Factsheet

HIV Overview

Date   21 November 2007

HIV (human Immunodeficiency Virus) is the virus that causes AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Virus). When well, the body has an immune system that fights infections. HIV attacks the immune system so that it can't protect the body from different kinds of infection - even colds and flu - and it's harder for someone to recover once they get sick.

Is HIV the same as AIDS?

Inside the body are billions of cells with different jobs. Some of these cells, called T-cells, help the body stay healthy by fighting off disease. The HIV virus kills the T- cells, so that over time, the body can't fight disease any more. When that happens, that person has AIDS.

Most HIV infections do progress to AIDS, but if someone has HIV they may not develop AIDS for many years - often more than ten or fifteen years. In some (rare) cases they may not get AIDS at all. Coping with AIDS is like living with any other chronic disease (one that can't be cured). Sometimes people can feel very sick, and at other times they may feel fine, and have a normal lifestyle.

Is there a cure for HIV?

No, not yet. If someone is diagnosed with HIV they can control its effects with medication and by looking after their health, but there is no cure.

How do I catch it?

To catch HIV, the virus has to enter the bloodstream. This can only happen by sharing one of four kinds of fluid with a person that has the HIV virus:

1. Blood
2. Semen (cum)
3. Vaginal fluid
4. Breast milk

These fluids can be transmitted through unprotected sex (sex without a condom), by sharing contaminated needles, or by receiving a transfusion of infected blood (although contracting HIV this way is very uncommon in Australia since screening of blood began in 1985). HIV can also be passed on to a baby during pregnancy, birth or breastfeeding.

You cannot get HIV by hugging, kissing, or by shaking hands, or by sharing food or toilet seats with an infected person.

How can I tell if I have it?

You might develop what feels like the flu one to two weeks after getting infected, but many people who have HIV don't know because it can take years before symptoms start to show. You can pass on HIV even if you don't know you have it.
Other HIV/AIDS symptoms can include:

• Sores around the mouth
• Aching muscles or joints
• Headaches
• Diarrhoea
• Swollen glands
• Tiredness
• Rapid weight loss
• Rashes

It's not useful to try and work out if you or somebody else has HIV or not, based on their symptoms. You can worry yourself unnecessarily about what might simply be the flu. The only way to know for sure is to have a blood test if you have done any risky activities.

How can I avoid getting it or spreading it?

You can protect yourself from HIV infection by using condoms when you have vaginal, anal or oral sex, and by not sharing needles or injecting equipment. Check out the Condoms Factsheet for details on how to use condoms correctly.

What happens in a HIV test?

It's a good idea to get tested if you have had oral, vaginal or anal sex without a condom, or if you have shared needles with anybody. Its also important to wait for 14 weeks after the last time you have been risky, to make sure that the result is accurate.

In a HIV test a blood sample will be taken from your arm and sent away to be analysed. You will have to come back later for the results.

Having another sexually transmissible infection (STI) can also increase the risk of getting HIV, so it's useful to get checked out at a clinic if you have any concerns.

My test has come back positive. What now?

Your doctor or nurse will tell you about treatment options. They can give you some written information, and help you find somebody to talk to. They will also talk to you about contact tracing, which means that all your partners over the last three months should also be contacted and tested. The doctor or nurse will give you a letter to give to all your partners so they can go to a doctor for testing. You have some legal obligations if you have been diagnosed with HIV. This means that in the future you need to tell all your sexual partners that you have HIV.

Your doctor or nurse should also arrange a follow-up appointment with you, and refer you to a specialist for counselling and potential treatment.

You may feel shocked and scared by your diagnosis. It's a big thing to take in. Some people will react by feeling anxious, depressed, angry, worried, ashamed - or all of these things at once. Other people might just feel numb. There's no shame in having an emotional reaction but it is good to try and get the emotion out and work through it. Talking to a close friend, parent or counselor can help to explore all your feelings about having HIV. The important thing to remember is that many people with HIV live a long, healthy life, but you will need to take some special care of yourself from now on.

What about PEP? How does that work?

PEP (Post-exposure prophylaxis) is a 4-week course of anti-HIV drugs that may stop HIV infection if started soon after exposure to HIV.

To use PEP, you have to move fast. To be most effective, treatment should begin within a few hours of unsafe sex, or possible exposure to HIV. As PEP is an expensive treatment and can make you feel sick, the doctor will ask you some questions to assess your risk of contracting HIV before giving you PEP.

You can get PEP from sexual health clinics, or some specialist GPs and emergency departments.

If I go to a clinic will they tell my parents?

No - according to the law you can ask for and agree to medical care for yourself once you understand what the care is for, why you need it and what the effects might be. By the time you are 16 years old, you should definitely have that understanding. If you are under 16 you may still be able to agree to your own medical care, but this will probably depend on being able to satisfy your doctor or the medical worker involved that you understand what the care is about. Information the health staff receive from or discuss with you at a sexual health clinic is completely private and confidential and cannot be shared with your parents or people you know. To make sure, you can tell the clinic that you do not want your parents to know, if that is the case. It is illegal for a health worker to disclose information to another person regarding your HIV/AIDS testing or results.

There are exceptions to these rules, though, when health workers are required to break confidentiality by law. Some exceptions can be:

• If health staff feel you may be at risk of serious harm. In this case the clinic is required to report this to DOCS (Department of Community Services).
• If your files were required in a Court case.
• Doctors also have a legal obligation to notify the government when a person has HIV so they can monitor the disease in Australia. Your identifying details are not used here, though - just a number. They don't need to know who you are, but do want to keep track of how many people are getting the infection.
• It might be necessary for your treatment (for example a lab technician would be authorised to give a person's HIV/AIDS test results to their treating doctor).
• If you are diagnosed with HIV you have a legal obligation to tell your sexual partners. If you are behaving in a way that puts them at risk (eg unsafe sex), the health worker is still not allowed to tell your partner directly, but they can inform the government.
• The government will then take a series of steps to protect the health of your potential sexual partners. These steps are:
  1. Offering you counselling.
  2. Having a conference.
  3. Sending a warning letter.
  4. Involving a panel to help.
  5. Making a 'Public Health Order' that will require you to stop risking the health of other people.
  6. If none of these steps work the government can put you in detention to protect other people.

For more information on STIs and having a sexual health check-up, call Healthline on 1300 65 88 86 to talk to a reproductive and sexual health nurse. Talking to the nurse is confidential and anonymous.

This factsheet was created in collaboration with Reachout

Download more info National Centre in HIV Social Research (NCHSR) Factsheet.pdf (Adobe PDF File)
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For further information

Contact the Healthline on 1300 658 886.