The Basics of HIV

Symptoms of AIDS can include:

• Rapid weight loss
• Recurring fever or profuse night sweats
• Extreme and unexplained tiredness
• Prolonged swelling of the lymph glands in the armpits, groin, or neck
• Diarrhea that lasts for more than a week
• Sores of the mouth, anus, or genitals
• Pneumonia
• Red, brown, pink, or purplish blotches on or under the skin or inside the mouth, nose, or eyelids
• Memory loss, depression, and other neurologic disorders

Each of these symptoms can also be related to other illnesses. The only way to know if you may have HIV is to be tested.

Many of the severe symptoms and illnesses of HIV disease come from the opportunistic infections that occur because your body’s immune system has been damaged.

HIV testing is the only way to know your HIV status. There are different types of HIV tests, including tests that look for HIV antibodies, tests that detect both antibodies and parts of the virus (Antigen/antibody tests), and tests that look for the virus itself (nucleic acid tests). A healthcare provider can help determine which test is best for you based on your needs and possible exposure.

How soon each test can detect HIV infection differs, because each test has a different window period. The window period is the time between when a person may have been exposed to HIV and when a test can accurately detect HIV infection.

HIV testing is available in many settings, including hospitals, health centers, community clinics, pharmacies, substance use programs, mobile outreach services, and through self-test kits that can be used at home. HIV testing services are designed to protect privacy, and free or low-cost testing may be available through public health programs.

A negative test result means no evidence of HIV was detected at the time of testing, although follow-up testing may be recommended if testing occurred during the window period. A positive result means HIV was detected and should be confirmed with additional testing. Early diagnosis and treatment can help people with HIV live long, healthy lives and reduce transmission to others.

In addition to treatment, there are effective ways to prevent HIV. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a medication taken by people who are HIV-negative and at risk for HIV to prevent infection from sex or injection drug use. Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is HIV medication taken within 72 hours after possible exposure to help prevent the virus from establishing infection. Using condoms correctly every time during sex and never sharing needles, syringes, or other drug injection equipment are also proven methods of HIV prevention.

HIV is treated with antiretroviral therapy (ART). When taken exactly as prescribed, ART reduces the amount of HIV in the blood—known as the viral load—to very low levels. This is called viral suppression. If the viral load becomes so low that standard laboratory tests cannot detect it, the person is said to have an undetectable viral load.

People living with HIV who take their medication as prescribed and maintain an undetectable viral load can live long, healthy lives. They also do not transmit HIV to their HIV-negative sexual partners. This is known as Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U).