i donāt trust tumblr to handle HIV information, it rarely ends well
so, in the early 1980s, many hemophiliacs contracted HIV from Factor VIII, an injected blood product that helps the blood clot. because Factor VIII was made from the plasma of many different blood donors, and because hemophiliacs had to use it frequently, hemophiliacs were at much higher risk of HIV than other blood product recipients.
once this was understood, manufacturers made changes to make the product safe, including heat-treating the existing stock to kill the virus. but one manufacturer, Cutter Laboratories (owned by Bayer), āmisrepresented the results of its own research and sold the contaminated [product] to overseas markets in Asia and Latin America without the precaution of heat treating the product recommended for eliminating the risk. As a consequence, hemophiliacs who infused the HIV-contaminated Factor VIII and IX tested positive for HIV and developed AIDS.āĀ (another source)
with me so far?
well, there was a tumblr post about this with many thousands of notes, but because it didnāt explain it well, and because the company involved is Bayer which is best known for its aspirin, and because uninformed fear of HIV makes people panic and not think clearly, tons of people came away from the post thinking that the contaminated product was aspirin and that they should now fear that ordinary oral medicines will somehow give them HIV!
you CANNOT contract HIV from oral medication, or from food. i canāt believe i have to say this, but clearly i do. because as a society weāre at a level of low information and high stigma where we canāt even talk about a corporation knowingly exporting HIV without getting bogged down in urban-legend bullshit like this, and i hate it.
