STD/AIDS

[fey]

know anyone who has contracted hiv/aids while in thailand?

what happened to them and where did they end up? stories pls

[mrtoad]

Nice chirpy topic. Why do you want the details?

Yes, I do know people, and yes some have died.

[Ponti001]

Interesting topic. In Thailand most people with HIV are gay or streight?
Why did they die? Did not take medication?

[beano2274]

why are you asking such a question?

as already mentioned most die due to not taking the medicine or not even noticing the signs that they have contracted such a disease.

I know some people who have HIV, left Thailand and get their medicines at a fraction of the normal cost, I also know some who have stayed in Thailand and get there tablets regularly from the Red Cross downtown in Bangkok.

[balo]

The biggest problem is people who never test themselves for diseases and have unprotected sex with mutiple partners. Big problem in Thailand.

Edited November 15, 2014 by balo

[Ponti001]

Interesting. Of whose which you know many got it from unprotected sex with straight or gay people? In European countries most HIV patient are homosexuall. It do not want to attack the gay community just want to evaluate the risk. The infected people you know could localize the source - person which have infected them with the virus?

As I informed myself about HIV Aids, it is hard to know if you got HIV but if you got already Aids then you feel permanent sick

Sent from mobile device

[Ponti001]

I forgot to add one fact if infected people would take medication on regular basis then according to some statistic you can live between 30-40 years more or even longer. Also if people do take there medication could theoretically have unprotected sex with hiv negative people cause the virus concentration in their blood is decreased to a level where to infect new people is quite hard

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[cooked]

In our small Isaan village we know of two girls that have died of Aids, one because she was ashamed and wouldn't go for treatment. Caught in Pattaya. Another 'lady' came back with strange symptoms, turns out she knew nothing about STDs (I drove her to the clinic) at all so I guess that's what happened with the other two. . We think that a female family member has Aids also. The three lady boys are ok.

From our point of view, it's the Farangs that spread these diseases, you see. They should know better. I too was surprised that these ladies know nothing about STDs, but that isn't their fault.

[Jingthing]

Interesting topic. In Thailand most people with HIV are gay or streight?

...

Both.

In Thailand this is certainly not only a "gay disease" though risk among gay men (a minority) is high.

Needle drug users ... highest risk

Gay men, MSM (men who have sex with men of any identity), transgenders ... high risk

Sex workers (all kinds) .. high risk

Women in general ... risk

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV/AIDS_in_Thailand

In 2005, more than 40 percent of new infections were among women, the majority of whom were infected through intercourse with long-term lovers.

Straight men lower risk

Lesbians (exclusive) lowest risk probably

Edited November 15, 2014 by Jingthing

[MJP]

Interesting topic. In Thailand most people with HIV are gay or streight?

...

Both.

In Thailand this is certainly not only a "gay disease" though risk among gay men (a minority) is high.

Needle drug users ... highest risk

Gay men, MSM (men who have sex with men of any identity), transgenders ... high risk

Sex workers (all kinds) .. high risk

Women in general ... risk

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV/AIDS_in_Thailand

In 2005, more than 40 percent of new infections were among women, the majority of whom were infected through intercourse with long-term lovers.

Straight men lower risk

Lesbians (exclusive) lowest risk probably

Lowest risk is abstinence.

I've known a few in the village who died of AIDS. My ex-wife's cousin and her husband. Another young chap too.

A girl I know has it. I had a phone call that she'd died, so I called the wife and told her. About three months later she turned up at our house and the old woman nearly fainted. From near death to good health in a matter of a month or so of treatment with anti-retrovirals and improved diet.

Awfully sad life though.

That said I wouldn't be surprised if complications from diabetes is a more widespread and common cause of death than HIV/AIDS these days.

[joeyg]

I've been involved in HIV/AIDS treatment and research for over 20 years. Both in the US and Thailand. A few years ago I met 2 women in Rayong. At 26 years old they are supposed to be 2 of the oldest surviving persons to be born HIV positive in Thailand.

They currently have a good diet, relatively speaking and with regular supplementation and medication they are both quite healthy. The main problem we see is complications from upper respiratory infections that can get complicated quickly.

To say it's spread by farangs is just not correct.

[Patsycat]

I find it sad, even nowadays, that people are still so naive and uninformed about HIV and Aids.

The people i know who have this, mostly, caught it in the 80's through sharing needles. They are all still alive and kicking.

[Patsycat]

And the fact that those that still ask, when all the stuff to read is out there, still do not use condoms - whether gay or straight.

I have grown up (18 in 1981) knowing and educating myself and seeing the good and the bad. It seems education about HIV Aids sort of went off the radar when other horrible life threatening diseases took over.

But it is still out there. I, as respect, to my last long time partner took an Aids test as he did before we "did it". with the other STD test also.

Both clean. But do people do that now? Or just get on with it, heads in sand?

Edited November 16, 2014 by Patsycat

[Sheryl]

An off topic post and replies to it have been removed

[mommysboy]

No, in all honesty not one.

I think the fact that myself and most people I really know in Thailand, are straight, non injecting males is a big factor.

I wonder whether toxicity and lifestyle issues are not more important issues than the virus itself.

I am a naysayer/dissident, I should declare that, but of course don't know, and would urge caution in all encounters.

[Jingthing]

Viruses don't care if you're a "dissident" or even Ronald McDonald ...

Sent from my Lenovo S820_ROW using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[mommysboy]

Viruses don't care if you're a "dissident" or even Ronald McDonald ...

Sent from my Lenovo S820_ROW using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

True, but contagion is variable, and transmission dependent on lifestyle and even the type of sexual act itself to a large extent, in the case of HIV it is not like catching a cold for instance.

I am doubtful, not in denial.

But as I say not a roulette wheel I want to play.

[fey]

Viruses don't care if you're a "dissident" or even Ronald McDonald ...

Sent from my Lenovo S820_ROW using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

True, but contagion is variable, and transmission dependent on lifestyle and even the type of sexual act itself to a large extent, in the case of HIV it is not like catching a cold for instance.

I am doubtful, not in denial.

But as I say not a roulette wheel I want to play.

you can do anything until your caught. nothing is certain.

if you get hiv in thailand will the medical system support a foreigner? or are they just out of luck, either die or return to home country?

can you apply for bupa insurance after an anonymous positive test, then go in in a couple months, get re-tested?

Edited November 19, 2014 by fey

[mitsubishi]

The significant problem are folk who swing both ways and receive and relay HIV to their hetrosexual partners.

Female to male is less likely, but if she's on her period you are in the danger zone big time.

Remember, before it was AIDs it was GRID or ARID! The PC mongers changed the designation to AIDS though to sooth the scorched nerves of the you-know-whos.

Anyway, glove-up, be careful and you should be ok. If you do the homo-thing then be double careful with your contraceptives.

There was a guy a while back who caught HIV off a university student of all people. He was a young kid, seemed a decent lad. He met her one night at a nightclub in central Bangkok. They did the deed, she was on her period, he didn't use a condom.

Anyway, the next few days he had a really bad sore throat and fever I think. He got tested, and tested and tested. All three tests turned up positive!

That's when he came on the forum and told us all about it. He was on the retrovirals and does ok, but he has to keep taking them or the T-Count drops off.

That's a story for you anyway OP.

I personally get tested just for peace of mind every 6 months, and that's with wearing a condom all the time!!!

Edited November 19, 2014 by mitsubishi

[fey]

The significant problem are folk who swing both ways and receive and relay HIV to their hetrosexual partners.

Female to male is less likely, but if she's on her period you are in the danger zone big time.

Remember, before it was AIDs it was GRID or ARID! The PC mongers changed the designation to AIDS though to sooth the scorched nerves of the you-know-whos.

Anyway, glove-up, be careful and you should be ok. If you do the homo-thing then be double careful with your contraceptives.

There was a guy a while back who caught HIV off a university student of all people. He was a young kid, seemed a decent lad. He met her one night at a nightclub in central Bangkok. They did the deed, she was on her period, he didn't use a condom.

Anyway, the next few days he had a really bad sore throat and fever I think. He got tested, and tested and tested. All three tests turned up positive!

That's when he came on the forum and told us all about it. He was on the retrovirals and does ok, but he has to keep taking them or the T-Count drops off.

That's a story for you anyway OP.

I personally get tested just for peace of mind every 6 months, and that's with wearing a condom all the time!!!

thanks, whats the thread or username on that?

[Jingthing]

...

Remember, before it was AIDs it was GRID or ARID! The PC mongers changed the designation to AIDS though to sooth the scorched nerves of the you-know-whos.

...

That was very offensive and obviously false information. HIV virus can infect anyone of any sexual orientation. Look at Africa. Maybe find some kind of anti-gay right wing website to post such inflammatory falsehoods / revisionist history.

Yes, of course MSM have always been high risk because of anal sex practices which are clinically higher risk than oral or vaginal sex. Nobody is denying that. You don't have to say you-know-whos for gay people. Being gay is nothing anyone should be ashamed of but I guess to the politically anti-gay, they still think it is.

Edited November 19, 2014 by Jingthing

[MobileContent]

In our village a young woman in her early 30's just returned last week and the villagers said she has Aids. The news they got from someone inside the Public Health that is from our village.

The girlfriend of my lady lost both her parents to Aids.

A worker from my FIL has Aids. His wife died on it and he cares now for his son. When I build our house everyone asked my FIL that they don't want him to build the house but I insisted that he be able to get some income by helping with the house.

[NewlyMintedThai]

Many, including one employee (a straight woman who got it from a straight man). She's dead now because she refused treatment until it was too late.

[joeyg]

No, in all honesty not one.

I think the fact that myself and most people I really know in Thailand, are straight, non injecting males is a big factor.

I wonder whether toxicity and lifestyle issues are not more important issues than the virus itself.

I am a naysayer/dissident, I should declare that, but of course don't know, and would urge caution in all encounters.

From the discoverer of HIV...

Edited December 1, 2014 by joeyg

[NewlyMintedThai]

Right...grab a steak and a bar of soap and throw out your condoms, then.

Good luck with that, mate.

[Sheryl]

If you actually watch the video he is not at all saying the words the interviewer is trying to put in his mouth.

He does not dismiss the need for antiretroviral drugs nor for condom use, nor does he in any way claim HIV can be "cured" by antioxidants.

He simply says that poor nutritional status and frequent infections weaken the immune system and may account, in part, for increased susceptibility in poor populations.

It also in my experience likely accounts for the much shorter interval between HIV infection and development of AIDs (barring treatment) which we see in third world populations compared to populations in affluent countries.

But none of this in any way changes the importance of practising safe sex to avoid HIV infection, nor the role of ART in treating infecton when it occurs.

[mommysboy]

If you actually watch the video he is not at all saying the words the interviewer is trying to put in his mouth.

He does not dismiss the need for antiretroviral drugs nor for condom use, nor does he in any way claim HIV can be "cured" by antioxidants.

He simply says that poor nutritional status and frequent infections weaken the immune system and may account, in part, for increased susceptibility in poor populations.

It also in my experience likely accounts for the much shorter interval between HIV infection and development of AIDs (barring treatment) which we see in third world populations compared to populations in affluent countries.

But none of this in any way changes the importance of practising safe sex to avoid HIV infection, nor the role of ART in treating infecton when it occurs.

Sure, I concur.

However, the interviewer simply asks him " if you have a good immune system your body can actually get rid of the hiv virus"? The reply is an unequivocal and definite "yes".

No tricks as far as I can see, he isn't being led anywhere he doesn't want to go.

[Sheryl]

What is important to understand is that even with the best immune system in the world, the body does not always get rid of the virus.

The reasons why sometimes the virus takes hold and sometimes not are multiple and not fully understood, but while it is true that people with poor immune function are more susceptible (as they are to everything), it is also true that plenty of people with string immune systems nonetheless develop HIV infections.

[jpinx]

I've heard that there is a certain predilection for both cancer and HIV in about half the population and it only needs a trigger to make it flare up. Certainly there's a massive amount of anecdotal information showing that there are many people who live a truly "dangerous" life-style and get away with it, and others who dip their big toe in once and get hit big time.

6-monthly testing is prudent.

[mommysboy]

With viral transmission there are also super spreaders, so it is perfectly possible for someone to be exposed a 1000 times and be in little danger and then some poor soul to be exposed just once to such a spreader and that's that.

But on BBC news today there was news of a study that suggests the hiv virus is becoming less infectious in as much as it is mutating in to a flawed virus that the immune system may be able to overcome.

This has always been a very odd subject area and the naysayers do have something to say IMHO.