HIV / AIDS
HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. The virus weakens and damages the immune system so the body cannot fight against infection. Once a person is infected with HIV, the virus will stay in their body for the rest of their life. While there is currently no cure for HIV, drug treatments can help people live longer with the virus.
Around 1 in 10 new cases of HIV are in young people aged 16-24. Men who have sex with other men are most at risk of catching the virus but there are more cases each year of people catching the virus from straight sex.
How do you catch it?
HIV can be passed from one person to another through unprotected sexual contact:
• Vaginal sex
• Anal sex
• Oral sex
• Intimate touching
• Shared sex toys
• Can also be passed from a pregnant woman to her baby
• Sharing needles or a syringe
You cannot get HIV from shaking hands, sharing toilet seats, kissing, using the same cutlery, going to swimming pools or having food prepared by people who have the virus.
Symptoms
Many people with HIV do not show any signs or symptoms for a long time, often 10 years or more. There are currently around 77,400 people living in the UK with HIV; more than a quarter of these people do not realise they have the infection. People are diagnosed with the virus when they become ill because their immune system has become weakened.
Treatment
The test involves taking a sample of blood and looking for HIV antibodies or antibodies and p24 antigen. The p24 antigen is a protein that forms part of the virus and can be detected in the blood sooner than HIV antibodies.
If the test is negative, it means no antibodies and/or p24 antigen have been found. If the test is done at least 3 months after the time of possible risk of infection, then you do not have HIV. If the test is done less than 3 months since the last time of possible infection, the test will have to be repeated at a later date to exclude the possibility of infection.
HIV testing is available on the NHS free of charge to anyone.
