Comments on: Getting HIV in Japan - A True Story

By: stars12345678

stars12345678 — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:40:52 +0000

after reading i felt tt we only live once until when we felt close to death then we start to wake up.is normal for human beings but how many of us really lucky to escape n given a new life or rather another chance?i hav some regrets in my life if time can rewind i can be a better person…..life is GREAT there r many things waiting for mi to do i really treasure my life i love my family.
im stil learning everyday tis is how i gain my lifetime exp in future if i hav children i wil teach them how papa had gone through.thanks for spending time reading.im happy for tt guy is negative.

By: the ar

the ar — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 11:53:50 +0000

of course it’s possible. You should really get yourself checked, it’s free, it’s anonymous, it’s great.

http://www.sunnypages.jp/travel_guide/health_medicine/clinic_others/Shinjuku+Health+Center+-+AIDS+and+STD+test+center/3458/reviews

By: Question

Question — Mon, 19 May 2008 11:46:09 +0000

If i have unprotected sex just once is it possible to get AIDS/Hepatitis B?
Also, you said you can take these tests for free in Japan, where can i take these tests ?

By: Vasca

Vasca — Mon, 19 May 2008 07:31:59 +0000

I’m sorry to hear your story BJ, talking about going against human rights and the right to patient confidentiality. Just a sad mirror of ignorance. Shame it happened in a developed country like Korea too. With proper antiretroviral treatment, you can live just like anyone else for several decades with the virus and possibly even have noninfected children with in vitro insemination.

As a med student taking the career in Mexico City, I’ve only seen 1 HIV positive patient (very briefly), but I’ve met several people that got Hepatitis B and C. One of the people that has Hepatitis B is a teacher of mine who doesn’t even know how in the hell he got the virus, just that it probably happened during his internship year and it was probably by handelling contaminated blood. Luckily he was of the 70% of people that managed to fight the virus and his liver won’t get ruined because of it. Makes me feel kinda icky in the insides because I’m not vaccinated yet, I just don’t have the cash right now.

The two patients that got Hepatitis C got the virus by blood transfusions and one of these two people didn’t even know she had the virus in the first place, she only came in because she had a very bad case of skin petechiae and protruding blood vessels in the abdomen, along with a bad case of ascites that appeared just a few days before she went to the hospital.

I’ve heard rumors that a resident of Ear-nose-throat got infected with HIV treating a patient in one of the hospitals I go to. Just to show you don’t have to be a floosey to get the virus.

No matter where you are, educate people about STD’s, they are more common than you think. Hepatitis B and C infection is like 100 times more infectious than HIV and the disease kills you a lot faster. There’s some treatments for both, but getting the deadly chronic form of the disease is like russian roulette. There’s over a 95% chance of getting chronic hepatitis C infection and there’s no vaccine for it.

Mexico isn’t the eden of sexual activity responsability either (mexican males think using a condom makes them less macho for some reason), but at least they try to teach the generic dangers of getting HIV in schools here.

I feel sorry for the poor girl who got dumped when her boyfriend discovers she has HIV. Just shows how little love he had for her in the first place. The worst that can happen to a person with a disease like this is to be socially outcast and living in a hut waiting to die as if we were back in the days when antiretrovirals didn’t exist. Hope the fianceé of the author of this article didn’t leave him; and I’m sure the experience has taught him a valuable lesson about safe sex.

You’d be surprised to know how many faithful mexican women get infected with HIV from their spouses who went cruisin’ when they were illegal immigrants in the US and come back when they get deported with the virus as a good-bye gift.

As for those medical articles, I’ll enjoy reading them (it’s 2:30 am right now, so I’ll read em when I’m more awake).

By: BJ

BJ — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 06:06:41 +0000

I just wanted to thank you for your post and share something. I was teaching English in Seoul when I was called by my doctor during class and informed that my HIV test was positive. Promptly, the immigration officials showed up, drug me out of class, arrested me at the school, took me to the immigration office and threatened to deport me. From what I understand, deportation is the norm in such cases but they reiterated the word “gracious” when they told me of the rare opportunity given by the “big boss” to let me go and to spend my last 12 hours in Korea gathering my things. Normally, they would have been gathered for me. I was also allowed to leave on my own without deportation but I am NEVER allowed to enter their country again. Your words about Japan being a place of beauty turning jaded really rang true to me. I had a love for Korea that went back as far as I could remember. I studied the language in school and had studied Korean music for 10 years prior to living there.

Does anyone know the rules for such cases with foreigners in Japan? Are foreigners with HIV (known) allowed to live there? I am very curious.

Thanks for anyone who read this

By: Brian Fogelstein MD

Brian Fogelstein MD — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 11:36:06 +0000

http://www.virologyj.com/content/2/1/10

Replicative Homeostasis: A fundamental mechanism mediating selective viral replication and escape mutation

If you do nothing else, read the last paragraph of this paper; it describes a new mechanism of RNA regulation possible relevant to your work. For researchers interested in viruses this paper is a bombshell the author has utterly destroyed the ‘error catastrophe’ theory. The paper also demonstrates how interferon and ribavirin probably work (previously a matter of some conjecture), explained their immunomodulatory properties, and opened the door to new antiviral treatments. If you have any interest in hepatitis C, HBV, HIV, West Nile, Dengue, or any other clinically important viruses, or their treatment, this article is important to you.

By: Brian Fogelstein MD

Brian Fogelstein MD — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 11:34:31 +0000

http://www.virologyj.com/content/4/1/29

Replicative Homeostasis III: implications for antiviral therapy and mechanisms of response and non-response

This paper is a bombshell! The author appears to have unlocked the control of hepatitis C replication, and by implication that of other viruses, demonstrated how interferon and ribavirin probably work (previously a matter of some conjecture), explained their immunomodulatory properties, and opened the door to new antiviral treatments. If you have any interest in hepatitis C, HBV, HIV, West Nile, Dengue, or any other clinically important viruses, or their treatment, or prion disease, or how viruses may cause cancer, this article is important to you.

By: Ao

Ao — Sat, 19 May 2007 08:43:47 +0000

AIDS is not as likely as most people think. Statistically your chances of catching it are pretty low, no matter who you are. If you are outside the risk groups (I.V. drug users, homosexuals) your chances are even lower.

However, your risk of contracting other nasty diseases is higher than you may think. And, as we all know, there are some countries in this world in which AIDS is really an epidemic. So, efforts to promote condom use are more than worth it. I used them when not in relationships, then switched to haradashi/ganmen (thanks Richmond) when in more steady relationships.

By all means, get tested, but don’t freak out over statistical improbabilities.

By: Jay

Jay — Sat, 19 May 2007 07:03:58 +0000

Terrifying story.
Whenever a friend of mine is getting with a new or even old partner, and I hear them saying they don’t use protections I freak out.
And the “he/she is safe, I feel it” sentence ? Can you see who has AIDS just by looking in her/his eyes ? What about if she/he has a not risky life, but just got it from blood transfusion ?

Well, be safe, do test before leaving the condoms out the bedroom…

By: Leroy

Leroy — Thu, 17 May 2007 13:09:19 +0000

So, if his girl he mentions in this article was 6 months pregnant when he wrote this article, that means she should have given birth by now. Do tell us the rest. I am hanging out to find out if the baby is ok or not!