Four men died of AIDS in Dallas County this year.

They didn’t need to die; neither does anyone else who contracts HIV/AIDS. HIV is a virus that attacks the body’s immune system. AIDS is the full-blown disease caused by the virus. Being HIV-positive does not mean you have AIDS. Proper treatment can prevent those with the virus from developing AIDS.

The greatest myth about HIV/AIDS is that the disease is a certain death sentence. That’s untrue. There are medicines to treat the symptoms, although no cure is available. Being HIV-positive means you can pass the virus along to others, including, if you are a female, an unborn child.

HIV is found in specific human body fluids, including blood, semen, pre-seminal fluid, breast milk, vaginal fluids and rectal mucous. Other body fluids and waste products, such as feces, nasal fluid, saliva, sweat, tears, urine or vomit don’t contain enough HIV to infect a person.

HIV can be spread by having unprotected sexual contact with an HIV-positive person. The best way to reduce the risk is not to have sex, be monogamous if both parties are HIV-free or get tested and share your status.

Wednesday was World AIDS Day, a time to focus on the disease and a reminder that testing for it is as simple as going down to Selma AIR and having your mouth swabbed and waiting 20 minutes for results.

Those results are private. Even if a person tests positive, the only other people who will know are those from the Alabama Department of Health, who will visit and ask questions to help with preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS.

And if a person tests positive, the medicine is free and the clinic is free through Selma AIR here in Dallas County.

There is no reason to hesitate or to worry.