HIV and Mosquitoes: Reasons why mosquitoes cannot transmit HIV to humans.

Mosquitoes are carriers for several infamous viruses, most notably malaria and dengue fever. In fact, mosquitoes, through mosquito borne diseases, kill more people yearly than any other animal. Luckily for humans, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)  cannot be spread by mosquitoes. Several reasons account for the inability of mosquitoes to transmit HIV.

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Treatment of HIV: The concept of Antiretroviral Therapy

HIV treatment involves taking medicines that slow the progression of the virus in your body. HIV is a type of virus called a retrovirus, and the drugs used to treat it are called antiretrovirals (ARV). These drugs are always given in combination with other ARVs; this combination therapy is called antiretroviral therapy (ART). Many ART drugs have been used since the mid-1990s and are the reason why the annual number of deaths related to AIDS has dropped over the past two decades.

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I'm Emmanuel Foundation set to Launch “A 10-Day HIV Awareness Campaign”

I'm Emmanuel Foundation in association with Kingcornraj Humanitarian Aid, will be launching A 10-day HIV Awareness Campaign, tagged: “HIV PREVENTION BEGINS WITH ME” to usher in the 2018 World AIDS Day.

HIV Prevention Begins with Me is a campaign that is designed to enlighten, and educate people most especially Key Populations and Young people about HIV and the need to prevent it's spread. 

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STUDY: The connection between Human Evolution and Hepatitis C virus

As humans evolved, they developed a vulnerability to hepatitis C virus (HCV), but according to new research a small group of humans appears to have avoided the deficit.

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Singaporean Doctor gets 2 years jail sentence for switching HIV-positive blood sample with his own

Ler Teck Sian, a Singaporean doctor who submitted his own blood sample in place of his HIV-positive boyfriend's, to help his boyfriend who is an American get an employment pass, has been sentenced to two years' jail.

The 36 year old doctor, is appealing against his conviction and sentence on two charges each for abatement of cheating and for giving a false statement to a public servant. The prosecution has also appealed against the sentence.




In September, Ler was found guilty of helping Mikhy Farrera-Brochez deceive the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) into issuing him an employment pass in March 2008 and allowing him to keep the pass in November 2013 after red flags were raised about the Americana HIV status.

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Ler was also found guilty of lying to a Ministry of Health (MOH) investigator in December 2013 and a police officer in January 2014, to cover up the truth when he was questioned about the second blood test.

Farrera-Brochez, 33, who was a polytechnic lecturer in Singapore, was sentenced to 28 months jail last year for offences including cheating, lying to a public servant, possessing drugs and using forged educational certificates.

He had moved to Singapore after meeting Ler online.

In March 2008, the American boyfriend took an HIV test at a Singapore Anti-Tuberculosis Association (SATA) clinic using a fake Bahamian passport. He tested positive.

The prosecution's case was that the pair knew that foreigners with HIV are not allowed to work here, and so hatched a plan to obtain an employment pass.

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Farrera-Brochez went to the clinic where Ler was working as a locum for a medical examination. However, the blood sample labelled with his name was actually from Ler. The sample tested negative and Farrera-Brochez was issued an employment pass.

Later, MOH determined that the positive result from the Sata clinic actually belonged to Farrera-Brochez and told MOM about this. In October 2013, MOM told Farrera-Brochez that his employment pass had to be cancelled, but he said he could prove he did not have HIV.

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Using the same ruse again, a sample of Ler's blood was submitted and MOM did not cancel the employment pass.

Both the MOH and the police investigated the matter.

Ler initially maintained to the police that the blood sample was Farrera-Brochez's.

But in two statements in May 2016, he confessed that he had substituted his blood for Farrera-Brochez's.

During his trial, Ler challenged the admissibility of these statements, claiming that he had given them under duress. His various allegations were rejected by Judge Tan.

Among other things, Ler said while he was being questioned, an officer burst into the room, flung medical records on the table and shouted at him to "stop playing games" and tell them what they wanted to hear. This was refuted by the relevant officers.

The judge said he found it hard to believe Ler, who flip-flopped in his testimony regarding the identity of the officer who was allegedly hostile towards him.

Source: The Straits Times/Asia News Network

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