Transmission & Prevention: Public Health and HIV WK6

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering biological plausibility, modes and per-act probabilities of transmission, bodily fluid infectivity groups, harm reduction, and social concepts of respectability and HIV stigma.

Biological Plausibility

A biologically coherent, cause-and-effect relationship between a biological agent (such as a virus, bacterium, or parasite) and a disease, grounded in known mechanisms of how the pathogen operates.

Epidemiological Causation

A statistical association established between an observed risk factor or behavior and a disease based on empirical, observational population data.

Langerhans Cells

Dendritic immune cells located in mucosal membranes (such as the foreskin, vaginal lining, and mouth) and under the skin that carry the CD4 surface protein and can be infected directly by HIV.

Group 1 Body Fluids

Body fluids categorized as having very high HIV infectivity: blood, semen, and vaginal/cervical secretions (including menstrual fluid).

Group 2 Body Fluids

Body fluids categorized as having high HIV infectivity: breast milk, which poses an infection risk to infants during breastfeeding.

Group 3 Body Fluids

Body fluids categorized as having low HIV infectivity: saliva and tears.

Group 4 Body Fluids

Body products categorized as having no HIV infectivity: perspiration/sweat, urine, and feces.

Parenteral Exposure

A mode of exposure describing matter administered or occurring elsewhere in the body than through the mouth, including blood transfusions, sharing injection equipment, and percutaneous needle-sticks.

Blood Transfusion HIV Transmission Risk

The per-act transmission risk associated with receiving an HIV-infected blood transfusion, quantified at $9{,}250$ infections per $10{,}000$ exposures.

Receptive Anal Intercourse HIV Transmission Risk

The sexual exposure route with the highest per-act transmission probability, quantified at $138$ infections per $10{,}000$ exposures to an infected source.

Three Modes of HIV Transmission

The three broad epidemiological pathways for HIV transmission: Birth (perinatal transmission from mother to infant), Blood (transmission from an infected blood source), and Sex (sexual contact).

Five HIV Prevention Focus Areas

The primary intervention categories targeted by public health initiatives: (1) blood transfusion or organ donation, (2) injection drug use, (3) occupational exposure, (4) sexual contact, and (5) mother-to-child / perinatal transmission.

Syringe Services Programs (SSPs)

Harm reduction programs that provide sterile syringes and services; participants are $5$ times more likely to enter drug treatment, $33\%$ less likely to acquire HIV, and more than $60\%$ less likely to contract hepatitis B and C.

Occupational HIV Needle-Stick Risk

The risk of healthcare worker infection after percutaneous exposure to a needle containing detectable HIV, estimated at $1$ in $333$ (with overall combined odds of $1$ in $10{,}500$, or $0.01\%$).

Perinatal Transmission (MTCT)

Mother-to-child transmission of HIV during gestation, birth, or breastfeeding; occurs at a rate of $15\%$ to $45\%$ without antiviral drugs, but decreases to approximately $1\%$ with aggressive prophylactic antiviral therapy.

"4-H Club"

An early, heavily stigmatizing classification used in the AIDS epidemic that grouped people by identity rather than risk behavior, targeting Homosexuals, Hemophiliacs, Heroin users, and Haitians.

Respectability

A social framework and form of social control that dictates acceptable behavior, speech, and presentation, determining whom and what society considers deserving of respect.

Purity and Danger (1966)

A foundational sociological and anthropological work by Mary Douglas analyzing concepts of pollution and taboo, exploring how humans construct rigid categories of 'pure' and 'impure' to manage social order and fear.

"Clean" vs. "Dirty" Terminology

Stigmatizing sexual health language that refers to HIV-negative status as 'clean,' which implicitly labels people living with HIV as 'dirty.'

Alexis Marie Rivera (1977–2012)

A prominent Latina transgender advocate in Southern California who served on the Los Angeles County HIV/AIDS Commission, chaired the Transgender Services Provider Network, and directed the transgender youth services program at Children's Hospital Los Angeles.

Growing Up in the Age of AIDS

A 1992 ABC News documentary led by Peter Jennings for which the hip-hop trio Salt-N-Pepa recorded the educational public health song 'Let's Talk About AIDS.'