Doctors can now prevent HIV from taking hold in your body if the person acts quickly. People who may have been infected can take anti-HIV drugs to protect themselves. This is called PEP. But you must start the process within 72 hours of when you were exposed, the medicines can have unpleasant side effects. Although there is a little progress in finding the cure to the infection. There are therapies developed in the field of medical science that can decelerate the HIV infection. ART (Antiretroviral therapy) is a revolutionary HIV treatment that has been developed in the past few decades. So, what is ART? ART does not cure HIV. It only attacks the virus in different ways. It stops it from reproducing itself and spreading further. HIV infection is measured by the viral load, that is, the amount of the virus which is present in the patient’s bloodstream. The goal of treatment is to get the viral reproduction so low that tests can’t even detect the virus anymore. HIV would still be present in the body, but there’s not enough of it to cause symptoms, this, as long as you keep taking your medication. An important point to remember is that the infected person can still pass HIV to someone else while on medication.

Symptoms of HIV are not easily detected and may not show themselves for a long time. By the time they show themselves the problem becomes grave. So it is always better to perform an HIV test. People who have unprotected sex from time to time, wand with new partners or with those whom they don’t know, should always get themselves tested. Or if you had recently shared a syringe with someone else, then you must get yourself tested for safety reasons. Where should you go for a diagnosis? Some people feel awkward about asking for an HIV test. But you don’t have to be as it is like any other ailment. There are many places, which do offer HIV diagnosis. Some of them are sexual health clinics, GP surgeries, private clinics, contraception clinics and antenatal clinics. What are the various types of HIV tests? HIV tests are primarily of four different types that have been listed below. Full blood test: Here a blood test is done in which your blood is taken and then a laboratory examination is done to give you the results. The results are given almost after a day or two. Point of care test: In the point of care test, only a little amount of saliva is taken from your mouth.

HIV is passed from a person who is already infected to a person who is not. The infection can spread regardless of the fact that symptoms have started showing or not. The HIV virus always needs a host to survive. It cannot survive in any external medium and always gets transferred through body fluids. The ways in which HIV spreads are listed below. Sexual contact The first and foremost way in which HIV spreads is through sexual contact. Studies show that 95% of the HIV-affected people have got it through sexual contact. The main ways are through unprotected anal and vaginal intercourse. HIV can also spread through oral sex when it is unprotected, but that has lesser risk. However, HIV can spread through oral sex equally in certain conditions such as if a person who has ulcers in the mouth or has bleeding gums gives oral sex or the person receiving it has been recently affected by HIV. The type of sexual intercourse also determines how much you are prone to catch the disease. If you are having oral sex with a man, you can have high risk towards HIV, if he ejaculates in your mouth. If you are having oral sex with a woman, you can have high risk towards HIV, if she is on her period.

The human immunodeficiency virus or HIV can cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or AIDS. Once the HIV enters the body, it is there for life. But with the advancement in AIDS treatment methods, it is now possible to live longer and lead a better quality life than ever was possible with HIV. Now, there are many different kinds of drugs available to control the HIV infection. Many countries also have free STD testing centers to help people with HIV and other infections. Also, because people now have access to proper information about HIV, it has become easier for people to seek treatment for this disease. There are several steps you can take to live a healthy and positive life even after getting HIV and AIDS. The first step to take when the early signs of HIV begin to appear is to take a test to confirm the infection. You can consult a doctor or go to a free STD testing center in your area.It is important to not rely only on the telltale signs of HIV. Early HIV symptoms resemble those of other viral infections. So, if you suspect you might have been exposed to HIV, confirm it through a test.

HIV, or the human immunodeficiency virus, is an irreversible disease that takes over the T cells of the body and permanently attacks an individual’s immune system, thus weakening it. A person infected with this virus is HIV positive for life. The HIV virus invades healthy cells and mercilessly multiplies itself in its place. These infected cells, instead of doing their responsibility in protecting the body against infections, unfortunately, encounter a quick death, thus reducing the strength of the immune system and making it a challenge for the body to stay fit. HIV is a highly contagious infection that can be transmitted sexually, prenatally or through blood transfusions. HIV can infect through bodily fluids like the blood, breast milk, vaginal fluids, semen, pre-seminal fluid, and rectal fluids from an infected person to another via contact with a mucous membrane or damaged tissues. Otherwise, HIV infected blood could be injected into a person’s bloodstream through needles or syringes. If HIV is not diagnosed and treated on time, it could lead to AIDS, the final stage of this infection. Normally, any time between two to eight weeks after being infected, the early signs of HIV infection like fatigue, muscle and joint pain, headache, sore throat, swollen lymph nodes, fever, rash, diarrhea, fungal infection of the mouth, ulcers on the genitals, and night sweats, appear.