Get Tested for HIV
#35 in a series of Health Bulletins on issues of pressing interest to all New Yorkers. Volume 5, Number 1.
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Reduce risky behaviors and use condoms to protect yourself and others
• More than 100,000 New Yorkers are living with HIV.
• As many as 1 in 4 don’t know they’re infected.
• There is still no vaccine, and still no cure.
• Thanks to new medications and early treatment, people with HIV are feeling better and living longer – holding jobs, raising families, doing well..
Know Your HIV Status – Get Tested
If you have ever been sexually active, or ever injected drugs (even if only once), you should be tested for HIV.
- • Rapid tests are now available that give
results in less than an hour.
- • If you’re infected, you can get medical
treatment to feel better and live longer. You can also prevent others from
becoming infected.
- • If you’re pregnant or planning pregnancy, knowing your HIV status can save your baby’s life.
Protect Yourself and Others
Not having sex and not shooting drugs are the only ways to be sure you won’t get infected with HIV.
- • If you are sexually active, you can reduce
your risk of getting or spreading HIV by having sex only in a mutually
monogamous relationship with a partner you are sure is not infected.
- • If you have sex outside of such a
relationship, take these steps to reduce your risk of getting or spreading
HIV;
- • Always use a latex condom whenever you have
sex – vaginal, anal, or oral.
- • Limit the number of people you have sex with.
The more people, the higher your risk. Sex with people you do not know also
increases your risk.
- • Avoid alcohol and other drugs when you have
sex. Being high makes it much harder to remember to use condoms.
- • If you inject drugs, never share needles. Use a new, sterile needle and “works” every time. For information and help, call 311.
B.Y.O.C. (Bring Your Own Condom)
Latex condoms protect against HIV and many other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
- • Use latex condoms.
- • Condoms made of “natural” materials like
lambskin prevent pregnancy, but don’t protect against HIV and other STDs.
- • If you are allergic to latex, use condoms made of polyurethane or other synthetic materials.
- • Female condoms, which are placed in the vagina, are made of polyurethane and also protect against HIV.
If You Have HIV, It’s Important to Know
If you have HIV and you know it, you can take better care of your health:
- • You can get medical treatment for HIV to feel
better and live longer.
- • And you can do other things to stay healthy, for example:
- • Get immunized against flu and pneumonia.
- • Quit smoking. For help, call 311 and ask for the Smokers’ Quitline.
- • Get help for alcohol and drug problems. Talk to your doctor, call 1-800-LifeNet (1-800-543-3638), or call 311 and ask for LifeNet.
Do ask, and do tell! If you have HIV:
- • Talk to anyone you have had sex with so they can get testing and counseling, too. If you need help notifying your partners, talk to your doctor or call 311 and ask
for CNAP (see More Information).
- • Tell anyone you are thinking of having sex
with that you’re HIV positive before you have sex (even if they don’t ask!).
- • Never have sex without a latex condom. Even if you’re on anti-HIV medications and even if your viral load is not detectable, you can still transmit HIV. Using a condom can:
- • Prevent you from becoming infected with
other STDs or different strains of HIV that may be more virulent or
resistant to drug treatment.
- • Prevent you from infecting the person you
are having sex with.
- • Never share needles or “works.”
Some Activities Are Riskier Than Others
According to the best available evidence:
- • Sharing needles is very likely to transmit
HIV.
- • Receptive anal intercourse is the riskiest
sexual act – 5 times riskier than receptive vaginal intercourse and 50 times
riskier than receptive oral sex.
- • Insertive anal or vaginal intercourse is 10
times riskier than insertive oral sex.
- • Oral sex carries some risk for both partners,
but is less risky than other penetrative sexual activities.
- • Condoms greatly reduce the spread of HIV for both partners in anal, vaginal, and oral sex.
Everyday Activities Do Not Spread HIV
- • HIV is spread by injecting drugs, through
sexual activity, or from a mother to her baby during pregnancy or
breast-feeding.
- • You can’t get HIV from other activities, such as donating blood, shaking hands, sharing dishes, using public toilets, playing sports, or kissing.
Where to Get Tested
- • You can get an HIV test from your doctor or
medical group.
- • Many community-based organization offer HIV
tests.
- • Free testing is available at public health
clinics in all 5 boroughs (see More Information).
- • People younger than 18 years do not need parental consent for counseling, testing, or treatment.
More Information
- • For more information about HIV and other STDs, including where to get free, confidential, or anonymous counseling and testing, call 311 or visit nyc.gov/std
- • Help to notify partners: Call 311 and ask for CNAP (Contact Notification
Assistance Program)
- • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: www.cdc.gov/hiv
- • Harm Reduction Coalition: www.harmreduction.org
For copies of any Health Bulletin
Contributions
New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
125 Worth Street, Room 342, CN 33
New York, N.Y. 10013
Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor
Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H., Commissioner
Bureau of Communications
Sandra Mullin, Associate Commissioner
Cortnie Lowe, M.F.A., Executive Editor
Drew Blakeman
Kenneth Lo
Prepared in cooperation with:
Division of Disease Control, Bureau of HIV Prevention and Control
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