In Bariloche, HIV develops in young people because they do not use condoms

"The new cases are alarming." In this way, the badual health team of the Ramón Carrillo Hospital referred to recent statistics.

In 2017, Río Negro registered 156 new HIV cases; while throughout this year alone in Bariloche, 23 new registrations were registered.

"The number is very important, but not only HIV but also syphilis, hepatitis and other badually transmitted diseases.Most infections are badual," said Gabriela Vázquez, veterinarian of the badual health team.

Saturday is World AIDS Day, a date set 30 years ago.

Those under 30 are the most affected and the ratio of men to women is 2.3 to 1; that is to say that for two HIV-positive men, there is a woman infected with the virus.

Clara Lettieri, general practitioner, added: "We mainly attribute it to the misuse – or direct non-use – of the free condom distributed in hospitals and health centers. Information, lack of work in schools. "

An estimated 122,000 people have the virus in the country, although 30% do not know it. Of the total who know their diagnosis, 81% are in treatment.

Given the great ignorance of the diagnosis, a new campaign was launched to detect new cases in the Emaus group – intended for homeless people – in the Penal 3 and in the central laboratory of the hospital.

In Bariloche, 200 patients are currently under treatment.

The Sexual Health Bureau operates on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1:30 pm to 4:00 pm without a break, with consultations and medical care. Throughout this year, the team conducted 200 rapid tests in different campaigns, beyond all extractions done in other consulting contexts.

Professionals at the Bariloche Hospital said that in general, patients arrive "asymptomatically because they have had risky behavior and that they want to consult."

According to the Epidemiological Bulletin published by the Directorate of AIDS and HTA of the Ministry of Health of the Country, 35% of HIV diagnoses are considered late, that is to say that they are carried out at an advanced stage of the infection when the virus It has already weakened the body's defenses.

This year's motto

"Know Your State" is the motto under which World AIDS Day is celebrated this year.

According to Onusida, three out of four people living with HIV know their HIV status. "However, as the last report shows, there is still a long way to go – this path is to reach people living with HIV who do not know their quality prevention status," the organization said. .