What If My Baby Is Hiv
With excellent health care, the mother-to-child HIV transmission rate is almost zero.
In the very rare case, your baby is HIV-positive, there are many supportive professionals and organisations that can help you during this difficult time.
You can expect welcoming, non-judgemental and compassionate care for yourself and your baby.
Medical care for babies with HIV is highly specialised. Early diagnosis means that a baby can begin effective treatment and have every chance for a long, healthy life.
How Do You Get Hiv From Semen Or Vaginal Fluid
Body fluids including semen and vaginal secretions can contain HIV. If a person has HIV and a detectable viral load, HIV can passed on to someone if their semen or vaginal secretions get into the body of a sexual partner during vaginal or anal sex.
If a man has HIV and a detectable viral load, one of his body fluids where the virus is found is his semen.
If he has a detectable viral load and his semen gets into the body of his sexual partner during sex, then HIV can get into the other persons bloodstream.
Pre-cum also contains HIV this is why there is a risk of infection even if a man pulls out of his partner before he ejaculates.
If a woman has HIV and she has a detectable viral load, one of her body fluids where the virus is found is in her vaginal secretions.
If these come into contact with a penis during sex, then HIV could be transmitted. The virus in her secretions can enter through the delicate skin of the penis or foreskin.
Viral Load & Medications
If someone has HIV, this does not mean that they are restricted to celibacy. Many people with HIV still continue to have safe, enjoyable sex lives without spreading the virus. Always using a condom or barrier method is an important first step to prevent the sharing of HIV containing fluids.
Antiretroviral therapy : Another way to help decrease the risk of spreading HIV is to lower a personâs viral loadâthe amount of HIV in a personâs blood. Viral loads can be lowered using medications called antiretroviral therapy . These medications can lower the HIV viral load so much that HIV may not even be detectable on a blood testâthis is called an undetectable viral load . When a person’s viral load in undetectable, they have effectively no risk of transmitting the HIV virus to a non-infected partner . Taking these medication will help keep a person with HIV healthy while also helping prevent the spread of HIV to another person. This is not a cure, however. If medication is taken incorrectly or stopped, HIV viral loads will increase again and transmission can occur. Condoms and other barrier methods should still always be used during sex .
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How To Be Safe When Coming Into Contact With Infected Blood
A condom will act as a barrier against any contact with blood during sex.
As well as sex, sharing equipment for injecting drugs is a way blood can get into someones body. This can be avoided by using fresh needles and not sharing needles, syringes and other equipment.
If a woman has HIV, her menstrual blood also carries a risk of transmission if she has a detectable viral load.
If youre HIV negative and taking pre-exposure prophylaxis youll be protected against getting HIV if you come into contact with infectious blood.
If You Took Pep Afterward
High-five!
Post-exposure prophylaxis, or PEP, is highly effective at reducing the risk of contracting HIV from sexual activity if started within 72 hours of the possible exposure and taken consistently until finished.
How likely is this generally?
Theres no number to quantify the risk of swallowing seminal fluid.Though swallowing does increase the risk of HIV some, fellatio is considered a lower risk activity overall.
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How Could You Get Hiv From Contact With Blood
The risk of HIV transmission through blood comes when the person has a detectable viral load and their blood enters another persons body or comes into contact with a mucous membrane. These are parts of the body with wet, absorbent skin such as the:
- eyes
- inside of the anus
- mouth.
Theres also a risk if blood from a person who has a detectable viral load comes into contact with a cut or broken skin, giving HIV a way through the skin and into someones bloodstream. If blood gets onto skin that isnt broken, there is no risk.
In a medical setting, its possible for HIV to be transmitted by someone accidentally cutting themselves with a blade or needle they have used to treat a person living with HIV.
This is called a needlestick injury. The risk of being infected in this way is very low. However, if someone thinks they have been exposed to HIV through a needlestick injury, post-exposure prophylaxis may be an option.
How Hiv Is Spread
The most common way that HIV is spread is through sexual intercourse, including oral and anal sex.
The virus can also be spread through sharing needles, and it can be passed from an infected pregnant woman to her unborn baby.
But steps can be taken to reduce the likelihood of HIV being passed on to a baby, making transmission in this way rare in the UK.
For example, the risk of transmission can be reduced by:
- giving antiretroviral medication to a mother and her newborn baby
- giving birth by caesarean section
- not breastfeeding
You can’t catch HIV from:
- kissing
- giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation
- being sneezed on by someone with HIV
- sharing baths, towels or cutlery with someone with HIV
- swimming in a pool that’s been used by someone with HIV
- sitting on a toilet seat that someone with HIV has sat on
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Sperm May Play Leading Role In Spreading Hiv
- Date:
- Rockefeller University Press
- Summary:
- Sperm, and not just the fluid it bathes in, can transmit HIV to macrophages, T cells, and dendritic cells , researchers report. By infecting DCs, which carry the virus and potently pass it to T cells, sperm may play a leading role in spreading HIV.
Sperm, and not just the fluid it bathes in, can transmit HIV to macrophages, T cells, and dendritic cells , report a team led by Ana Ceballos at the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina. By infecting DCs, which carry the virus and potently pass it to T cells, sperm may play a leading role in spreading HIV.
The article appears in the November 23, 2009 issue of the Journal of Experimental Medicine .
During sexual intercourse, HIV-infected men transmit HIV through their semen, which carries free-floating virus as well as HIV-infected leukocytes. Traces of HIV have been detected on sperm as well, but the role they play in viral transmission has been a matter of debate. After all, men with vasectomies can transmit HIV. Now, Ceballos et al. show that HIV attaches to the surface of sperm and that these HIV carriers pass on the virus to DCs and other HIV targets.
Sperm express molecules known to interact with HIV’s envelope, such as heparan sulfate and mannose receptors. The authors show that HIV relies on heparan sulfate to attach to sperm, but not mannose receptors as previously predicted.
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Does Semen Carry The Herpes Virus
Yes.Technically NO herpes doesn’t spread through body fluids or blood.
Herpes spreads when you rub your genitals together during intercourse, or when your mouth is on your partners genitals, or if your partners mouth is on your genitals.Yes, herpes can be transmitted through seminal fluid. You can contract herpes through intercourse vaginally, anally, or orally. Use of a condom during both intercourse and oral sex will help prevent transmission of herpes, but is not 100% effective.There is no cure for either form of herpes although antiviral treatments in the form of creams or tablets can ease the pain and shorten the duration of the attack. If you have more than six outbreaks in a year, you should ask about antiviral suppression therapy at your GUM clinic.
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Help I Got Semen In My Eye What Do I Do Shaun Barcavage Np Explains The Research And Risk For Hiv Gonorrhea And Chlamydia Transmission Through The Eye By Shaun Barcavage Np September 7 2016 5minute Read Maybe Things Got A Little Out Of Hand Last Night You Didnt Think Much Of It When It Happenedbut Now Youre Worried About That Shot You Took To The Face You Got Cum In Your Eye And Are Wondering About What Chance You Have Of Getting Hiv Or Another Sexually Transmitted Infection From Someone Elses Semen Its Actually A Question Ive Gotten From Clients Before At Magnet The Sexual Health Clinic Of San Francisco Aids Foundation So You Should Know Youre Not Alone Heres What You Need To Know
Wash your eyes and face
Im guessing you already did this. But if notclean up! Semenlike other things that dont belong in our eyescan cause irritation. Flush your eyes with some lukewarm water. Take out your contacts carefully, if you wear them, and dont put them back in unless your eyes look and feel normal. Make sure you cleanse the contact lenses with disinfecting solution before you put them back in.
Dont fret about HIV!
The chance youre going to become infected with HIV from semen is really, really low. Theoretically, it is possible for someone to get infected with HIV through mucous membranesincluding their eye. But in reality, it just doesnt happen.
Since the 1990s, possible HIV transmissions through the ocular membrane have been suspected in several occupational exposures such as lab researchers and nurses. However, there isnt a single case of a person getting infected with HIV published in a reputable medical journal because they got semen from an HIV-positive person in their eye.
Do you need sexual health servicessuch as an HIV test, STI testing or treatment? Are you interested in learning more about the HIV-prevention strategy PrEP? Strut provides free sexual health care for gay, bisexual and transgender men who have sex with men in the San Francisco Bay Area. Learn more about Strut.
HIV transmission through the eye what we know from research
What about chlamydia and gonorrhea?
Symptoms and treatment of ocular gonorrhea
The take-away
Sharing Injection Drug Equipment
Sharing needles for injecting drugs most efficiently transmits HIV. This is because used needles and syringes can still contain blood, which can carry the virus.
An older study found that HIV can survive up to 42 days in syringes, depending on the temperature.
HIV isnt the only virus that can be transmitted by sharing injection drug equipment. The viruses that cause hepatitis B and hepatitis C can be transmitted in this way as well.
There are also some less common ways that HIV can be transmitted. Lets take a look at some of them below.
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What The Results Mean For You
This study clearly shows that men with an undetectable viral load in blood may have detectable HIV in semen. About 1 in 20 men who had a blood viral load below 40 copies had HIV that could be detected in semen.
Research has not determined if the low levels of HIV in these men’s semen could result in HIV transmission from a man to a woman, or from a man to a man. But certainly there is some risk that a man with detectable HIV in semen can pass the virus to a sex partner.
The researchers who conducted this study believe health workers should advise couples with an HIV-positive male partner to continue using condoms during sex and to use safe techniques like sperm washing if they want to conceive a child.
Taking antiretroviral therapy lowers the risk of transmitting HIV to a sex partner. And reaching an undetectable viral load in blood greatly lower the risk of transmission. But the findings of this study suggest that the transmission risk may not be zero when viral load is undetectable in blood.
This study included only heterosexual men. But there is no reason to assume that the main result does not apply to gay men as well: Men with an undetectable viral load in blood may have detectable HIV in semen. For now, even men who have an undetectable viral load in blood should probably use condoms when having sex.
How Long Can Hiv Survive Outside The Body
Once outside the body, HIV usually cant survive for very long. Coming into contact with blood or semen that has been outside the body doesnt generally pose a risk for HIV transmission.
Similarly, the risk of passing on HIV to someone else if you have a detectable viral load and cut yourself is also very low. Wash away any blood with soap and hot water and cover the wound with a sticking plaster or dressing.
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How Can You Prevent Getting Or Transmitting Hiv Through Sex
There are several ways to prevent getting or transmitting HIV through anal or vaginal sex.
If you are HIV-negative, you can use HIV prevention medicine known as pre-exposure prophylaxis or post-exposure prophylaxis to protect yourself. You can also use other HIV prevention methods, below.
If you have HIV, the most important thing you can do to prevent transmission and stay healthy is to take your HIV medicine , every day, exactly as prescribed. People living with HIV who take HIV medicine daily as prescribed and get and keep an undetectable viral load have effectively no risk of sexually transmitting HIV to their HIV-negative partners. Read more about Treatment as Prevention. There also are other options to choose from, below.
Sample Handling And Testing
The entire specimen of semen was diluted 1:1 with phosphate buffered saline and then underlaid with 19% Nycodenz in PBS with penicillin/streptomycin and centrifuged to separate seminal plasma from sperm and other cells. Seminal plasma was recovered, filtered and HIV-1 was concentrated by centrifugation . The pellet was resuspended in 200l of PBS, 40l of which was diluted to 500l and assayed for viral load. The limit of detection under these conditions was 100cp /ml, corresponding to 250cp/semen sample. Viral loads were measured in a clinically accredited laboratory by the Roche COBAS AmpliPrep/TaqMan methodology. Blood samples were scored as undetectable only if the viral load was undetectable at the time of collection and also in a confirmatory test performed later on frozen blood plasma.
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Testing Positive For Hiv During Pregnancy
HIV testing of women in early pregnancy is now routine in Australia. Testing should be done with your consent and is offered during your first set of antenatal tests.
If you receive a positive test result, be reassured that many people with HIV live a full and active life. The risk of HIV transmission to your child is very low, given appropriate treatment.
Support is available through:
- .
Getting Pregnant When You Are Hiv
If you want to conceive, are an HIV-positive woman with an HIV-negative male partner, you can choose artificial insemination. You can do this at home using your partners semen, rather than having unprotected sex.
To improve your chances of becoming pregnant through artificial insemination it is best to do it at the most fertile time in your menstrual cycle.
Learning about fertility awareness will help you to know when you are most likely to conceive.
Speak to your GP, HIV doctor, sexual health nurse, or fertility specialist.
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Infection Enhancement And Inhibition In Semen
In a third study, researchers from the French national researchinstitute INSERM compared the degree to which semen from HIV-negative andHIV-positive men enhanced the infectivity of HIV.
Ithas been known since 2007 that semen naturally enhances HIV infection. Semencontains proteins called SEVIs ,sticky strands that HIV clings to so that is gets delivered efficiently to thedendritic cells that ferry the virus away to the CD4 cells it, in the main,infects. However all the studies that established this cultured cells with HIVvirus in the presence of semen samples from HIV-negative men when, obviously,it is semen from HIV-positive men that infects people.
The French researchers co-cultured CD4 cells with HIV in labdishes with no semen, semen from HIV-negative men, and semen from HIV-positivemen.
They confirmed that semen is a powerful enhancer ofinfection. Semen from negative men increased the number of cells infected by anythingfrom 70 to 200%. Semen from HIV positive men did so too, but only by 50%compared to no semen.
The researchers investigated if there were any factors inthe semens ability to enhance infection and found only one the cytokine RANTES, which has already been used as theprogenitor of a class of anti-HIV drugs, the CCR5 entry inhibitors ).
Getting Pregnant When A Male Partner Is Hiv
If a male partner is HIV-positive, a procedure called sperm washing can be used to conceive. During this procedure a machine separates sperm cells from the seminal fluid, which can carry the virus. The washed sperm is then used to fertilise the womans egg using a special catheter inserted into the uterus.
If the male partner is on effective treatment and has a stable undetectable viral load, there is no risk of HIV transmission.
In-vitro-fertilisation may also be an option.
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Safe And Legal Disposal Of Sharps
Disposal of sharps, which includes syringes, needles, and lancets is regulated. They can carry hepatitis, HIV, and other germs that cause disease. Throwing them in the trash or flushing them down the toilet can pose health risks for others. Regulations governing disposal of sharps protect garbage and other utility workers and the general public from needlesticks and illness. There are different rules and disposal options for different circumstances. Contact your local health department to determine which option applies to your situation.
Found Syringes in Public Locations
Syringes that are found in parks, along roadsides, in laundromats, or in other public locations present potential risk for accidental needlesticks. Risks for infection from a found syringe depends on a variety of factors, including the amount of time the syringe was left out, the presence of blood, and the type of injury . The risk of HIV infection to a healthcare worker from a needlestick containing HIV-positive blood is about 1 in 300, according to CDC data.
Anyone with an accidental needlestick requires an assessment by a medical professional. Clinicians should make certain that the injured person had been vaccinated against hepatitis B and tetanus and may also recommend testing for HIV, HCV, and HBV. If a found syringe is handled, but no needlestick occurred, testing for HIV is not necessary.
Safe Disposal of Found Syringes
For safe disposal of found syringes: