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This section answers some frequently asked questions about HIV infection and AIDS.
What is HIV/AIDS?
How do you treat HIV?
How do people become infected with HIV?
Can I get HIV from oral sex?
How can you prevent HIV transmission?
What to do if you think you’ve been in contact with HIV
Where can I get tested?
I've just found out that I have HIV
Someone I know has HIV
If you would like to speak with someone about HIV/AIDS, please contact your local AIDS Council. Contact details for all state and territory AIDS Councils are on our Links pages.
The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) attacks the immune system, which is the body’s defence against disease.
If a person’s immune system is severely damaged by the virus, they will develop the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). This means they are vulnerable to infections and illnesses that their body could normally fight off.
HIV can live in the body for years without causing obvious damage, although the virus is constantly replicating. Many people with HIV continue to look and feel well. They may not even know they have HIV. A person infected with HIV is described as "HIV positive", meaning that they test "positive" to a specific blood test for HIV infection.
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There are now effective treatments available for HIV that can stop the infection developing into AIDS. HIV is treated using a combination of anti-retroviral drugs. This is called "combination therapy" or "Highly Active Anti-retroviral Therapy (HAART). People with HIV may also take drugs which will stop them getting some serious illnesses that commonly affect people with damaged immune systems. For more information see the treatments section on this website.
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HIV must be present in body fluids in large quantities to be infectious. HIV is only in such large quantities in blood, semen, pre-ejaculatory fluid ("pre-cum"), vaginal secretions and breast milk of an HIV positive person. A person can only become infected with HIV if one of these body fluids containing HIV passes into their blood stream. The main ways in which this happens are:
Unprotected sex (insertive anal or vaginal sex without condoms) Sharing needles/syringes
Check out the other links in this section for more information about safe sex and safe injecting.
See also the No Worries Campaign for more information about anal sex.
What other ways can people get HIV?
Some babies become infected during pregnancy, birth or breastfeeding. For information about transmission of HIV from mother to baby, look in the section for women on this website.
A small number of people working in health care have become HIV positive through their exposure to body fluids, for example in “needlestick” injuries, where their skin has been pierced by a needle containing HIV infected blood.
People can also acquire HIV through infected blood products used to treat haemophilia or for transfusions. However since 1985 the Australian blood supply has been screened for infectious diseases and this form of transmission is no longer considered a risk in this country.
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Oral sex is a very low risk activity. Anal or vaginal sex without condoms remains the highest risk sexual activity for transmitting HIV. There is not enough evidence to specify the exact risk of HIV transmission during one episode of oral sex. The risk increases if there are cuts or sores in the mouth, allowing HIV to enter.
For more information check out our oral sex page.
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How can you prevent HIV transmission?
HIV is not transmitted thorugh day-to-day contact such as sharing cups and cutlery.
HIV transmission can be prevented by:
Research into microbicides and vaccines is not yet at a stage where these are effective in stopping the transmission of HIV.
For information about microbicides, see the website of the Alliance for Microbicide Development. There have been suggestions that lemon or lime juice can be used to prevent HIV. See the article: Why women should NOT use Lemon or Lime Juice as a microbicide - an update from the Global Campaign for Microbicides. (MS Word document, 3pp).
For information about vaccines, see the website of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative. There is currently a vaccine trial in Sydney, see our vaccines page for more information.
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If you think you have been exposed to HIV you can have a test that will show if you have been infected. This test detects antibodies to HIV. These antibodies will not show up in your blood for up to three months after you have been infected.
You should receive pre- and post-test counselling, so that you are fully informed about the test, and about the implications of testing HIV positive, before you go ahead.
In some states Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) is available to people who have recently been exposed to HIV. PEP is treatment with HIV drugs that has been shown in some cases to prevent HIV becoming established in the body. PEP must be started within 72 hours of exposure.
If you would like to speak with someone about PEP, or find out where you can be tested for HIV, please contact your local AIDS Council.
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The Australasian Society of HIV Medicine (ASHM) has produced a Directory of HIV, Hepatitis C and related services which can help you find services in your area that provide confidential HIV testing with pre-and post- test counselling. You can also look up public sexual health clinics at the website of the Australasian College of Sexual Health Physicians.
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I've just found out I have HIV
You may be feeling shocked or scared right now, but HIV is no longer a death sentence in countries like Australia. Effective treatments are available and there are support services available in all states and territories. Check out the pages for recently diagnosed people in the Living with HIV section of this website.
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Someone I know has HIV
If you are a partner, family member and friend of a person who is HIV positive, you probably have questions and concerns that aren't covered by these FAQs. The Partners, Family and friends page on this website provides basic information about HIV/AIDS and tips on how to care for and support a person with HIV.
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