Frequently Asked Questions

Questions

What is HIV?
How is HIV transmitted?
What is AIDS?
What is the difference between a person infected with HIV and one who has AIDS?
How effective are condoms against HIV?
How do I know I have HIV?

For more information on HIV testing click here

Additional factual and statistical information can be found here

What is HIV?

HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. The name of the virus starts with Human because it only lives in people. This means you can’t get HIV from insects or animals such as mosquitoes or cats. HIV can only be transmitted from one person who is infected with HIV to another. You cannot look and tell who is infected with HIV. The only way to know your HIV status is by getting a HIV test.

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How is HIV transmitted?

HIV transmission can occur when blood, semen (cum), pre-seminal fluid (pre-cum), vaginal fluid, or breast milk from an infected person enters the body of an uninfected person. HIV can enter the body through a vein (e.g., injection drug use), the lining of the anus or rectum, the lining of the vagina and/or cervix, the opening to the penis, the mouth, other mucous membranes (e.g., eyes or inside of the nose), or cuts and sores. Intact, healthy skin is an excellent barrier against HIV and other viruses and bacteria.

These are the most common ways that HIV is transmitted from one person to another:

- by having sex intercourse (anal, vaginal, or oral) with an HIV-infected person;

- by sharing needles or injection equipment with an injection drug user who is infected with HIV; or

- from HIV-infected women to their babies before or during birth, or through breast-feeding after birth.

HIV also can be transmitted through receipt of infected blood or blood clotting factors. However, since 1985, all donated blood in the United States has been tested for HIV. Therefore, the risk of infection through transfusion of blood or blood products is extremely low. The U.S. blood supply is considered to be among the safest in the world.

HIV is not passed through everyday casual contact (ie. Shaking hands, hugs, talking, etc).

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What is AIDS?

AIDS stands for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome.

Acquired – means that the disease is not hereditary but develops after birth from contact with a disease causing agent (in this case, HIV).
Immunodeficiency – means that the disease is characterized by a weakening of the immune system.
Syndrome – refers to a group of symptoms that collectively indicate or characterize a disease. In the case of AIDS this can include the development of certain infections and/or cancers, as well as a decrease in the number of certain cells in a person’s immune system.
A diagnosis of AIDS is made by a physician using specific clinical or laboratory standards. All persons with AIDS are infected with HIV, but not all persons with HIV infection have AIDS. AIDS is a word used to describe the end stage of this infection.

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What is the difference between a person infected with HIV and one who has AIDS?

A person living with HIV (medically known as an HIV positive person) is one who has HIV in his/her body. Such a person, remains infected and is presumed infective for the rest of his/her life. However, s/he will appear to be healthy and asymptomatic for many years. An asymptomatic (meaning, showing no symptoms) HIV infected person does not have Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). But when an HIV positive person’s T lymphocytes (or white cell which are responsible for the immunity) count falls to 200 or less, s/he may start developing symptoms for eg. cough, fever, diarrhea, skin lesions, etc. They are due to opportunistic infections (so called because they develop when the body’s immunity becomes deficient) like TB, Thrush, Pneumonia, Cryptococcal meningitis, etc. All persons with AIDS are infected with HIV, but not all persons with HIV infection have AIDS. AIDS is the end stage of this infection.

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How effective are condoms against HIV?

Latex condoms, when used consistently and correctly, are highly effective in reducing the  sexual transmission of HIV. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS.

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How do I know I have HIV?

There are a lot of places you can go to get an HIV test. There are also different kinds of tests. You can come to HARC for an oral test that is free and anonymous. This test will tell you if you have HIV by looking for HIV anti-bodies (they fight off HIV in your body).

For more information on HIV testing click here

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Additional factual and statistical information can be found here

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