How can I prevent getting or transmitting HIV?
What is HIV treatment? HIV treatment involves taking medicine that reduces the amount of HIV in your body. HIV medicine is called antiretroviral therapy (ART). There is no effective cure for HIV. But with proper medical care, you can control HIV. Most people can get the virus under control within six months.
How do you care for someone with HIV?
Routine care and treatment is the best way to keep people with HIV (PWH) healthy. PWH who take medication as prescribed can achieve and maintain an undetectable viral load (or viral suppression), resulting in effectively no risk of transmitting HIV to their sexual partners. Clinician Treatment, Care and Prevention Materials
What is the latest treatment for HIV?
Mar 29, 2019 · HIV treatment involves taking medicines that slow the progression of the virus in your body. HIV is a type of virus called a retrovirus, and the combination of drugs used to treat it is called antiretroviral therapy (ART). ART is recommended for all people living with HIV, regardless of how long they’ve had the virus or how healthy they are.
How to optimize HIV treatment?
Mar 25, 2022 · Receiving an HIV-positive diagnosis will almost invariably be a life-changing event. Even so, make every effort not to presume the worst. HIV is a very different disease than it was even 10 years ago, and many of the concerns—from side effects to the cost of treatment—are nowhere near as impactful as they used to be.
What is the best treatment for HIV?
The most effective treatment for HIV is antiretroviral therapy (ART). This is a combination of several medicines that aims to control the amount of virus in your body.
Can HIV be cured at early stage?
Though there is no cure for HIV, early diagnosis can aid in timely initiation of antiretroviral therapy that can stop the virus from damaging the immune system. An HIV patient who has received timely treatment can live a normal and long life without progressing to late stage HIV.Mar 22, 2020
Can HIV positive can be cured?
Currently, there's no cure for HIV / AIDS . Once you have the infection, your body can't get rid of it. However, there are many medications that can control HIV and prevent complications. These medications are called antiretroviral therapy (ART).Mar 26, 2022
How can HIV be removed from the body?
Whilst a person living with HIV can suppress the virus with antiretrovirals, there is no cure. A cure for HIV would be the total eradication of the virus from the body.
What is the difference between hiv1 and hiv2?
Two HIV virus types exist: HIV-1 is pandemic and aggressive, whereas HIV-2 is confined mainly to West Africa and less pathogenic. Despite the fact that it has been almost 40 years since the discovery of AIDS, there is still no cure or vaccine against HIV.Sep 5, 2019
Is it possible to test negative while your partner is positive?
A: It is quite common for one partner to test positive and the other negative, even if they have been having sex without condoms. Mostly this is explained by luck and the role of other risk factors.Jun 1, 2021
What is the name of the new ARV pill?
The medication that is being tested this way is called lenacapavir. It works in a different way from existing anti-HIV drugs. It interferes with part of the HIV lifecycle – the assembly and disassembly of the HIV capsid, which is the 'container' for HIV's genetic material.Jul 26, 2021
What is HIV treatment?
HIV treatment involves taking medicine that reduces the amount of HIV in your body. HIV medicine is called antiretroviral therapy (ART). There is n...
When should I start treatment?
Start Treatment As Soon As Possible After Diagnosis HIV medicine is recommended for all people with HIV, regardless of how long they’ve had the vir...
What if I delay treatment?
HIV will continue to harm your immune system. This will put you at higher risk for developing AIDS. Learn more about AIDS and opportunistic infecti...
What are the benefits of taking my HIV medicine every day as prescribed?
Treatment Reduces the Amount of HIV in the Blood The amount of HIV in the blood is called viral load. Taking your HIV medicine as prescribed will h...
Does HIV medicine cause side effects?
HIV medicine can cause side effects in some people. However, not everyone experiences side effects. The most common side effects are Nausea and vom...
Will HIV treatment interfere with my hormone therapy?
There are no known drug interactions between HIV medicine and hormone therapy. Talk to your health care provider if you are worried about taking HI...
What if my treatment is not working?
Your health care provider may change your prescription. A change is not unusual because the same treatment does not affect everyone in the same way.
Sticking to my treatment plan is hard. How can I deal with the challenges?
Tell your health care provider right away if you’re having trouble sticking to your plan. Together you can identify the reasons you’re skipping med...
What is the treatment for HIV?
However, there are many medications that can control HIV and prevent complications. These medications are called antiretroviral therapy (ART). Everyone diagnosed with HIV should be started on ART, regardless of their stage of infection or complications.
What to do if you think you have HIV?
If you think you might have HIV infection, you're likely to start by seeing your family doctor. You may be referred to an infectious disease specialist — who additionally specializes in treating HIV / AIDS.
What test can help determine if you have HIV?
If you receive a diagnosis of HIV / AIDS, several tests can help your doctor determine the stage of your disease and the best treatment, including: CD4 T cell count. CD4 T cells are white blood cells that are specifically targeted and destroyed by HIV. Even if you have no symptoms, HIV infection progresses to AIDS when your CD4 T cell count dips ...
What is HIV RNA?
Viral load (HIV RNA). This test measures the amount of virus in your blood. After starting HIV treatment the goal is to have an undetectable viral load. This significantly reduces your chances of opportunistic infection and other HIV -related complications.
How long does it take to get tested for HIV?
Most rapid HIV tests, including self-tests done at home, are antibody tests. Antibody tests can take three to 12 weeks after you're exposed to become positive. Nucleic acid tests (NATs). These tests look for the actual virus in your blood (viral load). They also involve blood drawn from a vein.
What are some examples of anti-HIV drugs?
Examples include efavirenz (Sustiva), rilpivirine (Edurant) and doravirine (Pifeltro).
How to diagnose HIV?
Diagnosis. HIV can be diagnosed through blood or saliva testing. Available tests include: Antigen/antibody tests. These tests usually involve drawing blood from a vein. Antigens are substances on the HIV virus itself and are usually detectable — a positive test — in the blood within a few weeks after exposure to HIV.
What is the treatment for HIV?
HIV treatment involves taking medicines that slow the progression of the virus in your body. HIV is a type of virus called a retrovirus, and the combination of drugs used to treat it is called antiretroviral therapy (ART). ART is recommended for all people living with HIV, regardless of how long they’ve had the virus or how healthy they are.
Why do you prescribe HIV?
Your health care provider may prescribe medicines to prevent certain infections. HIV treatment is most likely to be successful when you know what to expect and are committed to taking your medicines exactly as prescribed.
What is drug resistance in HIV?
What Is HIV Drug Resistance? Drug resistance can be a cause of treatment failure for people living with HIV. As HIV multiplies in the body, it sometimes mutates (changes form) and produces variations of itself. Variations of HIV that develop while a person is taking ART can lead to drug-resistant strains of HIV.
How long do HIV side effects last?
Some side effects can occur once you start a medicine and may only last a few days or weeks.
How soon can you start ART for HIV?
Treatment guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommend that a person living with HIV begin ART as soon as possible after diagnosis. Starting ART slows the progression of HIV and can keep you healthy for many years.
Is HIV treatment a prevention?
There is also a major prevention benefit. People living with HIV who take HIV medication daily as prescribed and get and keep an undetectable viral load have effectively no risk of sexually transmitting HIV to their HIV-negative partners. This is called treatment as prevention.
Can HIV be drug resistant?
A person can initially be infected with drug-resistant HIV or develop drug-resistant HIV after starting HIV medicines. Drug-resistant HIV also can spread from person to person. Drug-resistance testing identifies which, if any, HIV medicines won’t be effective against your specific strain of HIV.
What does it mean to be HIV positive?
Newer combination tests test for both HIV antigens and antibodies. An HIV-positive diagnosis means that you have been infected. And while you cannot be cured of the infection, you can receive treatment to ensure that the virus cannot damage your immune system and, in turn, make you vulnerable to a wide range of opportunistic infections . ...
How to prevent HIV from reproducing in blood?
The aim of therapy is to prevent HIV from reproducing in your blood, which the drugs accomplish by interfering with the virus' replication cycle. By taking your drugs every day as prescribed, you will be able to suppress the virus to "undetectable" levels—meaning that the virus cannot be detected in viral load tests.
How to check for HIV?
Once you meet, you will likely be given tests to determine the status of your immune system and the level of viral activity in your body: 1 The first test will be the CD4 count, which literally counts the number of so-called CD4 immune cells in a sample of blood. The more CD4 cells, the stronger the immune response. 2 The second test is the HIV viral load, which tell us how may HIV particles are in a sample of blood. The higher the viral load, the more HIV there is in your blood.
What is post diagnosis HIV?
An HIV-post diagnosis means that you have been given an HIV test, either in the form of a blood or saliva test, and that it has confirmed the presence of HIV in your body. The tests detect either HIV antibodies (which the body produces in the presence of HIV) or HIV antigens (proteins on the surface of the virus).
What is the first test for HIV?
The first test will be the CD4 count, which literally counts the number of so-called CD4 immune cells in a sample of blood. The more CD4 cells, the stronger the immune response. The second test is the HIV viral load, which tell us how may HIV particles are in a sample of blood. The higher the viral load, the more HIV there is in your blood.
Can you reveal your HIV diagnosis to family?
You may not be feeling comfortable to reveal your diagnosis to family or loved ones, but you can take time to speak with a counselor at the testing site, get referrals to local community health organizations, or referrals to doctors in your area who specialize in HIV.
Does HIV mean AIDS?
An HIV-positive diagnosis does not mean you have AIDS. AIDS is simply a stage in the disease where the body's immune system has collapsed and the risk of illness is high. This most often happens when the disease is untreated, resulting in a greater risk of AIDS-defining illnesses .
How to treat HIV?
The most effective treatment for HIV is antiretroviral therapy (ART). This is a combination of several medicines that aims to control the amount of virus in your body. Antiretroviral medicines slow the rate at which the virus grows. Taking these medicines can reduce the amount of virus in your body and help you stay healthy.
Why is it important to take a medicine after HIV treatment?
Taking these medicines can reduce the amount of virus in your body and help you stay healthy. After you start treatment, it's important to take your medicines exactly as your doctor tells you. When treatment doesn't work, it is often because HIV has become resistant to the medicine.
Why is HIV treatment important?
Treatment is especially important for pregnant women, people who have other infections (such as tuberculosis or hepatitis), and people who have symptoms of AIDS. Research suggests that treatment of early HIV with antiretroviral medicines has long-term benefits, such as a stronger immune system.
What happens if you get HIV late?
If HIV progresses to a late stage, treatment will be started or continued to keep your immune system as healthy as possible. If you get any diseases that point to AIDS, such as Pneumocystis pneumonia or Kaposi's sarcoma, your doctor will treat them.
How to keep your immune system strong?
Keep your immune system strong by eating right, quitting smoking, and learning how to avoid infection. Monitor your CD4+ (white blood cells) counts to check the effect of the virus on your immune system. See a counselor to help you handle the strong emotions and stress that can follow an HIV diagnosis.
Why do people get medicine for HIV?
Health care workers who are at risk for HIV because of an accidental stick with a needle or other exposure to body fluids should get medicine to prevent infection. Also, medicine may prevent HIV infection in a person who has been raped or was accidentally exposed to the body fluids of a person who may have HIV.
How to get rid of a foodborne infection?
Use condoms whenever you have sex. Learn how to handle food safely so you don't get a food-borne infection. Eat a healthy diet, get regular exercise, don't smoke, and don't use illegal drugs.
What to do if you have HIV?
If you’ve been diagnosed with HIV, locate your HIV care service, your state’s HIV hotline, an HIV health provider, and an HIV specialist. The CDC offers a large list of resources for housing, mental health care, traveling, and combating the stigma surrounding HIV.
What does it mean to be HIV positive?
Being HIV-positive means someone has signs of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in their bodies, discovered through an HIV test. There are approximately 1.2 million people living with HIV in the United States today, and 14% of them (one in seven) don't know it. 1 . An initial HIV-positive test result is ...
What is the HIV service?
The HIV Services Locator, run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, can help someone find an HIV testing site near them. Besides testing for HIV antibodies and antigens, healthcare providers will also look at how a person's immune system is functioning and examine the level of HIV in the body.
What is the antigen for HIV?
An HIV antigen called p24 is produced even before antibodies develop. The presence of antibodies or antigens in a blood, saliva, or urine sample detected through an HIV test indicates that HIV has entered the bloodstream and that someone is HIV-positive. The CDC primarily recommends antibody and antigen combination tests since they can check ...
What happens if you leave HIV untreated?
If an HIV infection is left untreated, it will progress to stage 3, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), where the body's immune system is badly damaged and becomes vulnerable to other infections as well. A doctor will diagnose whether someone has AIDS through CD4 cell testing.
How does ART help with HIV?
Antiretroviral therapy can reduce the viral load of a person with HIV and result in viral suppression, which is when a person has less than 200 copies of HIV per milliliter of blood. 4 This can help protect the immune system, which the virus attacks, and make it less likely for the infected individual to become sick.
How long does it take for HIV to show up in blood test?
It usually takes place within a few weeks of infection. 3 These antibodies will stick around and remain detectable for many years. As a result, someone who is living with HIV will continue to test positive on HIV tests even if their viral load (the amount of HIV in the blood) is undetectable.
Why is it important to take HIV medication?
Taking HIV Medication to Stay Healthy and Prevent Transmission. If you have HIV, it is important to start treatment with HIV medication (called antiretroviral therapy or ART) as soon as possible after your diagnosis. If taken every day, exactly as prescribed, HIV medication can reduce the amount of HIV in your blood (also called the viral load) ...
How long does it take for HIV to be undetectable?
Almost everyone who takes HIV medication daily as prescribed can achieve an undetectable viral load, usually within 6 months after starting treatment. There are important health benefits to getting the viral load as low as possible. People living with HIV who know their status, take HIV medication daily as prescribed, ...
Why is it called viral suppression?
It is called viral suppression because HIV medication prevents the virus from growing in your body and keeps the virus very low or “suppressed.”. Viral suppression helps keep you healthy and prevents illness.
What is it called when your viral load is low?
If your viral load is so low that it doesn’t show up in a standard lab test, this is called having an undetectable viral load . People living with HIV can get and keep an undetectable viral load by taking HIV medication every day, exactly as prescribed.
Can HIV go back up?
So, you need to keep taking your HIV medication daily as prescribed. When your viral load stays undetectable, you have effectively no risk of transmitting HIV to an HIV-negative partner through sex. If you stop taking HIV medication, your viral load will quickly go back up.
Can HIV be transmitted to HIV-negative people?
People living with HIV who take HIV medication daily as prescribed and get and keep an undetectable viral load have effectively no risk of sexually transmitting HIV to their HIV-negative partners.
Does TasP work for HIV?
People living with HIV who take HIV medication daily as prescribed and get and keep an undetectable viral load have effectively no risk of sexually transmitting HIV to their HIV-negative partners. TasP works when a person living with HIV takes HIV medication exactly as prescribed and has regular follow-up care, ...
How to be HIV positive?
Learn What It Means to Be HIV-Positive 1 Read about HIV in other sections of this website. 2 Seek information from government or nonprofit educational organizations with a focus on HIV and AIDS. 3 Learn about experimental and standard HIV treatments, as well as their side effects. 4 Talk with others who are HIV-positive.
How to live with HIV?
But if you take your HIV medicines as prescribed, it can be as healthy, active, and fulfilling as before. Make it a priority to take care of your body and mind. Get help if you feel depressed, and stay connected to people in your life you love and who support you.
Can HIV drugs slow the progression of AIDS?
With this and other information, your doctor can work with you to come up with the best treatment plan, including when and how to begin treatment. HIV drugs can often slow or prevent the progression of HIV to AIDS. Left untreated, though, HIV can lead to serious illness and death.
Do you have to tell everyone about HIV?
Tell Certain People. You don’t have to share your HIV diagnosis with everyone. But some people may have a legal right to know. You may want to tell others voluntarily. Sexual partners. New York, Georgia, Ohio, and 16 other states require you to disclose your HIV before you have sex with someone.
Can you open up about HIV?
But opening up about your HIV may bring you emotional and other support , as well as help during your treatment or medical emergencies. Employers. Your boss and company do not have a right to know about your HIV status unless there is a valid concern about accidental exposure to blood and other safety issues.
Does being HIV positive mean you have AIDS?
But being HIV-positive does not necessarily mean that you have AIDS. New treatments have turned being HIV-positive into a chronic condition for many people. With a healthy lifestyle and the right medical care, many HIV-positive people are living long, productive lives. Still, learning that you are HIV-positive may leave you reeling.
Do you have to disclose HIV to a doctor?
Twelve states require you to disclose your HIV to anyone who shares your needle to inject drugs. Health care professionals. Other than your HIV doctor, you almost never are required to tell your other doctors, dentist, nurse, or other health specialists.
Diagnosis
Treatment
- Currently, there's no cure for HIV/AIDS. Once you have the infection, your body can't get rid of it. However, there are many medications that can control HIV and prevent complications. These medications are called antiretroviral therapy (ART). Everyone diagnosed with HIV should be started on ART, regardless of their stage of infection or complicati...
Clinical Trials
- Explore Mayo Clinic studiestesting new treatments, interventions and tests as a means to prevent, detect, treat or manage this condition.
Lifestyle and Home Remedies
- Along with receiving medical treatment, it's essential to take an active role in your own care. The following suggestions may help you stay healthy longer: 1. Eat healthy foods.Make sure you get enough nourishment. Fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein help keep you strong, give you more energy and support your immune system. 2. Avoid raw meat, eggs and mo…
Alternative Medicine
- People who are infected with HIV sometimes try dietary supplements that claim to boost the immune system or counteract side effects of anti-HIVdrugs. However, there is no scientific evidence that any nutritional supplement improves immunity, and many may interfere with other medications you're taking. Always check with your doctor before taking any supplements or alter…
Coping and Support
- Receiving a diagnosis of any life-threatening illness is devastating. The emotional, social and financial consequences of HIV/AIDScan make coping with this illness especially difficult — not only for you but also for those closest to you. But today, there are many services and resources available to people with HIV. Most HIV/AIDSclinics have social workers, counselors or nurses wh…
Preparing For Your Appointment
- If you think you might have HIV infection, you're likely to start by seeing your family doctor. You may be referred to an infectious disease specialist — who additionally specializes in treating HIV/AIDS.