Uncle Liu, who is 65 years old this year, usually pays attention to health and sports, so he looks much younger than his peers. After retirement, Uncle Liu joined the square dance team in the community, and was very popular in the team, and would dance almost every day.
However, Uncle Liu, who has always been physically strong, has been very abnormal recently, not only always having diarrhea, but also having a fever all the time, and he has not danced square dancing for many days.
Seeing that he had been taking medicine for several days, his body had not improved, and the situation was getting more and more serious, Uncle Liu had to go to the gastroenterology department of the hospital for examination.
Soon after, the hospital's blood transfusion department called Uncle Liu's doctor, and the blood test report showed that Uncle Liu had tested positive for HIV, and his symptoms had not been cured for a long time, precisely because he was infected with AIDS.
This result made Uncle Liu collapse, how did he get AIDS in a good way? When the doctor asked him if he had ever had a relationship with someone of unknown origin in the past, Uncle Liu was silent.
It turns out that although Uncle Liu has been widowed for many years and has not remarried, his emotional life is very rich, in the past few years after retirement, he has had a relationship with his dance partner more than once, and he has 4 dance partners, and now he doesn't know who he was infected by......
1. Why are more and more elderly people infected with HIV/AIDS in mainland China?
According to data released by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, THERE WERE ABOUT 35.3 MILLION PEOPLE LIVING WITH AIDS WORLDWIDE IN 2014, OF WHOM NEARLY 4.2 MILLION WERE ELDERLY.
On the mainland, the number of elderly people infected with HIV/AIDS is also quite large, especially the number of elderly male patients is rising. According to statistics from the China Center for HIV/STD Prevention and Control, between 2010 and 2020, the number of men over 60 years old in mainland China with AIDS increased from 7.41% to 18.21%.
Why are more and more elderly people infected with HIV?
First of all, the main way of transmission of AIDS is sexual transmission, and one of the main factors contributing to the rising number of AIDS in the elderly is the long-term neglect of the normal sexual needs of the elderly.
According to a study published by sexologist Kinsey, 94 percent of men and 84 percent of women still have sexual needs after the age of 60. Mainland sexologist Pan Suiming also pointed out in the book that 53% of the elderly group aged 55~61 in the mainland have about 1 sex per month, and 39% of the elderly can reach the frequency of 3 times a month.
Since the sexual needs of the elderly are neglected, in order to alleviate their desires, they can only choose some unsafe sexual behaviors, which will directly lead to an increased risk of HIV infection among the elderly.
On the other hand, the general lack of self-protection awareness of the elderly is also responsible for the increase in the number of people who are affected by HIV/AIDS.
Statistics released by the Hangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention show that the main way for elderly men to be infected with HIV is heterosexual contact outside of marriage, while women are mainly infected through marital sex. Condoms are the first line of defense against infection, but many elderly people feel that the main function of condoms is to prevent pregnancy, and they do not need to wear condoms when they are older, and once they have condomless sex, they are likely to be infected with the virus.
2. From infection to onset, AIDS goes through three stages
AIDS is an acquired immunodeficiency syndrome that, although chronic, is deadly. After infection, the virus will continue to attack the immune system, destroying CD4T lymphocytes in the body, causing the body to lose its immune function, leading to an increased risk of contracting a variety of diseases, and even malignant tumors, and eventually death from the disease.
Many people think that HIV infection and AIDS are the same thing, in this regard, doctors from the Department of Infectious Diseases of the Southwest Hospital of the Army Medical University said that HIV infection is not equal to AIDS, and the main difference between the two is whether there are clinical symptoms or not. Once the patient's immunity is low, it is prone to various opportunistic infections, and once bacteria, viruses, fungi and malignant tumors appear, it means that they have entered the AIDS stage.
Clinically, there are generally three stages from HIV infection to AIDS patients.
Acute stage: generally appears 2~4 weeks after infection, the symptoms are mild, and the symptoms can be relieved after 1~3 weeks, mostly manifested as sore throat, nausea, diarrhea, rash and joint pain, etc., but these symptoms are similar to other viral infections and are easy to ignore.
Incubation period: This stage generally lasts for 6~8 years, and some patients progress rapidly, and the speed of progression is related to the length of infection and the number and type of virus. Even during the asymptomatic period, the virus in the patient's body will continue to replicate and the immune system will be compromised.
Onset: In the final stage of HIV infection, the patient's CD4T lymphocyte count < 200 cells/μl, the HIV plasma viral load increases significantly, and the body will have abnormal fever, diarrhea, weight loss, persistent infection and other symptoms.
Third, we must keep in mind these three points to reduce AIDS in the elderly
The elderly are one of the most prevalent groups of AIDS, and once the disease occurs, there is a high mortality rate, because the elderly are more or less suffering from chronic diseases and have poor physical fitness. What can be done to reduce the incidence of HIV among the elderly? These points are important.
1. Face up to the fact that the elderly also have sexual needs
It is very normal for the elderly to have sexual needs, as long as they do not violate morality and law, and do not label them as disrespectful and immodest as soon as they hear the elderly mention sexuality.
2. Always remember to use condoms
Unprotected sex has a greater risk of infection, and the elderly must have the correct awareness that condoms are not only for contraception, but also to block the spread of the virus, and to use condoms correctly when having sex.
3. Take blocking drugs as soon as possible after high-risk behaviors
After high-risk sexual behavior, once you suspect that you are likely to be infected, you should take preventive medication in the shortest possible time, preferably within 2 hours and no later than 72 hours. The drug generally needs to be taken for 28 consecutive days, and you can consult a professional doctor for details.
HIV infection poses a great threat to the health of the elderly, and it is important to have the right awareness of this and try to prevent it as much as possible.
Resources:
[1] "No Sex When You're Old? If you think about it this way, there will only be more and more elderly people with AIDS". Fruit Shell 2020-01-19
[2] "World AIDS Day丨 Infected with HIV, what can I do? Early diagnosis and early treatment, the life expectancy of infected people is not much different from that of normal people". Tencent News 2021-12-01
[3] Caring for the Elderly, Paying Attention to AIDS Aging. Rudong CDC 2022-07-29
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