Being tested is the only way to confirm if you have HIV. If you think you have been exposed to HIV, you should be tested. You’re at the most significant risk for acquiring HIV if you:

• Share drug needles or syringes

• Have anal sex without a condom, especially receptive anal intercourse

• Have sex with an infected person without using a condom

• Have vaginal or anal sexual contact without using a condom with someone whose HIV status is unknown, especially those who are at high risk for acquiring HIV

• Have a sexually transmitted disease such as syphilis, genital herpes, chlamydial infection, gonorrhea and bacterial vaginosis, which appear to increase susceptibility to HIV infection during sex with infected partners

There is currently no cure for HIV. Once a person is diagnosed with HIV, they have it for life. However, with proper treatment and medical care, HIV can be controlled. People diagnosed with HIV can live long, healthy lives.

Yes. There are two kinds:

• Rapid Self-Test is done entirely at home or in a private location and can produce results within 20 minutes. You can buy a rapid self-test kitExit Disclaimer at a pharmacy or online. The only rapid self-test currently available in the US is an oral fluid test.

• Mail-In Self-Test includes a specimen collection kit that contains supplies to collect dried blood from a fingerstick at home. The sample is then sent to a lab for testing and the results are provided by a healthcare provider.

You can receive a mail-in, at-home test from Mid-Delta Health Systems, by clicking here!

Today, more tools than ever are available to prevent HIV.

• Choose sex that is less risky than anal or vaginal sex. There is little to no risk of getting HIV through oral sex.

• You can’t get HIV from sexual activities that don’t involve contact with body fluids (semen, vaginal fluid, or blood).

• Latex condoms used consistently and correctly are highly effective in preventing HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), like gonorrhea and chlamydia.

• Use water-based or silicone-based lubricants to help prevent condoms from breaking or slipping during sex.

• PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) is medicine people at risk for HIV take to prevent HIV.

• If taken as prescribed, PrEP is highly effective for preventing HIV from sex.

• Get tested for other STDs. If you have another STD, you are more likely to get HIV. Getting tested and treated for other STDs can lower your chances of getting HIV.

Antibody tests (Rapids – OraQuick, Insti, Chembio) look for antibodies to HIV in your blood or oral fluid. Antibody tests can take 23 to 90 days to detect HIV infection after exposure. Antibody rapid tests process results in 20 minutes or less. Nashville CARES or Nashville CARES My House Clinic currently uses the Insti Rapid HIV Test for diagnosis, and results are available in one minute or less.

Antigen/antibody (4th Generation) looks for HIV antibodies and antigens. Antibody/antigen tests are processed by a lab on blood taken from a vein and can usually detect HIV infection 18 to 45 days after exposure. Your immune system produces antibodies. Antigens are foreign substances that cause your immune system to activate.

If you test positive, this does not mean you have AIDS or that you will develop AIDS. It means you are carrying the virus that can cause AIDS and you can infect others. You should begin an HIV management plan and take precautions to avoid spreading the virus.

When people with HIV don’t get treatment, they typically progress through three stages. But HIV treatment can slow or prevent the progression of the disease. With advances in HIV treatment, progression to Stage 3 (AIDS) is less common today than in the early years of HIV.

• Stage 1 (Acute HIV Infection)

  • People have a large amount of HIV in their blood and are very contagious.

  • Many people have flu-like symptoms.

  • If you have flu-like symptoms and think you may have been exposed to HIV, get tested.

• Stage 2 (Chronic HIV Infection)

  • This stage is also called asymptomatic HIV infection or clinical latency.

  • HIV is still active and continues to reproduce in the body.

  • People may not have any symptoms or get sick during this phase but can transmit HIV.

  • People who take HIV treatment as prescribed may never move into Stage 3 (AIDS).

  • Without HIV treatment, this stage may last a decade or longer or may progress faster. At the end of this stage, the amount of HIV in the blood (viral load) goes up and the person may move into Stage 3 (AIDS).

• Stage 3 (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS))

  • The most severe stage of HIV infection.

  • People with AIDS can have a high viral load and may easily transmit HIV to others.

  • People with AIDS have badly damaged immune systems. They can get an increasing number of opportunistic infections or other serious illnesses.

  • Without HIV treatment, people with AIDS typically survive about three years.

• For many, yes. Most people have flu-like symptoms within 2 to 4 weeks after infection.

• Symptoms may last for a few days or several weeks.

• Having these symptoms alone doesn’t mean you have HIV.

• Other illnesses can cause similar symptoms.

• Some people have no symptoms at all. The only way to know if you have HIV is to get tested.