Hiv transmission through saliva2/12/2024 ![]() ![]() With today’s treatments, the outlook for HIV is promising, as most people who contract the virus go on to have long, healthy lives. AIDS: This is when a person has a high viral load, very low levels of important white blood cells called CD4 cells, and severe damage to their immune system.People often don’t have symptoms at this point. Chronic HIV infection: Also known as asymptomatic HIV infection, this is when HIV is still active but doesn’t reproduce as quickly as in the first stage.Acute HIV infection: This stage involves a lot of HIV in the blood and can come with flu-like symptoms (but some people never feel sick at this stage).Otherwise, HIV can progress to AIDS in three stages, according to the CDC: You can live with HIV and stay healthy for decades without ever developing AIDS, as long as you get treatment. We get it: HIV and AIDS have been lumped together for so long that many people (wrongfully) assume they’re the same thing.īut let’s get the facts straight: HIV is a virus that attacks your immune system, while AIDS is a condition that can develop after HIV has caused serious damage. When PrEP is taken as prescribed, it can slash a person’s chances of getting HIV through sex by a whopping 99%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). ![]() You can take either one pill per day or one injection every other month (after initial injections once a month for 2 consecutive months).Īnd it works really well. PrEP is a medication that offers people with known risk factors - such as having sex with someone who has HIV or sharing needles for injectable drug use - a way to reduce their risk of contracting HIV. That’s when the Food and Drug Administration OK’d the first preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP), and even more options are available today. However, as of 2012, people had a new option for preventing HIV. That’s why condoms have been recommended as an HIV prevention tool for decades. Research suggests they can reduce the risk of HIV transmission by as much as 91%. Not into the idea of a no-sex lifestyle? Condoms are another option. And even today, that potential benefit is used as an argument for abstinence-only sex ed in schools, despite lots of evidence that those programs just don’t work. Myth 2: Abstinence and condoms are the only ways to prevent HIVĪbstinence was touted as a go-to way to prevent HIV transmission in the ’80s and ’90s.
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