if HIV originally came from chimps who got it from eating a smaller monkey and it’s not transmitted by air etc like the cold. Why are we having such a hard time eradicating it in human hosts?
In: Biology
To add on to what others are saying, a lot of HIV is spread by people who don’t know it. Symptoms don’t show up for months. Even then a lot of people don’t get tested.
The largest group of people with HIV are living in Sub-Saharan Africa, and for a lot of reasons it’s hard to eradicate it there. Folks tend to be poorer, they don’t have access to or use condoms compared to more developed areas, and they don’t have access to regular and affordable health care.
Even in the developed world it’s hard to get people to use condoms. We also don’t fund needle exchange programs properly (basically giving addicts clean needles so they’re not sharing disease-infested used ones).
Lastly, PrEP and PEP are still inaccessible and underused. PrEP is a drug that, if taken daily, prevents HIV. It’s basically birth control for HIV. PEP can be taken without 72 hours of exposure to HIV (think Plan B) but can costs $500.
We’re making great strides but we still have a long way to go. The good news is that if you have it and take medication you can become undetectable, meaning you can’t spread it.
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