HighlightsDr. Sermed Mezher spread misinformation on TikTok about HIV transmission via blood-soiled toilet paper.Dr. Kate Nambiar debunked the claim, stating HIV doesn’t survive long outside the body and transmission through dried blood is impossible.Dr. Mezher was encouraged to retract his misinformation and help educate his followers with accurate HIV information.
Upon the image going viral again, Dr. Sermed Mezher took to hisTikTok pageon Tuesday (September 10) to share his controversial take on the dated image.
“People have said that the risk of transmission from using [that type of toilet paper] is one in three for hepatitis and one in 300 forHIV,” Dr. Mezher said in the video, which has amassed 1.2 million views.
“But that’s for healthcare workers who get direct impact when the blood is still wet,” the TikToker explained. “The risk of transmission if something has dried up like this is significantly lower, but it’s still possible.”
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Image credits:triocean/stock.adobe.com
According to theCenters for Disease Control(CDC), the risk of infection after a needle-stick injury from a source infected with Hepatitis B (HBV) can be as high as 30% without vaccination or post-exposure treatment, which aligns with the “one in three” estimate Dr. Mezher shared.
The transmission risk for Hepatitis C (HCV) is lower, around 1.8% on average. For HIV, the risk from a needle-stick injury is about 0.3%, or roughly “one in 300,” as Dr. Mezher stated.
HIV is the abbreviation for “human immunodeficiency virus.” It is a virus that attacks cells that help the body fight infection, making a person more vulnerable to other infections and diseases,HIV.govexplains.
Dr. Mezher spread misinformation about HIV on TikTok, another doctor toldBored Panda
Image credits:drsermedmezher
If left untreated, HIV can lead to the disease AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). The human body can’t get rid of HIV, and no effective HIV cure exists. So, once you have HIV, you have it for life.
Nevertheless, effectivetreatmentwith HIV medicine (called antiretroviral therapy or ART) is available, as perHIV.gov.
If taken as prescribed, HIV medicine can reduce the amount of HIV in the blood (also called the viral load) to a very low level. This is called viral suppression.
If a person’s viral load is so low that a standard lab can’t detect it, this is called having an undetectable viral load,HIV.govexplains.
The image seemingly showed that drug users dabbed their needles
Image credits:drsermedmezherexplains
People with HIV who take HIVmedicineas prescribed and get and keep an undetectable viral load can live long and healthy lives and will not transmit HIV to their HIV-negative partners through sex.
In addition, there are effective methods to prevent getting HIV through sex or drug use, including pre-exposure prophylaxis, known as the abbreviated “PrEP”, a medicine people at risk for HIV take to prevent getting HIV through sex or injection drug use.
They can also take post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), an HIV medicine taken within 72 hours after a possible exposure to prevent the virus from taking hold, as perHIV.gov.
“Nobody has ever contracted HIV or hepatitis from toilet roll,” Dr. Kate Nambiar, medical director at Terrence Higgins Trust, said.
She toldBored Pandain an email: “That’s because HIV doesn’t survive for long outside the body.
“Once HIV is exposed to air, it weakens quickly and transmission only takes place when it passes from one person’s body into another body.
The risk of infection after a needle-stick injury is about 0.3%
Image credits:Randy Laybourne/Unsplash
Dr. Nambiar further countered: “It’s extremely worrying that over one million people have seen this Tik Tok from Dr. Sermed Mezher which spreads misinformation that it is possible to contract HIV and hepatitis from toilet roll.
“Only 1.7% of new HIV diagnoses last year were from injecting drug use and just 0.5% were vertical transmissions.”
Kate Nambiar, medical director at Terrence Higgins Trust, slammed the TikToker’s claims
The doctor argued: “It is crucial that Dr. Mezher retracts the incorrect claims from his TikTok.
“Terrence Higgins Trust would love to work with him to make sure his followers have up-to-date information on HIV.”
“As a GP doctor with thousands of followers, he’s in a unique position to educate them on the facts about HIV, including the fact that people on effective HIV treatment can’t pass it on and can live a fulfilling life with a normal lifespan,” Dr. Nambiar added.
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The sexual health and gender identity physician concluded: “We recommend that Dr. Mezher join theFast Track Cities London HIV GP Champion Network,which is dedicated to improving care for people living with HIV, allowing him to go from sharing myths about HIV to [becoming] a champion of the HIV community.”
While HIV has been closely associated with men who have sex with men, recent data from the UK Health Security Agency shows that, for the first time in a decade, the number of new HIV diagnoses among heterosexuals in England has surpassed those among gay and bisexual men.
Half of all new HIV diagnoses were in heterosexuals (49%) in England in 2020, compared to 45% in gay and bisexual men, theTerrence Higgins Trustreported in 2022.
Image credits:Cavan for Adobe
This makes the number ofdiagnosesamong heterosexuals passing gay and bisexual men even more significant.
Heterosexuals were also far more likely to be diagnosed late, meaning damage to the immune system has already begun.
More than half (51%) of women, 55% of heterosexual men, and 66% of those aged 65 and over diagnosed with HIV in 2020 were diagnosed at a late stage.
The image ignited fear among many viewers
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