Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is the virus that causes AIDS in the later stages of the disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one million people in the United States are infected with HIV/AIDS, and about a quarter of those people don’t know they’re infected. Approximately 39.5 million people are infected with HIV worldwide. With those high numbers, it’s important that everyone knows how HIV spreads and how to avoid contracting the virus.

1. HIV attacks the immune system by destroying white blood cells that fight off disease. Once HIV has weakened the immune system to the point where the body can’t fight off infection, the infection advances to its final stage: AIDS. It can take years for the body to arrive at this stage. People infected with HIV/AIDS usually die of other so-called “opportunistic” diseases and cancers that the body can no longer fight off.
2. HIV lives in the blood and semen or vaginal fluid of the infected person. This is why the most common ways of transmitting HIV is through vaginal, oral, or anal intercourse. The second most common way of transmitting HIV is through the sharing of needles and syringes. Lastly, HIV can be transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth, and breast-feeding. Because HIV is carried in the infected person’s blood, the virus can also be transmitted through blood transfusions, organ and tissue transplants, and shared needles. HIV is not transmitted through handshaking, hugging, contact with a toilet seat, touching a doorknob, or casual contact, and HIV cannot live outside the body for long.

German pop singer Nadja Benaissa was arrested Tuesday in Frankfurt, Germany, for allegedly having unprotected sex with three men without telling them she is HIV positive. One of the men has tested positive for the virus. In Germany, the law says that anyone convicted of knowingly infecting a person with HIV faces a prison sentence of between six months and 10 years for “grievous bodily harm.” If the victim dies, the sentence can be even greater—up to life imprisonment for manslaughter.

March is National Women’s History Month, and we’re celebrating by sharing a lady we admire each weekday.  Since today is the last day of this awesome month, we’ll be going out with a bank, spotlight FIVE women who rock.

MARVELYN BROWN (1984- )

Marvelyn Brown probably never expected to make it to “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “The Tavis Smiley Show” and “The Tyra Banks Show.” Early in life, she may not have thought she was going to be featured in Newsweek, Ebony, and Fortune. No doubt she wishes she was featured worldwide for a different reason other than having HIV, but her strength to speak out is admirable.

What makes Brown an amazing woman is not all of the media attention. It’s not about having a book out called The Naked Truth: Young, Beautiful, and (HIV) Positive. What makes her amazing is that on July 17, 2003, when she found out she was HIV positive at the age of 19, she immediately reached for her cell phone to notify all of her sexual partners. It’s difficult enough to digest that kind of news, but from her hospital bed she took responsibility for it.

“[The AIDS epidemic in Africa] is a tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which even aggravates the problems…. It is of great concern that the fabric of African life, its very source of hope and stability, is threatened by divorce, abortion, prostitution, human trafficking and a contraception mentality…. The traditional teaching of the church has proven to be the only failsafe way to prevent the spread of HIV/Aids.”—Pope Benedict XVI

While it’s to be expected that the Catholic Church continues to have a conservative outlook on abortion and premarital sex, the fact the Pope is still unwilling to get behind the use of contraception to stop the spread of AIDS surprises (and appalls) many—especially as he embarks on a tour of Sub-Saharan Africa, where 22 million (that’s 67%) of the global total of 32.9 million people with HIV live. Nearly three quarters of AIDS deaths in 2007 were in the region. I wasn’t raised Catholic, so this doesn’t have any impact on my faith in God or whatever, but I do wonder how Catholics feel when Church leaders still take such a conservative position on this vital issue. Readers please share in the comments! [Guardian U.K.]

Sexually-active people aged 50 and older face a greater risk of HIV infection, according to a study published by the World Health Organization. People in this age group are more likely to engage in unprotected sex than younger people—after all, after menopause, she can’t get pregnant!—plus erectile dysfunction drugs, like Viagra, are keeping their sex lives active. But despite all this, screening by doctors for HIV is less common for older people because it’s assumed they aren’t at risk. Also, the period of time between diagnosis and the onset of AIDS is shorter because age quickens the progression of the disease and doctors don’t consider HIV as a diagnosis. The WHO also found that older women seem to have a greater risk of contracting HIV if they have unprotected sex because the vaginal mucous membrane thins with age and can get tiny tears without proper lubrication.

AIDS researchers are one step closer to finding another method of protection that can help stop the spread of HIV and AIDS among women. Dr. Salim Abdool Karim of the Center for the AIDS Program of Research in South Africa and his colleagues have tested two protective gels, one called PRO 2000 and the other called BufferGel, in trying to find a microbicide (that’s the fancy scientific word for something that reduces the chance that you’ll be infected by a virus or bacteria) that will protect women from HIV/AIDS when their partners aren’t wearing condoms. Among the 3,000 women tested, PRO 2000 reduced the rate of HIV infection by a third. “We do not regard it as a definitive conclusion that PRO 2000 is a microbicide but we certainly view it as very promising,” said Karim at a conference of AIDS experts in Montreal. Unfortunately, his team was unable to find any evidence that BufferGel helped. The study was only designed to determine whether the gels were safe, since other, similar studies revealed that gels and creams like PRO 2000 and BufferGel actually increased the likelihood of infection. [Reuters]

As sexting gets more popular, safe sexting gets a grant! A series of modern sex ed soap operas have been filmed and distributed via cell phones thanks to an endowment and the commitment of a New Jersey nurse and professor. Rachel Jones, the RN behind the video productions, has spent her career committed to preventing the spread of HIV and AIDS in young women. Sadly, her home state of New Jersey has the highest number of women living with AIDS in the entire U.S. Shockingly, 82% of infections in the 18-to-29-year-old group nationwide are heterosexual African-American ladies and Latinas. Nurse Jones is perplexed by the figures, saying, “It is astounding, it is a completely preventable infection.” So, she has labored for grants to normalize condom use by sending girls text messages. More, after the jump…

Back in the ‘90s, “Star Trek: The Next Generation” commissioned an episode involving gay characters in love. The script for “Blood And Fire” was about a deathly bloodworm epidemic, a metaphor for the AIDS crisis, and it was also the first time the multi-cultural show would have included homosexuals in any of their plots. Unfortunately, although creator Gene Roddenberry wanted to include positive representations of the gay community on his show, Paramount Studios wasn’t as forward thinking. But, like communicator/cell phones, the episode featuring gay lovers didn’t get made for real, until recently.  Thanks to the fan artist project “Star Trek: Phase II”, the show will boldly go gay in a webisode!  Working with the original writer, David Gerrold, and his premise, the fan crew also adapted the script about Kirk’s gay nephew to deal with the topical issue of same sex marriage.  You can check out the first half of the webisode tomorrow on YouTube, but if you just want to see the sexy parts, check out the video above. [io9]

Today, December 1, marks the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day, the day when individuals and organizations from around the world work together to bring attention to the global AIDS epidemic. In 1988, AIDS was causing more deaths in the United States than there were in the Vietnam War and an estimated five to 10 million people were infected worldwide, according to the World AIDS Campaign. However, government, media and society, in general, were not giving AIDS the attention it needed. World AIDS Day began in 1988 when health ministers around the world met and agreed that there should be a day when all would come together to show the importance of AIDS and demonstrate solidarity for the cause. Since then, many positive changes have been made in the fight against AIDS, however much more needs to be done. Leadership is the theme for 2007 and 2008 World AIDS Day because it encourages leaders at all levels of society to stop AIDS. And leadership highlights the discrepancies between what has been promised and what has actually been done to halt the spread of the disease. Governments have to make good on promises. Communities must encourage leadership of its members. And individuals must have access to treatment, know their rights, stamp out the stigma and discrimination associated with AIDS, and must know and engage in methods of prevention against spreading the disease.

Do you have a license to lay? Brooklyn-based STF(ree) is making private issued cards so your potential lovers can check the results of your last two AIDS/HIV tests. No lying, no guessing, no putting off the inevitable. All you have to do is fill out their enrollment form and ask your doctor to send your lab results to STF. Then you’ll be issued an ID card. Using your personal number on the card and a private password you provide, people you’ve selected can call up the information line 24/7 and find out the truth about the party in your pants. It’s a small price to pay for some piece of mind to go with that piece of ass! Maybe this would come in handy if they ever legalize prostitution... [Via Boinkology]

Did you know that people with HIV who want to visit the U.S. or move to the U.S. from another country basically can’t? For about 20 years, there has been a ban making it really hard for people with the virus to enter the country, even for health conferences. They’ve been able to apply for special hard-to-get wavers for short visits, but they’ve had little chance of obtaining permanent residency. Now, Senators John Kerry and Gordon Smith are trying to repeal the ban, as well as pass legislation that would provide $50 million over the next five years to fight AIDS and other diseases in Africa and poor areas around the world. Basically, people with HIV would be treated the same as those with communicable diseases, and experts would determine eligibility for admission into the United States. [AP]

While sticking a bunch of microbicides up your hoo-ha may seem like a bad idea, turns out it may save your vaj from the likes of HIV and other STD’s.  Researchers are currently conducting clinical trials at UCLA’s AIDS Institute for microbicides, a shield you would schmear in your vajane.  Nowadays, women must rely on making sure their male sexual partners use condoms, but the hope is that this type of safeguard will help ladies take matters into their own hands. The study in the U.S. is based on the larger 12-month trial of microbicides involving 10,000 people currently underway in South Africa, Tanzania, Rwanda and Belgium. Fingers crossed we girls can get some protection! [Newswise]

Marcus Day, the adviser to the Association of Caribbean Heads of Corrections and Prison Services, is recommending prisons in the Caribbean implement condom distribution programs (despite concerns from the religious community that this will promote sex between men). A slightly more innovative course of action he’s suggesting is conjugal visits for married prisoners. Marcus said this would greatly reduce the desire for prisoners to have sex with other prisoners. Now, this might work, so long as the prisoners aren’t going at it with each other while their wives aren’t around, and then going at it with their wives, possibly spreading the virus even more. [Medical News Today]

Drinking a cap-full of bleach will not stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. It will, however, turn your insides into mulch. Guess they didn’t teach teens in Florida that in abstinence education class. [ABC Action News]

Happy Hump Day! We here at The Frisky would like to salute the hump and its oh-so-important role in our lives. However, who you like to hump shouldn’t dictate whose lives you can save. Unfortunately, the FDA doesn’t agree. We were totally shocked when our gay boyfriend told us he couldn’t participate in a blood drive because of his sexual orientation! The FDA’s outdated blood donation policies exclude gay men or any man who has ever even fooled around with another guy since the late 70’s—so even a meaty ménage à trois could make you too gay for the FDA. Also by proxy, any woman who has hooked up with a bisexual or gay guy—umm, hi!—is also ineligible for blood donation for a year.

Musical Theater buffs, break out the Kleenex. After nine hundred thirty thousand, one hundred eighty minutes the curtain is closing on Rent. Nearly 12 years ago the rock version of Puccini’s La Boheme opened on Broadway to both critical and mass acclaim—the story about AIDS in the 1990’s deeply resonated with crowds all over the world. Sadly poetic, the musical’s creator, Jonathan Larson, died of the disease just two weeks before the play debuted. It went on to win four Tony Awards, including best musical, and the Pulitzer Prize, and inspired hundreds of tourists to descend upon the East Village on top of tour buses. The final show will be June 1st. So we wonder what iconic yet youthful musical will replace Rent on-stage? Perhaps a Britney-fied musical version of Madame Bovary? [NY Times]