1. The articles are each written in a manner that is confusing. It would seem the primary point is that someone with a weakened immune system (such as found in a person with HIV disease) would be MORE likely to experience a serious case of H1N1 (should he/she be exposed to the latter). We see more serious cases of TB in some individuals with HIV disease. This is NOT to say that the bacterium that causes TB was somehow mixed with HIV (a virus). Similarly, an airborne virus is typically not going to mix with a blood-borne virus.
2. Bacteria, protozoa, and fungi are all celled-organisms meaning they are capable of independent reproduction. A virus has to have a host cell to reproduce (and to be transmitted) Each virus has certain cells it likes to have as a host (e.g., a virus that likes liver cells would not thrive in brain cells). HIV’s host cell is a certain type of white blood cell which is why only body fluids that contain white blood cells can transmit HIV.
3. When someone with HIV has 200 or fewer of this type of white blood cells OR they have one of a specific list of diseases that are indicative of immune system weakness, they are diagnosed with AIDS. HIV and AIDS are not interchangeable terms. The HIV disease spectrum has three distinct parts of which the third is referred to as AIDS.
4. In those localities where people are motivated by fear and not by science, it is entirely possible that law enforcement and others who have been in the vicinity of the sneeze of a person with HIV would seek HIV testing. There is no rational reason for them to be tested.
5. The reason people (who might have a REAL exposure) get tested multiple times (over weeks/months) is two-fold. The first reason is because the test used most commonly tests for the presence of antibodies which the body develops in response to the virus. This takes a little time to happen. Secondly, most jurisdictions that worry about reasonable workplace exposure (needle-stick, etc.) do a baseline test and then another test at 3 months. This reduces the employer’s risk against someone who was already HIV positive claiming that they became infected through an experience on their job. There is no medical reason for police et al to continue ongoing testing following a blood exposure and no reason for them to be tested at all in the event of a sneeze.
6. The amount of blood in a hollow bore needle can be substantial particularly when compared to amount carried by a mosquito. For infection to occur the needle must actually pierce several layers of skin (not just blood on the surface of the skin as when you smash a mosquito).
7. I have worked in HIV for more than 20 years and have never had a case for which the origin of the individual having the virus couldn’t be discerned after asking a few specific questions. In some cases, because people continue to be ignorant about how HIV is transmitted, people will make up fantastic stories about “virgin” transmission rather than admit extramarital affairs, gay liaisons, etc.
8. A worldwide H1N1 epidemic could be very serious in the absence of HIV.
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