How To Use Condoms If You Have A Vagina
Condoms are also available for people with a vagina. These products are often called internal condoms or female condoms.
Studies have suggested that internal condoms have a similar effectiveness to external condoms. However, so far, no studies directly compare the effectiveness of external and internal condoms.
Lets examine how to use internal condoms.
How Can I Make Sure I Dont Give Hiv To Anyone During Sex
If you find out that you have HIV, try to stay calm. People living with HIV can have normal, healthy relationships and sex lives. But its important to take precautions to help your partner stay HIV-free.
There are a few ways that you can avoid giving HIV to other people:
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Always use condoms when you have vaginal and anal sex.
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Start treatment for HIV as soon as possible, and keep taking your HIV medicine. When you take it correctly, HIV treatment can lower or even stop your chances of spreading the virus to your sexual partners .
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Theres a daily pill your partner can take to lower the risk of getting HIV, called PrEP.
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Dont share needles for shooting drugs, piercings, or tattoos.
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Get tested and treated for other STDs besides HIV regularly. Having other STDs makes it easier for you to spread HIV to others.
If you test positive for HIV, its important to tell your sexual partners about it so they can be tested, too. Even if youre really careful to not spread HIV, be honest with your future partners about your status so you can both be informed and help each other stay healthy. Read more about talking with your partners about HIV.
I Am Hiv Positive How Can I Prevent Passing Hiv To Others
Take HIV medicines daily. Treatment with HIV medicines helps people with HIV live longer, healthier lives. ART can’t cure HIV, but it can reduce the amount of HIV in the body . One of the main goals of ART is to reduce a person’s viral load to an undetectable level. An undetectable viral load means that the level of HIV in the blood is too low to be detected by a viral load test. People with HIV who maintain an undetectable viral load have effectively no risk of transmitting HIV to an HIV-negative partner through sex.
Here are some other steps you can take to prevent HIV transmission:
- Use condoms correctly every time you have sex.
- Talk to your partner about taking PrEP.
- If you inject drugs, don’t share your needles, syringes, or other drug equipment with your partner.
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What Is The Risk Of Getting Hiv Hepatitis B Or Hepatitis C
The risk of getting HIV, hepatitis B or C depends on the amount of virus in the blood or body fluid and the type of contact. For example, a piercing through the skin poses a greater risk than a splash on the skin.
The emergency department health care provider will tell you whether your exposure puts you at risk of these infections.
Is There A Safe Way To Share Needles
Needle SafetyThe only way to completely avoid potential transmission of blood-borne illnesses when injecting drugs is by not sharing needles. If people do share needles, cleaning the needles and works properly with bleach and water before and after each person uses them will help reduce the risk.
How Do I Clean My Used Needles?
The most effective way to sterilize used syringes is the 3x3x3 method:
If bleach isnt available, you can use soap and clean water, or even just water to clean your works. ANY steps you take to clean syringes before use will reduce your risk of HIV and hepatitis C transmission.
Where can I get clean needles/syringes?Prior to September 2006 the only way to acquire clean needles in Massachusetts was via a prescription or through a needle exchange programs. As a result of the Pharmacy Access Bill, it is now legal for pharmacies to sell medical syringes over the counter without a prescription. Anyone 18 or older can purchase clean needles at many pharmacies in Massachusetts. They are relatively inexpensive. Although pharmacies are allowed to sell syringes, they are not required to do so. A phone call to the pharmacy in advance can save a trip to the drug store.
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How Can You Get Hiv
HIV is found in the following bodily fluids of someone living with the virus:
- blood
- vaginal fluids
- breastmilk.
For you to get HIV, these bodily fluids need to get into your blood through a mucous membrane , via shared injecting equipment, or through broken skin .
There is not enough HIV virus in other bodily fluids, like saliva, sweat or urine, to transmit it from one person to another.
Someone living with HIV who has an undetectable viral load, meaning effective treatment has lowered the amount of virus in their blood to levels where it cannot be detected by a normal blood test, cannot pass on HIV.
A person living with HIV with a detectable viral load can pass the virus to others whether they have symptoms or not.
HIV is most infectious in the first few weeks after infection. At this time many people are unaware of their status.
The main ways you can get HIV are:
Contaminated Blood Transfusions And Organ/tissue Transplants
- receiving blood transfusions, blood products, or organ/tissue transplants that are contaminated with HIV. This risk is extremely small because most countries test blood products for HIV first.
If adequate safety practices are not in place, healthcare workers can also be at risk of HIV from cuts made by a needle or sharp object with infected blood on it. However, the risk of occupational exposure, is very low in most countries.
If you think you have been exposed to HIV, the only way to find out if you have HIV is to have an HIV test.
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What Can People Living With Hiv Do To Reduce The Risk They Might Pass The Virus Along To Someone Else
For people living with HIV, the most important thing you can do for your health is start taking anti-HIV medicines every day. Many people find that they will need to address other things firstlike their mental health, housing, or insuranceand thats OK. Weve put together a guide to help newly diagnosed patients set themselves up for success.
Once you are ready and able to start treatment, it will make a big difference for your health. Studies show that people living with HIV who take their medicines regularly can live just as long as anyone else.
Anti-HIV treatment helps you live a long time because it blocks the virus from making copies of itself, which helps keep your immune system healthy. Most people who take their medication every day will see the levels of virus in their blood drop down to undetectable levels, meaning that laboratory tests can no longer detect virus at all.
If you are living with HIV, it is possible to live without fear of passing the virus to someone else. This is thanks to four major reasons, all fueled by decades of extensive scientific research:
- Safe sex thanks to the concept of undetectable equals untransmittable, or U=U.
- Condoms and other protection.
Sony Salzman
Sony Salzman is a freelance journalist reporting on health care and medicine, who has won awards in both narrative writing and radio journalism. Follow Salzman on Twitter: .
Myles Helfand
For Intravenous Drugs Or Other Encounters With Needles
Sharing needles with other people or using unsterilized needles to take illegal or IV drugs can increase your chance of contracting HIV and other conditions like hepatitis.
Here are a few methods to lower your chance of contracting HIV if you inject needles into yourself.
7. Dont share needles
Never share needles with another person. You can contract HIV even doing this just one time.
8. Use sterilized needles
You should only inject yourself with sterilized needles. There are helpful ways to make sure your needles are clean. Make sure your needles are:
- new
- from reputable sources like a pharmacies or medical suppliers
- sanitized with bleach
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What Prevention Method Are You Most Likely To Use
As you consider your options, think about which method you will be most likely to use. You can use different methods based on your needs in different situations. You should also consider whether or not you can use a prevention method the right way every time, because a prevention method will only work when you use it correctly.
The method you decide to use may also depend on the prevention methods your partners are using. If you are going to rely on a method your partner is using then you need to know that they are using it the right way every time.
What Conditions Are Considered To Be Opportunistic
Some of the most common of these OIs/cancers among HIV-positive people include:
Cancer: The types of cancers that are you are more likely to get if you have AIDs include lymphoma, Kaposis sarcoma, invasive cervical cancer, anal cancer, liver cancer, and cancers of the mouth, throat and lungs.
Candidiasis : This condition is caused by Candida fungus. It can happen in the skin, nails and mucous membranes throughout the body, such as the mouth or the vagina. The cases can be troublesome, but thrush is especially dangerous when it affects the esophagus or parts of the respiratory system .
Pneumonia: This respiratory condition is most commonly caused by _Pneumocystis jirovecii and the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae._
Salmonella: This infection is spread through contaminated food and water. It causes diarrhea, vomiting and nausea.
Toxoplasmosis: This disease is caused by a parasites that live in cats and rodents and other warm-blooded animals. The infection is spread through the feces. Toxoplasmosis can cause severe problems in the lungs, heart, brain and other organs. If you have a cat, wear gloves to change the litter and be thorough in washing your hands.
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Does Hiv Viral Load Affect Getting Or Transmitting Hiv
Yes. Viral load is the amount of HIV in the blood of someone who has HIV. Taking HIV medicine daily as prescribed can make the viral load very lowso low that a test cant detect it .
People with HIV who take HIV medicine daily as prescribed and get and keep an undetectable viral load have effectively no risk of transmitting HIV to an HIV-negative partner through sex.
HIV medicine is a powerful tool for preventing sexual transmission of HIV. But it works only as long as the HIV-positive partner gets and keeps an undetectable viral load. Not everyone taking HIV medicine has an undetectable viral load. To stay undetectable, people with HIV must take HIV medicine every day as prescribed and visit their healthcare provider regularly to get a viral load test. Learn more.
How Do I Protect Myself From Hiv
There are a number of ways you can protect yourself from HIV, including:
- using a condom every time you have vaginal, anal or oral sex
- in some countries PrEP is available. This is a course of HIV drugs which if taken consistently as advised by your healthcare professional prevents HIV infection through sex
- avoiding sharing needles, syringes and other injecting equipment
- taking HIV treatment if you are a new or expectant mother living with HIV, as this will dramatically reduce the risk of passing HIV to your baby during pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding
- asking your healthcare professional if the blood product you are receiving has been tested for HIV
- taking precautions if you are a healthcare worker, such as wearing protection , washing hands after contact with blood and other bodily fluids, and safely disposing of sharp equipment
- if you think you have been exposed to HIV you may be able to access PEP, a 4-week course of ARV drugs taken after possible HIV exposure to prevent HIV infection. You must start PEP within 72 hours of possible exposure to be effective.
For more detailed information on how to prevent HIV infection visit the relevant page from the listed below:
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How Do We Know Treatment As Prevention Works
Large research studies with newer HIV medications have shown that treatment is prevention. These studies monitored thousands of male-female and male-male couples in which one partner has HIV and the other does not over several years. No HIV transmissions were observed when the HIV-positive partner was virally suppressed. This means that if you keep your viral load undetectable, there is effectively no risk of transmitting HIV to someone you have vaginal, anal, or oral sex with. Read about the scientific evidence.
Pharmacy Sale Of Syringes
Many argue that pharmacies are an important but under-used resource in preventing the transmission of HIV and other blood-borne infections among people who inject drugs. Pharmacists are some of the most accessible healthcare professionals and are in an ideal position to reach this group who are often socially marginalised and wish to remain anonymous.47
Pharmacists can fulfil a number of harm reduction roles including the sale of condoms, educating on safer sex practice, selling clean needles and syringes, and dispensing oral methadone for opioid dependence.48
Research has shown how the sale of over-the-counter syringes to people who inject drugs can reduce HIV prevalence among this group. One study of 96 metropolitan areas in the USA recorded an average HIV prevalence of 13.8% among people who inject drugs in areas with anti-over-the-counter laws compared to 6.7% across areas without such laws.49
A different study from Tallinn, Estonia, reported that people who inject drugs found pharmacies convenient for acquiring syringes due to their extended opening hours and local setting. However, the study also reported stigma and discrimination from both pharmacists and other customers, with the idea of distributing free syringes to people who inject drugs negatively received by some pharmacists.50
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What Is Art And How Does It Help Prevent Hiv
Antiretroviral therapy is a combination of medicines that slows down the effects of HIV in your body and can help you stay healthy for many years. It can also lower or even stop your chances of giving HIV to anyone else.
ART lowers the amount of HIV in your body sometimes to the point where HIV wont show up on standard blood tests. If your HIV viral load is so low that certain tests cant see it, its called undetectable. When someone has an undetectable viral load, they cant spread HIV to others during sex.
Its important to remember that even with an undetectable viral load, HIV is still present in your body. If you stop treatment your viral load can go up, making it possible to pass HIV to others you have sex with. Your doctor or nurse can help you find the treatment thats best for you to help keep your viral load low, so you can stay healthy.
How Does Hiv Affect The Body
The human immune system involves many types of cells which guard against germs responsible for most diseases. The immune system’s most important guard cells are B-cells and T-cells, which are special white blood cells. B-cells and T-cells cooperate to fight any germ that attacks the human body.
B-cells produce particular proteins, called antibodies, that try to neutralize the invading germ. After a person recovers from an infection, these antibodies continue to circulate in the bloodstream, acting as part of the immune system’s “memory.” Immune system memory explains why a person rarely suffers a second attack from an infectious disease such as measles. If the same germ is encountered again, the antibodies will recognize and neutralize it. T-cells attack the germ directly and try to kill it.
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How Can You Prevent Spread Of Hiv Infection
HIV can be prevented in many ways, but they are not always followed.
There a three main ways the HIV can be spread:
HIV is spreading like wild fire among adolescents because they don’t believe it can happen to them.
A small percentage of people who use condoms still get HIV because:
- Misuse of condom
- Use of drugs or alcohol which can impair judgment or proper use
- Using a defective condom.
Harm Reduction Initiatives For Amphetamine
In recent years, there has been a large increase in the use of illicit stimulants including amphetamine, methamphetamine and cocaine, with , the USA, and Thailand notable examples.52
Amphetamine-type stimulants cause an elevated sex drive, and there is evidence of an increase in unprotected sex among people taking these drugs. As a result, the risk of HIV transmission from ATS-fuelled unprotected sex is rising in certain countries, the vast majority of which have concentrated HIV epidemics, and so is a particular concern for , and .
Linked to this is a growing sub-culture of chem-sex parties among men who have sex with men in Europe, Asia and North America in which ATS and a variety of other substances are used to facilitate, enhance and prolong sexual sessions with multiple partners.53
Interventions that address harms associated with stimulant use include substitution therapies, drug checking services, psychosocial support, condom, lubricant and drug paraphernalia distribution, services for sexually transmitted infections, income generation and housing support. However, ATS harm reduction programmes tend to be stand-alone projects, many of which go undocumented, meaning evidence as to their impact remains limited.54
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