymph nodes, which will resolve spontaneously after a few weeks, so it is very easy to ignore. However, it will soon come back, and as the disease progresses, syphilis rash can cover the skin and mucous membranes of the whole body, and even the palms and soles of the feet, which is very destructive, disabling and even life-threatening, and requires medical attention as soon as possible.
gonorrhea
Gonorrhea, one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases, is mainly caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection and is mostly transmitted through sexual activity. The incubation period of this disease is short, generally 3-5 days, after the onset of the disease, patients can have urethral discharge, frequent urination, urgency, incomplete urination, itching, burning, redness and swelling, once the infection must be treated in time.
Genital warts
Genital warts, mainly caused by HPV virus infection, HPV types 6 and 11 are the most common, and the incubation period of this disease is long, up to three months. After the onset of the disease, the initial skin lesions are single, multiple or groups of small pale red particles, with the development of the disease, the skin lesions gradually increase and enlarge, and the form can be papillary, cauliflower-shaped, and cockscomb-shaped, which is highly contagious and needs to be treated in time.
Genital herpes
Genital herpes is mainly caused by HSV infection with herpes simplex virus, with HSV-2 being the most common. After infection, small, single or patchy blisters may appear on the external genitalia and around the genitals, anus and perianus, and the blisters will form painful ulcers after the blisters rupture, and the symptoms can last for 2-4 weeks, and the condition recurs, requiring timely intervention.
The high incidence of sexually transmitted diseases, and unsafe sex is the main reason, whether it is the elderly or the young, we must pay attention to it, do a good job of prevention, and protect ourselves and others.
Resources:
[1] "The Increase in the Number of AIDS Patients in the Elderly: Lonely Old Years, Unspeakable Sex and Pain", Sanlian Life Weekly, 2024-02-01
[2] "Popular Science | The elderly are not far away from AIDS! Facing the sexual needs of the elderly~". 2023-10-27
[3] "The symptoms of STDs in the elderly are different, and 6 common ones should be careful|The director of the Department of Dermatology talks about STDs series II", Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, .2023-08-18
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