21/03/2024
FACTS ABOUT HIV🩸
HIV targets the body’s white blood cells, weakening the immune system. This makes it easier to get sick with diseases like tuberculosis, infections and some cancers.
HIV is spread from the body fluids of an infected person, including blood, breast milk, semen and vaginal fluids. It is not spread by kisses, hugs or sharing food. It can also spread from a mother to her baby.
HIV can be treated and prevented with antiretroviral therapy (ART). Untreated HIV can progress to AIDS, often after many years.
Transmission
HIV can be transmitted via the exchange of a variety of body fluids from people living with HIV, such as blood, breast milk, semen and vaginal secretions. HIV can also be transmitted during pregnancy and delivery to the child. People cannot become infected through ordinary day-to-day contact such as kissing, hugging, shaking hands, or sharing personal objects, food or water.
It is important to note that people with HIV who are taking ART and have an undetectable viral load do not transmit HIV to their s*xual partners. Early access to ART and support to remain on treatment is therefore critical not only to improve the health of people with HIV but also to prevent HIV transmission.
Risk factors
Behaviours and conditions that put people at greater risk of contracting HIV include:
having condomless a**l or vaginal s*x;
having another s*xually transmitted infection (STI) such as syphilis, herpes, chlamydia, gonorrhoea and bacterial vaginosis;
engaging in harmful use of alcohol and drugs in the context of s*xual behaviour;
sharing contaminated needles, syringes and other injecting equipment and drug solutions when injecting drugs;
receiving unsafe injections, blood transfusions and tissue transplantation, and medical procedures that involve unsterile cutting or piercing; and
experiencing accidental needle stick injuries, including among health workers.