HIV Basics | Ohana Cordillera,Inc

HIV Treatment as Prevention //

Taking HIV Medicine to Stay Healthy and Prevent Transmission

If you have HIV, it is important to start treatment as soon as possible after your diagnosis. HIV is treated using a combination of medicines to fight HIV infection that keep people living with HIV healthy. This is called antiretroviral therapy (ART).

ART involves taking a combination of HIV medicines every day, exactly as prescribed. These HIV medicines reduce the amount of virus in your body, which keeps your immune system functioning and prevents illness.

Another benefit of reducing the amount of virus in your body is that it prevents transmission to others through needle sharing, and from mother to child during pregnancy and birth. This is sometimes called “treatment as prevention.”

Can I Transmit HIV if My Viral Load is Undetectable?

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) reduces viral load, ideally to an undetectable level. If your viral load goes down after starting ART, then the treatment is working. Having an undetectable viral load greatly lowers your chance of transmitting the virus to your sexual and needle-sharing partner(s) who are HIV-negative. However, even when your viral load is undetectable, HIV can still exist in semen, vaginal and rectal fluids, breast milk, and other parts of your body, so you should continue to take steps to prevent HIV transmission.

Your viral load may go up between tests. When this happens, you might be more likely to transmit HIV to your partner(s). Your viral load may go up without you knowing it because you may not feel any different. Some people have “blips” in their viral load results that often disappear when the next viral load test is done. A blip is usually a small increase that changes a person’s viral load test results from undetectable to detectable. Often the blip is small enough that the person is still considered to have a suppressed viral load and is unlikely to transmit HIV and or experience any signs of disease progression.

HIV may still be found in genital fluids (semen, vaginal fluids). The viral load test only measures the amount of HIV in the blood. Although ART also lowers viral load in genital fluids, HIV can sometimes be present in genital fluids even when it is undetectable in the blood. But the amount of virus present may not be enough to establish infection.

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) increase viral load in genital fluids. This means that if you are living with HIV and also have an STD, you may be able to transmit HIV to your partner(s) even if the blood viral load is undetectable.

Next Steps

The sooner you take steps to protect your health and prevent transmission of the virus, the better.

If you’ve just been diagnosed with HIV, make an appointment with your health care provider to discuss taking the first steps to HIV treatment. Don’t have a health care provider? Your HIV testing site can likely provide you with a referral to an HIV care provider. Or, if you have a regular doctor, talk to him or her about your test result and whether they can lead your HIV care. If your provider is not experienced in HIV care, ask them if they know another doctor, someone, the respect, and trust they cannot ask them you to refer you to another doctor that they know and trust who can provide you with good care.

If you were previously diagnosed but have stopped seeing your health care provider regularly or stopped taking your medication, it is important to return to care, even if you have to start seeing a new provider.

If you are taking ART, follow your health care provider’s advice. Visit your healthcare provider regularly and always take your medicine as directed. This will give you the greatest chance of lowering your viral load to undetectable viral load and keeping it there. Taking other actions, like using a condom consistently and correctly, can protect you from STDs and can lower your chances of transmitting HIV when used in combination with HIV medication.

Who Should Get Tested?//

Should I Get Tested for HIV?

Everyone between the ages of 13 and 64 should get tested for HIV at least once. If your behavior puts you at risk after you are tested, you should think about being tested again. Some people at higher risk should get tested more often.

If your last HIV test result was negative, you should get an HIV test if you answer "yes" to any of the questions below about your risk since that test:

Are you a man who has had sex with another man?
Have you had sex—anal or vaginal—with an HIV-positive partner?
Have you had more than one sex partner?
Have you injected drugs and shared needles or works (for example, water or cotton) with others?
Have you exchanged sex for drugs or money?
Have you been diagnosed with, or sought treatment for, another sexually transmitted disease?
Have you been diagnosed with or treated for hepatitis or tuberculosis (TB)?
Have you had sex with someone who could answer "yes" to any of the above questions or someone whose sexual history you don't know?

Sexually active gay and bisexual men may benefit from more frequent testing (for example, every 3 to 6 months).

If you're pregnant, talk to your healthcare provider about getting tested for HIV and other ways to protect you and your child from getting HIV.

Anyone who has been sexually assaulted or has had a high-risk exposure to HIV should consider taking post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) and getting an HIV antigen test that can detect infection sooner than standard antibody testing. PEP may prevent HIV infection after possible exposure to HIV if it is started as soon as possible within 3 days after exposure to HIV.

How Can Testing Help Me?

The only way to know for sure whether you have HIV is to get tested.

Knowing your HIV status gives you powerful information to help you take steps to keep you and your partner(s) healthy.

If you test positive, you can take medicine to treat HIV to stay healthy for many years and greatly reduce the chance of transmitting HIV to your sex partner(s).
If you test negative, you have more prevention tools available today to prevent HIV than ever before.
If you are pregnant, you should be tested for HIV so that you can begin treatment if you're HIV-positive. If an HIV-positive woman is treated for HIV early in her pregnancy, the risk of transmitting HIV to her baby can be very low.

I Don't Believe I Am At High Risk. Why Should I Get Tested?

Some people who test positive for HIV were not aware of their risk. That's why it is recommended that everyone between the ages of 13 and 64 gets tested for HIV at least once as part of routine health care and that people with certain risk factors should get tested more often (see above).

Even if you are in a monogamous relationship (both you and your partner are having sex only with each other), you should find out for sure whether you or your partner has HIV

I Am Pregnant. Why Should I Get Tested?

All pregnant women should be tested for HIV so that they can begin treatment if they're HIV-positive. If a woman is treated for HIV early in her pregnancy, the risk of transmitting HIV to her baby can be very low. Testing pregnant women for HIV infection, treating those who are infected, and treating their babies with antiretroviral therapy (ART) after delivery have led to a big decline in the number of children born with HIV.

The treatment is most effective for preventing HIV transmission to babies when started as early as possible during pregnancy. If pregnant women are treated for HIV early in their pregnancy, the risk of transmitting HIV to their baby can be 1% or less. However, there are still great health benefits to beginning preventive treatment even during labor or shortly after the baby is born.