What is HIV?

HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus.

HIV infects and gradually destroys an infected person's immune system. This means your body is less able to fight off normal infections and germs and make any infections or illnesses harder to treat and take you longer to recover from.

How is HIV passed on?

The HIV virus is passed on from getting any of the following bodily fluids from a person who has HIV into your bloodstream: Semen (cum), blood, pre-cum, breast milk, menstrual blood and vaginal fluids.

The most common ways for these bodily fluids to get in to your bloodstream are:

Having anal or vaginal sex without a condom
Sharing a needle with someone, for example when sharing drugs

How is HIV not passed on?

There is no risk of HIV being passed on from normal social contact with someone who is HIV positive. This includes: touching a person with HIV, kissing, sharing towels or clothes, sharing cups, plates or glasses with someone with HIV.

What is an HIV test?

You can find out if you have become infected with HIV by having a blood test done. Your body to try to fight the virus produces antibodies. The test works by looking for antibodies in your blood to HIV rather than the virus itself.

When should I have an HIV test?

It takes 12 weeks (3 months) for the antibodies to HIV to show up in blood. So you need to wait for 12 weeks from when you were at risk of being infected for the test to give you an accurate result. This is called the window period.

If you are tested in the window period and have a negative result you should also be tested again after the 12 weeks have past to be totally sure of your result.

Things to think about before having an HIV test

Having an HIV test can have a big impact on you whether you have a positive or negative result. Only you can decide if having an HIV test is right for you. You should not be pressured into having a test by other people.

Below are some of the reasons not to have an HIV and some of the reasons to have an HIV test. Everyone is different and you might have reasons of your own.

Reasons not to test:

A positive result can mean a lot of stress and impact on your day to day life.
People may treat you differently if they know you are HIV positive
You may be restricted on travelling or working abroad, particularly the USA.
A positive HIV result can make it more difficult to get a mortgage or life insurance.
You may not be in a place to deal with a positive result emotionally.

Reasons to test:

You will know your HIV status, you won’t be worried about what you think you HIV status is.
A negative result may give you peace of mind.
A positive result will enable you to access medication and specialist support.
If you are HIV positive the sooner you are diagnosed the more treatment options you will have.
You will be able to make decisions about your future.
To help you plan the type of sex you want with your partner.
To make decisions about your pregnancy, delivery and post-natal care

How will I be tested for HIV?

The test for HIV that Testing Times use needs a pinprick of blood from your finger. The test takes 20 minutes to give a result.

What do the results mean?

If you have no antibodies in your blood 12 weeks after you were at risk of being infected by HIV you are HIV negative, you do not have HIV. This does not mean that you can’t be infected in the future.

If you have antibodies in your blood then the result is that you are HIV positive. You can pass the virus on to other people through having sex without a condom and sharing needles.

Things to think about after having a negative HIV test result

Getting a negative result doesn’t mean that you are immune from HIV. You might want to think about the times you have been uncomfortable with the risks you have taken and how you might deal with these in the future.

The result tells you what your HIV status was 12 weeks ago if you have had unprotected sex or shared injecting equipment in the last 12 weeks you may want to take another test.

This is a result for you and does not tell you anybody else’s status, don’t assume that your partner has the same status.

Things to think about after having a positive HIV test result

This is a result for you and does not tell you anybody else’s status, don’t assume that your partner has the same status.

A positive result could mean that you face discrimination from some people if they know about your status.

If you are HIV positive you can pass HIV onto other people through unprotected sex, sharing injecting equipment and through breast feeding.

You may want to make changes in your life. Remember that you may be in shock and might not be thinking very clearly. Wait till things settle down until you make any major decisions.

Similarly, you might want to tell lots of people about being positive. It's important you have someone you can talk to, but at this stage, try only to talk to people you really trust. You can always tell people later; but you can't ever untell them.