HIVHERO.ORG
HERONEWS.ORG
This website is made possible by a generous grant from
Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS
Prevention
The most common ways of transmitting HIV are through sexual activities and the use of needles or syringes. Engaging in unprotected anal or vaginal sex with an HIV-positive partner is considered a risky sexual behavior.
● HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is a virus that attacks the body’s immune system. Over time, HIV can destroy CD4 cells (or T cells), which help the body fight off infections and diseases.
● Only certain body fluids from a person who has HIV can transmit HIV: blood, semen, pre-seminal fluid, rectal fluids, vaginal fluids and breast milk. It CANNOT be transmitted through air or water, saliva, insects, or sharing food and drink.
● People with another sexually transmitted disease (STD) are at increased risk of getting or transmitting HIV. It can also be transmitted while injecting drugs, if users share needles with someone who has HIV. The virus can live in a used needle up to 42 days.
Today, more tools than ever are available to prevent HIV. You can use strategies such as abstinence (not having sex), never sharing needles, and using condoms the right way every time you have sex.
● You may also be able to take advantage of HIV prevention medicines such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Although condoms are the only method of preventing you from other STDs, PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) can reduce your chance of getting HIV from sex or injection drug use. When taken as prescribed, PrEP is highly effective for preventing HIV.
Check out more details here.
● PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) means taking medicine to prevent HIV after a possible exposure. PEP should be used only in emergency situations and must be started within 72 hours after a recent possible exposure to HIV. Check out the link below for details. Check out more details here.