National HIV Testing Day - June 27, 2022
Today we come together to mark a very important day – National HIV Testing Day – a day that encourages Americans to know their HIV status and get involved in the fight against HIV. During these challenging times when our nation is still faced with COVID-19, it is more important than ever to protect our health and prevent new infections from occurring.
The theme for this year is “HIV Testing is Self-care”. The World Health Organization defines self-care as “the ability of individuals, families, and communities to promote health, prevent disease, maintain health, and to cope with illness and disability with or without the support of a healthcare provider.” The topic of self-care has been particularly prominent during the COVID-19 pandemic as the need for individual and community actions to protect and promote physical and mental health has been so critical. HIV testing is an act of self-care, and knowledge of status is the gateway to engaging in prevention or treatment services that enable individuals, regardless of their status, to live a long and healthy life.
What is HIV?
HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. It damages your immune system, making it easier for you to get sick. HIV is spread during sex, but condoms can help protect you.
HIV stands for “human immunodeficiency virus.” It’s a virus that can only infect humans and leads to the weakening of the immune system. The immune system is the body’s system for fighting disease. When it’s compromised or weakened, a person becomes vulnerable to all kinds of bacteria, viruses, or other agents that cause disease.
HIV is an infection that can lead to AIDS.
When HIV is left untreated, it can wreak havoc on a person’s immune system. As this happens, the body is less able to fight off infections. AIDS stands for “Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome,” which means the immune system has been made less effective by HIV. When this happens, a person is considered to have an acquired immune deficiency or AIDS.
It’s important to note that you cannot have AIDS without being infected with HIV. But people can, and do, live long lives (on treatment) with HIV and never develop AIDS.
Once you have HIV, the virus stays in your body for life. There’s no cure for HIV, but medicines can help you stay healthy. HIV medicine lowers or even stops your chances of spreading the virus to other people. When your viral load is “undetectable” or you can no longer detect the virus in your body, you can’t pass HIV to your partner(s).
That’s why treatment (and getting tested) is so necessary. With the proper care and medication, people with HIV can live long and healthy lives. Find a provider near you today.
How Does HIV Spread?
HIV is carried in semen (cum), vaginal fluids, anal mucus, blood, and breast milk. Most people who get HIV get it through anal or vaginal sex or by sharing needles or syringes. You can get HIV from:
- Having vaginal or anal sex
- Sharing needles or syringes for shooting drugs, piercings, tattoos, etc.
- Getting stuck with a needle that has HIV-infected blood on it
- Getting HIV-infected blood, semen (cum), or vaginal fluids into open cuts or sores on your body
There are many myths about the way that HIV is spread. HIV is not transmitted through saliva (spit) or sweat. HIV is also not spread through hugging, holding hands, coughing, or sneezing. And you can’t get HIV from a toilet seat. If you don’t know if you’ve been exposed to HIV, the best way to feel confident in your status is by getting an HIV test.
There are also many ways to prevent the spread of HIV. Using condoms and/or dental dams every time you have sex and not sharing needles can help protect you and your partners from HIV. If you don’t have HIV, there’s also a daily medicine called PrEP that can protect you from HIV.
HIV destroys cells in your immune system called CD4 cells or T cells. Without CD4 cells, your body has a hard time fighting off diseases. This makes you more likely to get really sick from infections that usually wouldn’t hurt you. Over time, the damage HIV does to your immune system leads to AIDS.
You have AIDS when you get rare infections (called opportunistic infections) or types of cancer, or if you’ve lost a certain number of CD4 cells. Treatment can delay or even prevent you from ever developing AIDS.
What are the Symptoms of HIV and AIDS?
It can be years before symptoms of HIV make you feel sick, so many people may not know that they have it. That’s why routine HIV testing is so important.
At first, you might feel achy, feverish, or like you have the flu. These symptoms are your body’s first reaction to the HIV infection. Common early symptoms include chills, fatigue, fever, mouth sores, muscle aches, night sweats, rash, sore throat, and swollen lymph nodes.
During this time, there is a lot of the virus in your system, thus it is more probable to spread HIV to other people. The symptoms only last for a few weeks, and then you usually don’t have symptoms again for years. But HIV can be spread to other people – whether or not you have symptoms or feel sick.
These symptoms are the same in both men and women, but a few more symptoms may present in women. Common HIV symptoms in women include:
- Changes in Menstrual Cycle (heavier or lighter periods or bad PMS)
- Lower Belly Pain due to Pelvic Inflammatory Disease
- Pain During Sex
- Vaginal Yeast Infections
While any one of these symptoms can be the first sign of HIV infection, they can also be signals of other health issues. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, contact your healthcare provider and make sure to get an HIV test so that you can get the care you need.
Getting Tested for HIV
Getting an HIV test is the only way to know if you have HIV. Regular testing is the best way to know your status and prevent the spread of HIV. Find a provider near you today.
The only way to know for sure if you have HIV is to get tested. You can’t tell if you have HIV just by the way you feel because most people who get HIV don’t have any symptoms for years. About 1 in 7 people in the U.S. who have HIV don’t know they have it. Knowing your HIV status can keep you and your partners healthy.
Routine testing is a good part of your overall sexual health. Getting an HIV test is also a good idea if you’ve had unprotected sex or your partner tests positive for HIV. You should also get tested if you’ve shared needles with anybody (for shooting drugs, piercings, or tattoos). If you’re pregnant, get tested for HIV at your first prenatal visit.
Luckily, HIV testing is pretty easy and painless. The best part about getting tested for HIV? Once you get it over with, it can really put your mind at ease. And if you DO have HIV, it’s best to find out right away so you can take medicines to help you stay healthy and lower your chances of spreading HIV to others.
What HIV tests are the most accurate?
HIV tests are all very accurate at detecting HIV, but every HIV test has a window period. The window period is the time between exposure to HIV and when a test can detect HIV. AHF offers three types of HIV tests:
- Rapid HIV Test: A rapid HIV test is a fingerstick blood test that gives results in less than a minute. Rapid HIV tests are sometimes called antibody tests because it looks for antibodies in your blood. Antibodies are produced by your immune system when you’re exposed to HIV. The window period for a rapid test is generally 90 days but can vary from person to person.
- Combination HIV Test: A combination HIV test is a blood test that gives results in less than a week. A combination test is sometimes called a fourth-generation test. It looks for both HIV antibodies and antigens. Antigens are foreign substances that cause your immune system to activate. An HIV antigen called p24 and is produced even before antibodies develop. The window period for a laboratory test is generally 45 days after infection but can also vary between individuals.
- Nucleic Acid Test (NAT): A nucleic acid test is a blood test that gives results in less than a week. A nucleic acid test is sometimes called a viral load test. This test is used to confirm an HIV infection. It is not routinely used unless an individual has a positive rapid HIV test or positive combination HIV test.
Sources:
https://hivcare.org/hiv-basics/
https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/s0203-hiv-aids-awareness-day.html