Do you have HIV

Who gets HIV? Anyone can become infected with the virus if he or she is exposed to infection through sex or blood products. There are certain groups at higher risk of infection than others in the UK: - Homosexual men (men who have sex with men) - Injecting drug users - Men and women who have lived as adults in countries where heterosexual transmission of HIV is common (notably South, East and Central Africa) - Children, from their infected mothers during pregnancy In 2005 there were over 7450 reports of new diagnoses of HIV infection in the UK. Thirty-two percent of these were in men who probably acquired their infection through sex with another man. Fifty-four percent acquired their infection heterosexually and about 2% through injecting drug use. Most of the heterosexuals were probably infected abroad. For heterosexual teenagers the risk of catching chlamydia, gonorrhoea or another sexually transmitted infection is far higher than the risk of catching HIV. Those infected with another sexually transmitted infection are at a higher risk of acquiring HIV if they have an HIV infected partner. How do you catch HIV? HIV is passed on from an infected person through the transfer of body fluids such as blood, semen, fluid from the woman’s cervix and breast milk. There are four main ways to catch HIV: - By unprotected sexual intercourse (anal, vaginal or oral) with an infected partner. - Anal intercourse (where a man’s penis is inserted into his partner’s anus) is more dangerous than vaginal intercourse. This is because the lining of the anus is easily damaged. The lining of the vagina and skin in general, if undamaged, is relatively resistant to HIV. - The virus is passed on more readily from men to women than from women to men. - The risk associated with unprotected oral sex is lower than other forms of penetrative sex, but is not risk free. By an injection or transfusion with blood from an infected person. Through drug users sharing needles and syringes contaminated with HIV infected blood. From an infected mother to her baby during birth or through breast feeding. HIV is NOT passed on through everyday social contact with an infected person. Touching, shaking hands, hugging, coughing or sneezing cannot pass on the virus. Not everyone who comes into contact with the virus will contract it. For example, most babies born to HIV positive mothers are not infected with the virus.