The 65-year-old man had diarrhea and fever, was diagnosed with AIDS, and often danced square dances with his 'female companion'

Lao Li was lying on the hospital bed crying silently, listening to the quarrels of the children outside the ward, they were shirking each other's responsibilities, no one was willing to take care of Lao Li, and the matter had to start with the frequent diarrhea that started a week ago.

The 65-year-old Lao Li started to have frequent diarrhea a week ago, seven or eight times a day, and he had a fever every day. The eldest daughter, Xiaoli, was afraid that the old man would not be able to survive this situation, so she hurriedly took Lao Li to the hospital and called the emergency number.

The whole family thought that Lao Li had acute gastroenteritis, but after a round of examinations, the blood transfusion department called. The general meaning is that Lao Li's HIV screening is positive , and the patient needs to complete the information and send it to the CDC for re-examination.

Soon, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention sent a retest result, which turned out to be HIV positive, and Lao Li became an AIDS patient .

It turns out that since his wife passed away due to illness two years ago, Lao Li has lived alone for a long time. Usually, his children are working hard outside and rarely call him.

A square dance competition, the neighbor lacks a dance partner and wants to invite him to participate, Lao Li agrees because he is bored. After coming and going, a widow and a widower danced and danced, and danced to bed. At that time, Lao Li thought that there would be no risk of pregnancy if he was old, so he didn't wear a condom.

Now, Lao Li's three sons and daughters felt ashamed and humiliated, and they shirked responsibility from each other, and they heard that AIDS could be infected, and none of them took the initiative to take the responsibility of taking care of the elderly.

1. Rising "elderly AIDS"

Many people may think that when people get older, it is almost impossible to suffer from AIDS. After all, this kind of behavior seems to be "disrespectful" and "shameful".

However, according to data disclosed by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention in 2019, the rise in the number of elderly HIV-infected patients far exceeds the rise in the elderly population. In recent years, the number of reported cases, especially among men over the age of 60, has risen from 8,391 in 2012 to 24,465 in 2018.

The reason for the increasing number of elderly people with AIDS is partly because the cancer-infected people are getting older, and more importantly, it is because of the increase in newly reported cases.

There are more and more elderly patients with AIDS, which cannot be separated from the following reasons:

1. Commercial sex

An epidemiological survey of cases in Zhejiang Province found that more than two-thirds of elderly male cases were infected through commercial sex . This kind of behavior generally has no effective protection, and the risk of HIV infection is very high.

2. Failure to take safety measures

Condoms are a line of defense against HIV, and older people seldom use condoms when having sex because they lack sexual knowledge or have no reproductive burden.

3. Low resistance, more susceptible to infection

As the elderly age, the immune function of the body will also decline, and the menopause of women will also cause the vagina to become thinner and dry. During intercourse, it is prone to damage and increases the risk of viral infection.

2. Recognize the symptoms of AIDS and treat them as soon as possible

Due to the particularity of the elderly, the mortality rate of the elderly with AIDS is higher. AIDS patients are more likely to suffer from cardiovascular disease, cancer, etc., which is also the main cause of death of infected people.

In addition, due to factors such as the lack of awareness of AIDS prevention and treatment among the elderly and the easy misdiagnosis of symptoms, it is easy to ignore the symptoms of AIDS.

According to Luo Ling, Department of Infectious Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, after HIV enters the human body, there are generally three stages:

1. Acute infection period

It occurs 2-4 weeks after the initial infection, and the infected person may have symptoms such as fever , sore throat, and rash ;

2. Asymptomatic period

At this stage, the virus is latent, and the infected person generally does not have any symptoms;

3. AIDS period

Manifested as various opportunistic infections and tumors, the clinical symptoms are diverse. Such as increased diarrhea, weight loss, oral leukoplakia, herpes zoster , etc.

3. There is also a "regret medicine" for HIV infection!

At present, there is no cure for AIDS, but there is a "regret medicine", which can effectively prevent the persistent infection of HIV.

HIV blocking drugs refer to post-exposure prophylaxis drugs, usually referring to drugs used to prevent the spread of the virus after high-risk behaviors occur, and the success rate is quite high . So what is high-risk behavior? These include the following:

• AIDS patients or HIV-infected people have unprotected sex;
• Open wounds or mucous membranes come into contact with the blood of AIDS patients or HIV-infected patients;
• Being stabbed by a needle with the blood of an AIDS patient or HIV-infected person, etc.

High-risk exposure is high, and the sooner you take the blocking drug, the better the effect. The best blocking time is 2 hours, and the blocking success rate can reach 99.5% . As time goes by, the success rate will decrease, but within 72 hours, there is still a high success rate .

Therefore, after high-risk behaviors occur, you should go to local infectious disease hospitals or emergency departments as soon as possible, do relevant inspections and risk assessments, and use blocking drugs for rescue.

It is not a shame for the elderly to have sex. As long as they do not violate morality and laws, they also have the right to pursue their desires, but this is based on the premise of safety and health.

It is precisely because of some discrimination in the society that the elderly are ashamed to talk about sex, and dare not take the initiative to ask a doctor after high-risk behaviors occur, which eventually leads to tragedy.

References:

[1] "No sex life when you are old? If you think about it this way, there will only be more and more elderly people with AIDS. "Guoke.2020-01-19

[2] "Concord Experts Say AIDS: About AIDS, 10 hot questions that netizens are most concerned about". Tencent Medical Code. 2019-12-01

[3] "Alert! National Health and Medical Commission: About 3,000 students are infected with AIDS every year". Central Committee of the Communist Youth League. 2019-08-01

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