Is the HIV epidemic in Russia possible?

Anyone can become a carrier of HIV, regardless of the social group he belongs to. Many also do not suspect this, it is not accepted to be checked in Russia somehow, many people neglect protected sex. The HIV epidemic in Russia has become a reality. The prices for necessary preparations in the country grow. If they do not start to decline, and citizens do not become more cautious, the number of sick by 2020 will increase by 3.5 times.

The HIV epidemic in Russia

For 30 years, the HIV epidemic has been developing in Russia. Russia is now approaching the third stage, as Academician Vadim Pokrovsky stated. Although the epidemic is a conditional concept, it has not disappeared from Russia anywhere. If we divide the period into stages, then at this time we enter the third. At the initial stage of the epidemic, rare cases are imported from abroad, the second stage is concentrated (we already have infected 20% of drug addicts, 10% of homosexuals). Generalized stage - if 1% of pregnant women become carriers of HIV. The HIV epidemic in Russia is approaching this stage.

Many officials claim that there is no epidemic yet, but if it has not been officially announced yet, this does not mean that the problem does not exist. The epidemic has been taking place for 30 years already. Infected in the country already 1% of the adult population, and this is only according to official data. Cases of infection with the virus in hospitals have become more frequent, which causes extreme fear. Vigilance just needs to be improved. Ten Russian regions already have a critical level of the spread of the disease.

December 1 - day of struggle against AIDS

According to statistics of the World Health Organization in 2015, HIV carriers were already 36.9 million people. For the year 2014, there were 2 million infected, and 1,2 million deaths from AIDS. According to WHO, only 50% of the sick know about their illness, which means that the figures in reality are much worse, at least twice. Every year since 1988, the whole planet celebrates World AIDS Day on December 1. The goal is to attract the attention of citizens of all walks of life to this global problem. Since 2011, the main goal of the program is to reduce the incidence of HIV infection, to stop all sorts of discrimination towards patients, to reduce the deaths from AIDS. The question of whether Russia is threatened by the HIV epidemic has long been opened. But, according to the activists of the AIDS movement, our state does not give due attention to this problem.

History of AIDS

A version is widely spread that in the 1900s a person could become infected with a virus from chimpanzees. The African hunters first of all fell prey to carcasses of killed sick animals or used their meat for food.

In 1981, five young people died in the United States from fungal pneumonia; in the same year, several cases of diseases were detected by a very rare, aggressive type of Kaposi skin cancer. These diseases occur in people only with greatly weakened immunity. By the end of the year, the virus had already been detected in 270 gay men, 121 of them died a year.

In 1982, the disease became known as AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). In 1983, two independent scientists from France and the United States discovered a retrovirus, which was the cause of the disease.

In the USSR, the first case of HIV was registered in 1985 with a foreign student. No one then thought that someday there would be an HIV epidemic in Russia, the disaster was not taken seriously. Already in 1987, the virus was found in a Soviet citizen, and by the end of the year - 25 people who contacted him.

In 1992, AIDS in the United States was one of the leading causes of death among young people. In 1996, already practiced therapy according to the HAART scheme.

In 2001 there were already 10 million people infected with HIV in the world. To date, according to various sources, from 30 to 40 million people have already died from AIDS.

Is the HIV epidemic threatening Russia?

At the end of 2015, about one million HIV-positive people were registered in Russia, and in the same year 20,000 deaths were reported. Since 1987, more than 200 thousand people have died, and every year the percentage ratio in comparison with the previous period is growing. Is not this an epidemic? The authorities do not officially declare it, but it has long existed on the territory of our country. Only 25% of those who need it receive antiretroviral therapy. The Minister of Health confirmed that if the situation does not change, by 2020 the number of cases will increase by 250%.

HIV in Russia. Planned countermeasures

In what city of Russia is the HIV epidemic most common? Coverage of cities is distributed unevenly. Of the 85 regions, half of the infected live in 20. What does this have to do with? Most likely, with that, where at one time it was easier and in large quantities could get into drugs. In the Orenburg region there was drug trafficking, it was easier to sell goods in Irkutsk, Kemerovo, Samara and Sverdlovsk regions. Here, already 1.5% of the population are infected. The situation is no better in Ulyanovsk, Leningrad, Chelyabinsk, Orenburg, Tyumen regions. Here, perhaps, there is no educational institution that would not be affected by HIV.

To prevent further development of the epidemic, measures are being developed:

• The draft law was introduced to the State Duma, according to which, before the wedding, the brothers must necessarily undergo an HIV test.
• A program to support pregnant women infected with HIV has been launched, this will help in some cases to prevent the infection of the child.
• It is planned to establish own production of medicines in the country for a full cycle (from production to packing).
• It is planned to increase funding for antiretroviral therapy.

The concept of HIV. The concept of AIDS

How to decode HIV?

• Virus (a parasite that destroys immune cells in the body).
• Immunodeficiency (reduction of body resistance, suppression of immunity).
• The person (the carrier of the given virus can be the person).

The virus settles in the body, the person becomes its carrier and begins to fall ill. Before the complete defeat of the entire immune system, it can take 2 to 12 years. For a while, a person looks perfectly healthy, but is a virus distributor, sometimes without even knowing it.

How to decipher AIDS?

During the infection of the body several stages of the disease develop, the last of which is AIDS:

• Syndrome (a combination of a number of symptoms, signs).
• Acquired (not congenital, but received in life).
• Immunodeficiency (lack of response in the body to the introduction of external infections and viruses, the inability to resist them).

So, the HIV epidemic in Russia has already shown that the disease is very terrible, insidious, not sparing neither children nor adults.

Development of the virus in the body

The clinical development of HIV has several stages:

• 1 stage . An acute beginning. In some cases, the body's response may resemble the flu - fever, runny nose. But it should be noted that in 70% of cases, an acute onset is not observed. A person is a carrier of a virus and does not even suspect about it.
• 2 stage . Asymptomatic. For several years (from 3 to 5) a person feels absolutely healthy, and only laboratory tests of blood help to detect HIV.
• 3 stage . 3-5 years after the second stage, the time of persistent generalized lymphadenopathy comes. Immunity falls, often a variety of diseases. Lymph nodes increase, skin lesions occur, there is an intestinal disorder. Treatment only temporarily improves the condition.
• 4 th stage . AIDS. The immune system collapses. Lymph nodes, respiratory organs, digestive organs, sight organs are affected. A person loses weight sharply. Periodically, the condition improves, but then it gets worse. Eventually, death occurs.

Numerous deaths of AIDS patients will answer the question of whether there is an HIV epidemic in Russia. It is high time to beat the bells, the problem truly arose sharply, threatening the entire population of our country.

Who is at risk?

Everyone already knows that the main route of HIV infection is unprotected sex or transmission through the blood. Note that there is a risk of infection if blood is present in biological fluids (urine, feces, tears, drool). If earlier it was believed that the causes of the HIV epidemic in Russia are only drug addiction and prostitution, now it is clear that everyone is at risk. There are even cases of infection with the virus in hospitals.

You can not infect in the following cases:

• Through a kiss, a hug, a handshake.
• Sneezing, coughing.
• Using with the carrier of HIV a common drink, food.
• In the sauna, sauna, swimming pool.
• "Injections" in the subway, in the crowd (there are myths that the infected put a needle on the seats).

In which case is mandatory examination required

• If there was unprotected sex in any form with an unfamiliar partner.
• If you have been sexually abused.
• If your sexual partner had contact on the side.
• If your partner is HIV-positive.
• If you used used needles.
• If contacted with the blood of an HIV-infected person.
• If your partner has been exposed to all of the above risks.
• If any venereal disease is found.