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Cure Myths
Cure Myths surrounding HIV/AIDS
If you have HIV, you can be cured if you have sex with a virgin.
There is no cure for HIV. If you become infected with the virus, you will always carry it in your body. If you are HIV-positive, and you think that having sex with a virgin will cure you, you’re wrong. You may infect the virgin too.
Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships: HIV/AIDS. A Manual For Faith Communities (PDF 2.64 MB)
Antiretrovirals will cure HIV/AIDS.
Because HIV is a certain type of virus called a retrovirus, the drugs used to treat it are called antiretroviral medicines. These powerful medicines control the virus and slow the progression of HIV infection, but they do NOT cure it. You need to take these medicines exactly as your doctor prescribes, or they can stop working.
CDC: Living with HIV/AIDS
Drinking, bathing in, or douching with bleach will prevent HIV.
A recent survey found that some Florida teens believe drinking a cap of bleach will prevent HIV. Some people also believe that bathing in bleach or douching with it, will keep you safe from HIV infection. None of these myths are remotely true. Bleach will kill HIV on injection needles and other surfaces, but is not safe or effective to use it in your mouth or on/in other parts of your body.
Click Orlando: Fla. Teens Believe Drinking Bleach Will Prevent HIV 
The U.S. government created HIV/AIDS.
Some Americans think that the government created HIV in a laboratory for various reasons. But the scientific evidence shows that HIV came from nature, most likely from a particular species of monkey in Africa. HIV was probably transferred to humans when they hunted and ate the infected monkeys. Since the HIV epidemic was first identified in 1981, the U.S. government has spent billions of dollars in research to prevent transmission and improve treatment.
Population Reference Bureau: Conspiracy Beliefs May Be Hindering HIV Prevention Among African Americans
Last revised: 05/01/2012
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