Do people with Blood Group O get infected with HIV?The reason behind High rates of New HIV infection

For years, some communities globally have believed in some nonsense stories, about blood group O in relation to HIV infection, which has been all along a lie. Most members in these communities tend to believe that someone with Blood group O positive does not get infected with HIV AIDS and this notion has let to the rampant spread of HIV AIDS in some regions, this might necessitate some interventions like behaviour change to be put in place to carp this menace.

Our blood type has no significant effect on whether you will contract HIV - the idea that being type O offers protection is a myth, it is a lie.

You can get HIV with any blood group unless you lack a specific receptor on your white blood cells called the CD4 receptor which HIV interacts with to infect the white blood cell. In individuals lacking the CD4 receptor, it has been shown that HIV infection does not progress to active disease, but may still carry the virus and infect another person, who may suffer AIDS once the virus infects their white blood cells, specifically, the T-lymphocytes which possess the CD4 receptor and co-receptor CXCR4.

However, your risk of contracting HIV when in a relationship with an HIV-positive person can be greatly reduced by practising safe sex and if the HIV-positive person is on well-managed anti-retroviral therapy, all these reduce the viral load thereby reducing the chances of infecting the other person,