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By Lucas Gutiérrez *

For the Argentine newspaper Crónica, AIDS and HIV are the same thing. For Crónica, a sensationalist, stigmatizing headline that directly calls for punishment sells better. For Crónica, from its morbid, dangerous, and willful ignorance, people living with HIV are a danger.

This afternoon, the news website Crónica reported that a 13-year-old boy accused two other teenagers of rape. The article states that, as a result, the boy tested positive for HIV and syphilis. Crónica headlined the story: "14 and 17-year-old boys raped another 13-year-old in an open field: they infected him with AIDS and syphilis." What this 13-year-old boy experienced is appalling. I'm not trying to deflect attention from the reprehensible nature of the act by analyzing the newspaper's journalistic irresponsibility. But if we don't highlight this and demand that it be changed and taken into account, the stigma and prejudice will continue.

AIDS is not a virus

Putting 'AIDS' in the headline is anything but innocent. A minor is raped, and Crónica chooses to emphasize this. As if the despicable act weren't enough, they add the 'AIDS' factor. Whoever wrote the article likely came from the school of Dr. Abel Albino, the same one who said last year during the abortion debate: "the AIDS virus."

The virus is HIV, which attacks the immune system and, if left untreated, allows illnesses to develop. This advanced stage of the infection is called Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, or AIDS.

[READ ALSO: Bicho and I to Dr. Abel Albino: “AIDS is not a virus, your words are”]

It is not contagious

The HIV virus survives for a very short time outside the body, which is why it's not "contagious" but rather transmitted. This is important to clarify because otherwise we might think it's a virus like the flu, which is contagious. Neither a mate gourd nor a mosquito transmits the HIV virus. With information, we can avoid prejudice. But Crónica screams at you from its website, in blood red, eighties-style AIDS red: "They spread AIDS." Not only are they spreading misinformation, but they're also placing a burden of danger on HIV-positive people, interpreting the headline of this publication as implying that they "spread AIDS."

[READ ALSO: #LivingWithHIV My little bug and I #16: “It’s not contagious!”]

Punitivism

The article is taken from another source. While the original source didn't use the same headline, it did produce the phrase that the second source will reproduce without question: “But the worst was yet to come. On Saturday morning, the HIV test came back positive.”

THE WORST! First reading: A 13-year-old boy is raped by two others, and those who write this think it's possible to rank what's worse and what's less worse. Second reading: Is HIV transmission worse than rape? Is it necessary to compare these things? Answer: No, Crónica, none of this is necessary.

[READ ALSO: “HIV pride is about never giving up the fight”]

I write out of sheer frustration and anger that this kind of language in communication, far from being an exception, is commonplace. I feel powerless because of the news that paints a picture of a messed-up world, to which we must add communicators who perpetuate stigmas and prejudices.

The original article states that this happened “about two weeks ago.” The Fundación Huésped website reports that the window period, that is, the time between HIV transmission and when it appears in test results, is usually 3 to 4 weeks. Something similar can happen with syphilis and its various stages. Considering this information isn't meant to lead to a single conclusion; perhaps it happened longer ago, perhaps the virus generated antibodies faster and the test reacted more quickly, and a long list of other possibilities and assumptions. But of course, I'm asking this of someone who talks about AIDS as a virus and equates it with HIV.

And we, as people living with HIV, keep repeating the mantra of "HIV is not AIDS" and "it's transmitted, not contagious," and so many other phrases. But if there's no responsibility, no commitment, no ethics in the media, if there's no commitment from communicators, if what works is sensationalizing and amplifying the threat and fear, then no matter how many times I repeat it, HIV will continue to be seen as an abomination.

* Journalist, writer, and activist. Author of "Bicho y Yo" (Bug and Me); the comic about living with HIV published in Presentes.