HIV Myths Sentence Man to 35 Years

As reported by the Associated Press:

DALLAS - An HIV-positive man convicted of spitting into the eye and mouth of a Dallas police officer has been sentenced to 35 years in prison.

Because a jury found that Willie Campbell used his saliva as a deadly weapon, the 42-year-old will have to serve half his sentence before becoming eligible for parole. He was sentenced Wednesday.

Campbell was being arrested in May 2006 for public intoxication when he began resisting and kicking inside the patrol car, Dallas police office Dan Waller testified.

Campbell was convicted of harassment of a public servant.

This is absolutely idiotic on so many levels. First of all, Campbell was drunk and therefore it is questionable as to his actual intent in spitting in the officer's face. More than likely, he was angry at being arrested and expressed his anger by spitting, not with the premeditated intent of infecting or killing the officer. Secondly, the officer was at NO RISK of contracting HIV/AIDS through the saliva of an HIV positive man. The jury therefore sentenced a man to 35 years in prison for spitting, an act which didn't harm anyone, only insulted the officer. If the jury wanted to punish Campbell for anything, it should have been for being publicly intoxicated.

The jury's decision came from gross misunderstandings about HIV/AIDS which will be corrected through this post. These are taken from Heroes Project India's FAQs, but the same information is easily available through other HIV/AIDS-prevention organizations.1) There are no risks involved working in close physical contact with an infected person. You may share the same telephone with other people in your office or work side by side in a crowded factory with other HIV infected persons, even share the same cup of tea, but this will not expose you to the risk of contracting the infection. Being in contact with dirt and sweat will also not give you the infection.

2) This virus is spread through the blood, semen, and vaginal discharges of an HIV-infected person. People can get HIV infection when they have contact with these fluids. This can happen by engaging in specific sexual and/or drug use practices. Also, HIV-infected women can pass the virus to their newborns during pregnancy and childbirth. Lastly, some people who received blood products before March 1985 got infected blood. Now all donated blood is being screened for HIV. Many people do not know they have this virus and therefore can unknowingly pass it to others. This is because they usually look and feel fine for many years after HIV infection occurs.

• Sex and HIV:
  Both men and women, including teenagers, can pass HIV to a sex partner, whether he or she is the same sex or the opposite sex. This can occur during unprotected anal, vaginal, and oral (mouth) sex through contact with infected semen, blood, or vaginal secretions.
• Drugs, Sex and HIV:
  People can get infected with HIV through sharing needles, cookers, or cottons (works) with someone who is infected. This can happen even when the person passing the works looks clean and healthy. Some people stopped shooting and/or sharing works many years ago and do not realize that they may have become infected with HIV back when they were still shooting drugs. They also may not realize they can pass it through unprotected sex now.
• Pregnancy and HIV:
  Treatment during pregnancy can help an HIV-infected woman protect her baby from becoming infected. Without treatment, more than a third of all babies born to HIV-infected women will have the virus and eventually get sick.
  

3) As made quite obvious in the last two points, you CANNOT contract the HIV/AIDS virus through saliva, tears, and sweat. It is ONLY transmitted through blood, semen, vaginal discharge, and breast milk.

4) Additionally, an HIV positive person may not necessarily have AIDS. Since 1992, scientists have estimated that about half the people with HIV develop AIDS within 10 years after becoming infected. This time varies greatly from person to person and can depend on many factors, including a person's health status and their health-related behaviors.

Today there are medical treatments that can slow down the rate at which HIV weakens the immune system. There are other treatments that can prevent or cure some of the illnesses associated with AIDS, though the treatments do not cure AIDS itself. As with other diseases, early detection offers more options for treatment and preventative health care.

5) No discussion on HIV/AIDS is complete, however, without mention of methods of prevention.

• Abstain from vaginal, anal, and oral sex.
• Use condoms.
  
• Effectiveness: Studies have shown that latex condoms are highly effective in preventing HIV transmission when used consistently and correctly. These studies looked at uninfected people considered to be at very high risk of infection because they were involved in sexual relationships with HIV-infected people. The studies found that even with repeated sexual contact, 98-100 percent of those people who used latex condoms correctly and consistently did not become infected.

• If lubricant is used, it must be water-based. Lubricants containing oil (such as Vaseline) might cause latex condoms to break.
• If spermicidal (birth control) foams and jellies are used, they must be used along with condoms, not in place of condoms. The effectiveness of spermicidal in preventing HIV is unknown.
• If you shoot drugs, seek help. And never share needles.
• Avoid mixing alcohol or other drugs with sexual activities-they might cloud one's judgment and lead to engagement in unsafe sexual practices.

For more about HIV/AIDS and prevention, please visit the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO).

Click here for the Heroes Project India FAQs.

For the AP's report on Campbell, click here.