Frequently Asked Questions

1) How can I tell if someone is living with HIV?

You cannot. Only a fraction of people with HIV develop symptoms early in the course of infection, while others remain without symptoms for 15 or more years after they become infected. You can never tell if a person is living with HIV just by looking at or talking to him or her. That is because most people living with HIV do not appear sick. They would look and act exactly like people without HIV.

2) Why should I take an HIV test?

You do not have to take an HIV test if you have never had unprotected sex, shared drug injecting equipment, or been exposed to HIV during a medical operation or at work. In these cases, the likelihood of having HIV is minimal. But if you have been exposed to any of the earlier mentioned conditions, then a test is always the best option. If your test results indicate that you are HIV positive, you can be offered emotional support and counselling on what to do next. You can start antiretroviral treatment if necessary and available, and you can be advised on measures to ensure that you protect your partner, and in case you are a woman, any future children from infection. You can have certainty that if you do fall ill, a doctor will take your symptoms seriously. You will also need to think about your future plans.

3) How do I know if I have HIV?

You can only know that you have HIV by being tested. Antibodies to HIV can appear within days or weeks of initial exposure to the virus. A simple test can detect these antibodies. Tests that are currently available can pick up 99.9% of infections and detect antibodies within about 3-4 weeks of infection. Given that the HIV antibody test can miss very recent infections, it is recommended that an initial negative test be followed by another antibody test within 3-6 months.

4) How effective are condoms in preventing HIV transmission?

Evidence indicates that correct and consistent condom use is highly effective in preventing transmission of HIV.

5) Are there symptoms for HIV?

Symptoms of HIV infection could include the following:
* rapid and unexplained weight loss
* dry cough ,fever and/or night sweats
* extreme fatigue, swollen lymph glands in the armpits, groin, or neck
* chronic diarrhea that lasts for more than a week
* appearance of white spots or unusual blemishes on the tongue, in the mouth, or in the throat ,pneumonia
* red, brown, pink, or purplish blotches on or under the skin or inside the mouth, nose, or eyelids
* depression No one should assume they have HIV if they have any of these symptoms as each can be related to other illnesses. The only way to know for sure is to get tested.

6) HIV is transmitted through some of the body fluids

HIV is found in: Blood Semen vaginal fluids breast milk and some other body fluids that are sometimes handled by health care workers (fluids surrounding the brain and spinal cord, bone joints, and around an unborn baby)
*You cannot get HIV through casual contact such as shaking hands or hugging a person with HIV.
* You cannot get HIV from using a public telephone, bathroom, or swimming pool
* you cannot get HIV from sharing food, eating, or drinking utensils
* you cannot get HIV from the coughing or sneezing by a person with HIV.
* You cannot get HIV from a mosquito or insect bite.
* You cannot get HIV from working, interacting with or living side by side with people living with HIV.

7) How can I protect myself from infection?

Ways to avoid being exposed to HIV infection through sexual intercourse include either abstaining from sex, or delaying the onset of sexual initiation or using the male latex condom or the female condom. To avoid exposure to HIV-infected blood, you should refrain from sharing with another person a needle, syringe or equipment used for injection. You should only use disposable needles and syringes and you should only use them once. If there is no access to sterile injecting devices, risk can be reduced by boiling previously-used syringes and needles or by washing them repeatedly, at least three times, with full strength household bleach, followed by thorough rinsing three times with water. However, studies show that such measures should only be used as last resort as they are not 100% effective.

8) How is HIV Transmitted?

One can be exposed to HIV in the following ways: •Unprotected sexual contact (vaginal, anal, or oral) with a person who has HIV •Exposure through infected blood, particularly through transfusion of infected blood through contaminated injection equipment •Transmission from a mother who is infected to her child, during pregnancy, birth, or breast-feeding.

9) Are HIV ands AIDS the same thing?

One often hears both terms used interchangeably. However, HIV and AIDS is not the same thing. HIV refers to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which attacks the body's immune system and thus weakens the body's natural ability to fight off life -threatening infection called opportunistic infections. HIV can be transmitted from one person to another and if left untreated, the person will become sick with types of infections known as opportunistic infections. The most serious of the opportunistic infections are called AIDS defining illnesses. When the person becomes ill with one of the AIDS defining illnesses, he or she is said to have Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS).