The numbers could be funny if they weren’t so alarming: according to a recent Belgian study, students are still not very aware of the transmission modes of the AIDS virus.
The statistics are scary to see: 6 in 10 students believe that mosquitoes (because they feed on blood, maybe?) Transmit HIV. One in five students believe that antibiotics protect against the virus (aspirin against AIDS, you had to think about it!). Finally, two-thirds of those polled do not know that the breastmilk is a vector of the disease.
To identify these figures, Sophie Degroote, researcher at the University of Ghent (Belgium) and author of the study, offered 59 statements to nearly 450 Belgian students and asked them to tick those that seemed true to them. Phew, the majority of respondents are still aware that syringes can transmit the disease, that it is also transmitted through pregnancy and childbirth and that the condom is an effective means of prevention.
Avoid public toilets and contaminated glasses
How to explain this –relative- ignorance? According to Sophie Degroote, young people who had already had a sexual experience responded better than others: conversely, “students who have not yet had sexual relations obtain very low results”.
In France, knowledge is not really better: according to a study carried out in Ile-de-France in 2010, 21% of Ile-de-France residents think that mosquitoes (again) transmit AIDS, 13% avoid public toilets for fear of ‘catch the disease and 6% refuse to drink from the glass of an infected person …
And you, what do you think of this study? Do you think you are up to date on AIDS? Where are you at with your knowledge of this disease? We talk on the forum.