Home / Critical illness cover / - HIV or AIDS from Assault
Background information
By the end of 2001, more than 48,000 people had been diagnosed HIV-positive.
Over the same period, over 12,000 had died with AIDS.
In addition, it is estimated that there are currently more than 11,000 people living with HIV - unaware of being HIV-positive.
While the number of people dying from AIDS is falling (due to the widespread introduction of 'combination therapy' in 1996), the number of people living with HIV is set to increase by 47% between 2000 and 2005.
(Terrence Higgins Trust, 2002)
Definition
Infection by HIV or AIDS provided the infection results directly from:
- a physical assault involving involuntary contact with either a hypodermic needle or an infected sharp instrument; or
- a sexual assault;
- the incident happens in the European Union, The Channel Islands or The Isle of Man after the cover start date;
- the incident is reported to the police within five days; and
- a test, showing no HIV or HIV antibodies, is made within five days of the incident and a later test is made within 12 months showing infection by HIV or AIDS.
What does this mean?
Evidence suggests that infection with the Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV) can eventually lead to the development of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
There is currently no cure for AIDS.
It causes the body’s defence mechanisms to break down leaving the sufferer open to various infections, which would normally pose little threat to people unaffected by AIDS. These infections usually prove to be fatal. More and more cases of physical assault are being reported to the police where the victim has been brought into contact with the HIV virus.
A claim would be paid where the attack had been reported to the police and it is proved that the HIV infection was because of the attack.
06 August 2008 17:27:22
An antibiotic developed from maggots may be used to fend off different types of bacteria including certain types of the deadly methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Fox news reported.
Students from Swansea undertook the study and they believe that maggots may now be used to fight superbug infections in hospitals.
Those with life insurance policies maybe interested to know that the team developed a drug called Seraticin that is made from secretions of green bottle fly larvae.
They now believe that they may be able to tackle up to 12 strains of the superbug and that it could be effective against E.coli and C.diff.
Live maggots have recently been used on patient's wounds to help fight MRSA by eating dead tissue, the Mirror reported.
UK life insurance policyholders have learnt that new research from the US has found that patients who are carrying MRSA for long periods of time are at an increased risk of infection and death.
06 August 2008 17:22:31
Those without life insurance policies will be pleased to hear about a proposed program that involves vaccinating children against flu in order to provide protection for the rest of the population.
Whilst the Daily Mail claimed that running the programme could cut flu infection rates by 70 per cent, the Daily Telegraph reported that "flu could be virtually wiped out if all under 16s were vaccinated against the disease".
A similar programe was considered and subsequently rejected in 2006 by the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisation, the NHS reported.
New research published in the Lancet this week suggested that the influenza vaccine did not provide as much protection as was previously thought.
In the study a group of 3,500 individuals were tested and it was uncovered that in those over 65 there was no link between the flu vaccination and the risk of those people contracting pneumonia.
UK life insurance provides cover in case of injury or illness.
05 August 2008 17:34:54
Those with and without life insurance policies may be interested to know that a trial of a vaccine for HIV patients which allows them to take breaks from their regular medication is planned, the BBC reported.
The trial, which was announced at the Aids 2008 conference in Mexico City, will involve 345 patients in both the US and Europe and the results are due by the end of 2009.
It is hoped that the vaccine could help alleviate side effects associated with the drugs currently used to treat the virus and may help delay the emergence of strains of HIV that are resistant to the drugs.
Dr Barry Peters, of Kings College London, who is leading the research in the UK, said: "A successful immunotherapeutic HIV vaccine would give patients and doctors enormous advantages over current treatments, both in developed and developing countries."
Whilst Dr Peters has qualified that the vaccine being trialled is not the "complete answer", it could go some way to helping produce a "full" vaccine.
UK life insurance provides policy holders with cover in case of illness or injury.
