INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL INSURANCE AND HEALTH INSURANCE -
Diseases - AIDS

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Although international medical insurance is important it is also important to be so prepared in order to avoid health problems overseas.

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Diseases

AIDS (Human Immune Deficiency Syndrome)

AIDS is becoming the developing world dilemma. There are parts of Africa where 55% of the population are HIV-positive. That means that they carry a positive antigen for active disease. They may not have the AIDS wasting syndrome and all of the associated symptoms that lead to death, but they will sometime in their lifetime--anywhere from a few months to a few decades--develop the fatal part of the disease. Since it is so much a part of the developing world, many of the expatriate workers ask whether they are at risk. It is to that end that I would like to answer some of these fears.

AIDS cannot be obtained by casual contact or even a dirty toilet seat. It is basically transmitted by body fluids—blood and seminal/vaginal fluids. In Zaire 50% of the midwives contacted AIDS from exposure to blood and amniotic fluids (pregnancy liquers). It is debatable whether saliva and urine transmit AIDS. But these fluids are certainly less infective. Anal intercourse is the main transmission for male-to-male transmission, so rectal fluids are infective both for AIDS and hepatitis. Mothers who are HIV-positive have a 30% risk of transmitting AIDS to their fetuses unless they are treated with anti-viral medication, which reduces it to about 2% of the infants infected.

The expatriate worker should not fear those afflicted with AIDS. Medical workers use latex gloves for their own protection when handling patients and fluids. Unfortunately, in the developing world, many needles which are meant for one-time use are re-used, and the attempt to rid them of AIDS and hepatitis is ineffective. Some agencies like Johns Hopkins University send most of their workers with their own supply of disposable needles along with IV tubing and solution when they go to high risk areas. This approach is not always possible, but being aware of the problem and insisting on the needles’ being brand new—seeing them come out of the unopened package—is somewhat of an assurance to you that you should be okay. These principles are also true for hepatitis viruses, A through G.

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