I Am HIV Positive and Don't Want to Infect Others. What Should I Do?
Understanding how HIV is transmitted is an important step in prevention.
Talk with your doctor about how HIV is transmitted and what you can
do to prevent infecting others. Each time you visit your doctor, discuss
your high-risk behaviors,
such as unprotected sex and needle sharing.
You may feel reluctant to talk with your doctor about your high-risk behaviors. It can be difficult to change behaviors, even when you want to. However, it is important to be honest with your doctor about risky activities. You and your doctor can then discuss ways to minimize the risk of infecting others.
If you are a woman, you and your doctor should discuss ways to prevent pregnancy.
If you want to become pregnant, you and your doctor can talk about
what you should do to prevent transmitting HIV to your baby.
How Can I Prevent Infecting Someone Else?
Successful HIV treatment can lower your viral load, which may reduce the risk of HIV transmission. But there are other factors that influence sexual transmission of HIV, such as: presence of other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) , genital irritation, menstruation, lack of circumcision in men, taking birth control pills, hormone imbalances and vitamin and mineral deficiencies.
Always use prevention strategies,
such as condoms and safer sex practices. If you inject drugs,
don't share your works with anyone else. Talk with your doctor if
you have trouble sticking to these prevention strategies. You and
your doctor can then find ways to make your high-risk behaviors
safer.
Should I Tell My Partners That I Am HIV Infected?
Yes. It is very important that you tell your sexual partners
and people with whom you have shared injected drugs that they may
have been exposed to HIV and should be tested. You and your doctor
can discuss the best way to notify your partners. Some health departments
and HIV clinics have anonymous partner notification systems -- your
partners are told that they have been exposed, but are not told who
reported their names or when the reported exposures occurred.
I Am Taking Anti-HIV Medications and My Viral Load Is Undetectable. Am I Cured? Can I Infect Others?
An undetectable viral load does not mean that you are cured. It
means that the amount of HIV virus in your blood is so low that the
viral load tests cannot detect it. You are still infected
with HIV and can infect others. You should continue to use
prevention strategies and should see your doctor regularly.
What If Both People Are Already Infected?
Some people who are HIV-infected don't see the need to follow safer sex guidelines
when they are sexual with other infected people. However, it still
makes sense to "play safe." If you don't, you could be exposed to
other sexually transmitted infections
such as herpes or syphilis. If you already have HIV, these diseases
can be more serious.
Also, you might get "re-infected" with a different strain
of HIV. This new version of HIV might not be controlled
by the medications you are taking. It might also be resistant to
other HIV antiviral drugs. There is no way of knowing how risky
it is for two HIV-positive people to have unsafe sex. Following
the guidelines for safer sex will reduce the risk.
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