Fast Facts about HIV
When HIV was first discovered in the early 1980s, everyone was panicked. It was a new virus that doctors didn’t understand. It was sexually transmitted. And it was deadly. Science has made so much progress since then. Today, with the right treatment, people living with HIV can stay healthy for decades and not transmit the virus to their partners. Plus, we have a prevention method called PrEP that can be 99% effective. Still, there is no cure and no vaccine.
It’s important that everyone who is having sex or using injection drugs understands HIV and how to prevent it. But we don’t talk about it as much as we used to. Here are the answers to many questions about HIV that you might have.
What is HIV?
HIV is a virus. It stands for human immunodeficiency virus. If not treated, HIV attacks cells in the immune system that are supposed to keep our bodies healthy.
People with HIV who aren’t getting treatment may get sick more often than other people. Even common infections like a cold can cause serious symptoms if your immune system isn’t working well. And people living with HIV are more likely to get uncommon illnesses like certain kinds of cancer.
HIV Symptoms
When someone is first infected with HIV, they may have symptoms such as fever, chills, or tiredness. It’s easy to think this is something else like the flu or a cold. After that, a person with HIV could go years without getting any symptoms or knowing they have the virus. If a person living with HIV doesn’t get treatment, they will eventually have trouble fighting off germs. They will get sick more often and have more severe symptoms when they do get sick.
HIV destroys a specific kind of cell called a CD4 cell. (These cells are sometimes also called T cells or helper T cells.) CD4 cells are a type of white blood cell that help protect the body from viruses, bacteria, and fungi. If HIV destroys enough of these cells, your body is no longer ready to attack germs.
How do people get HIV?
HIV is passed from person to person. HIV is usually transmitted during sexual activity or injection drug use. It can also be passed from mother to child during pregnancy, delivery, or breastfeeding if the mother isn’t getting treatment.
HIV is found in some bodily fluids including semen (cum), pre-ejaculate (pre-cum), vaginal secretions, rectal fluids, blood, and breast milk. You can get HIV from a person who has HIV if any of these bodily fluids get into your body. This is most likely to happen during vaginal or anal sex or if you share needles with someone else for using drugs, piercing, or tattooing.
HIV is NOT in saliva, tears, or sweat. You can’t get HIV from hugging, kissing, or touching someone who has it. You can’t get HIV from sharing a drink or food. You can’t get it from public toilet seats or swimming pools. You can’t get HIV from insects like mosquitos or ticks.
FAQs about HIV Transmission
Can I get HIV from kissing?
You can’t get HIV from closed mouth kissing, and you probably can’t get it from the most intense make out session either. There is no HIV in saliva, so swapping spit is not a danger. Theoretically if both partners had sores in their mouths that were bleeding and one had HIV, the other one might get it. But in reality, this is not something you should worry about
Can I get HIV from oral sex?
There is little to chance of getting or passing on HIV through oral sex. HIV transmission through oral sex is characterized as extremely rare. You can make oral sex even safer by using a condom or a dental dam.
Can I get HIV from a massage or fingering someone?
Massage and fingering are not behaviors that transmit HIV. Regular skin—like what’s on your fingers, your back, your legs, or your arms—protects you from HIV. So even if you were to come in contact with bodily fluids, HIV couldn’t get into your body. It’s probably best not to get a massage if you have an open wound somewhere on your body and not to finger somebody if you have a cut on that finger. But fingering and massage are considered safe.
Can I get HIV if someone bleeds on me?
That would be extremely rare. There are situations in life where we come in contact with other people’s blood. Maybe you’re playing basketball, and the person next to you gets an elbow to the nose. Maybe your friend cuts themselves with a knife when they’re making you dinner. Your skin will protect you from HIV in scenarios like this because HIV can’t get into your body through unbroken skin. If you have an open wound or the blood gets in your eyes or your mouth, you might want to call your health care provider and ask if you should get PEP. If you are taking care of someone who is bleeding or changing their bandages, though, it’s a good idea to wear latex gloves like they do at a doctor’s office or hospital.
Can I get HIV if I give or get a blood donation?
No. At the beginning of the HIV epidemic, people did get the virus through blood transfusions because we didn’t know how to test the blood supply. Today, all blood donations are screened for HIV and other viruses. Blood banks use a new needle for every donor you won’t get HIV by donating blood.
Why is anal sex a common way that HIV is transmitted?
The skin in the rectum is very sensitive, and the anus doesn’t make lubrication like the vagina. The friction of having sex can cause little tears, and these tears can give the virus access to your blood stream. Also, the rectum has a lot of CD4 cells in it. These are the cells from your immune system that HIV attaches to. People who have receptive anal sex (sometimes called “the bottom”) are more likely to get HIV than people who have insertive anal sex (sometimes called “the top”). You can make anal sex safer by using an external or internal condom and A LOT of lube.
How do women get HIV?
Cisgender women usually get HIV through penis-in-vagina sex without a condom. About 18% of new HIV infections in the U.S. are in women. Most women who are diagnosed with HIV get it through sex with a male partner. Some women get it through injection drug use.
We don’t know as much about how transgender women usually get HIV. It could be through sexual behavior, sexual assault, or injection drug use. We do know that transgender women are often stigmatized and that they are more likely to experience violence and sexual assault than other people. They are also more likely to be homeless, living in poverty, and not have access to health care. All of these factors increase their risk of being exposed to HIV.
Why are some people more likely to get HIV than others?
Some people are more likely to get HIV than others, but not because they make worse decisions. Many factors affect HIV transmission, including where you live, whether you have access to health care, and who your partners are. Behavior is just one of these factors.
For example, anal sex is more likely to transmit HIV than vaginal sex. But getting HIV often has more to do with a person’s sexual network than whether they choose to have anal sex.
A sexual network is a group of people connected through sexual relationships. Many factors—including education, income, gender, geography, and access to health care—influence who is in that network. Two people with similar behaviors can have very different chances of being exposed to HIV depending on the communities and networks they are part of.
Men who have sex with men (MSM) have always been more affected by HIV. If you are a man who has sex with men, a transgender person who has sex with men, or if any of your partners are MSM, there may be more chance that you’re exposed to the virus because more people in your sexual network are likely to be living with HIV.
Similarly, HIV in the U.S. is much more common in the South. If you live in an area where HIV rates are high, it’s more likely that people in your sexual network are living with it. That means the likelihood that you are exposed to virus is higher than it is for someone who lives in a region with low HIV rates even if your behavior is the same.
Sadly, there is still a lot of stigma around HIV. Many people assume that getting HIV is the result of personal choices, but there is much more to it than that.
Does having another STI make it more likely that I’ll get HIV?
Yes. STIs like herpes and syphilis can cause open sores or irritated skin on or near your genitals. This makes it easier for HIV to get into your body. But there’s something else that happens as well. When you have an STI, your immune system sends CD4 cells to the site of the infection to help heal it. These are the cells that HIV attaches to.
Why is sharing needles a common way HIV is transmitted?
When someone uses needles or syringes to inject drugs, those needles get some blood on them. If you use the same needle, you are injecting another person’s blood right into your blood stream. This is a very easy way to get HIV and other illnesses like hepatitis B and hepatitis C. If you are going to inject drugs, always use a clean needle. Many states and communities have needle exchange programs to help ensure people don’t share needles. You can look for a needle exchange program near you here. You can also find help for substance abuse issues here.
How do I know if I have HIV?
The only way to know if you have HIV is to get tested. When you first get HIV, you might feel flu-like symptoms, but those will go away on their own. After that, HIV often has no symptoms.
HIV tests use a sample of blood or saliva. There are many places to get tested for HIV including local health departments, your doctor’s office, or a clinic. Some health departments and clinics offer free or low-cost testing.
Some places offer rapid tests that give you results in about half-an-hour. Other places send your sample to a lab and give you results in a few days or a week.
You can also test for HIV at home. The OraQuick test is FDA-approved. It uses a mouth swab and gives results in 20 minutes. There are a number of places you can get this kit for free, or you can buy it online or in drug stores.
There are other home collection kits available as well. For these you send a blood sample to a lab and get results in a few days or a week.
If you test positive for HIV, it’s important that you get treatment quickly. Treatment can keep you healthy and keep you from giving HIV to your partners.
What is AIDS?
AIDS is a diagnosis given to a person whose immune system has been damaged by HIV. AIDS stands for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome.
AIDS is not something you “catch.” Only people who have HIV can develop AIDS. A person living with HIV will get diagnosed with AIDS if their immune system gets very weak and they keep getting sick.
To determine if a person has AIDS, health care providers check that person’s CD4 levels and viral loads (how much virus is in their blood). Doctors also look at any recent illnesses.
Most people living with HIV in the United States do not get AIDS because we have access to treatments that can prevent HIV from destroying their immune systems. In other places where there is less access to these medications, people do still die from AIDS.
Is there a cure for HIV or AIDS?
No. Once a person has HIV the virus will always be in their blood. Medications can control the virus and keep people healthy. The medications protect your immune system and prevent you from getting AIDS. But people living with HIV have to keep taking the medication for their whole lives.
You may have heard that a few people were “cured” of HIV after they went through bone marrow transplants. This is true, but it is not something that most people with HIV can or should do.
These people got treatment because they had terminal cancer and would have died without the bone marrow transplant. Before the transplant, they had to have intensive chemotherapy to essentially destroy their immune system. This made it more likely that they would get other infections or illness that could be life-threatening.
Most people with HIV can live long and healthy lives as long as they take medication. It does not make sense to use such a dangerous treatment on someone who is otherwise healthy.
Can people with HIV live a long time?
Definitely. If people living with HIV get treatment, they can live long and healthy lives. In the U.S. people with HIV can expect to live as long as everyone else their age. However, HIV can increase the possibility of some health problems that come with aging. People over 50 with HIV are more likely to have diabetes, heart disease, and depression.
How can I prevent HIV?
There are lots of ways to prevent HIV.
- You can use condoms correctly every time you have vaginal or anal sex.
- If you think you might be exposed to HIV frequently, you may want to consider taking pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).
- You can get tested and know your status.
- If you are living with HIV, you can protect your partners by taking your medication. People on HIV treatment can get to the point where the virus is undetectable in their blood. If you get to undetectable, you cannot transmit HIV to a partner through sex.