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What is HIV?
HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus and is the virus that leads to AIDS, or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. When a person is HIV positive they have the virus that will eventually cause AIDS. HIV is a virus that infects and kills T-cells. T-cells are essential to your immune system, without T cells the immune system breaks down and the body can't fight off even slight diseases and infections.

How do I know if I have HIV?
HIV, can be transmitted even if there are no symptoms. HIV antibodies will show up in tests three to six months after transmission. For maximum accuracy, do not engage in behavior that may put you at risk for HIV for six months before taking the test. HIV tests are 99.9% accurate.
The symptoms of being HIV positive include:

• Sores or white spots in mouth

• Swollen lymph glands

• Unexplained weight loss

• Fatigue

• Persistent flu-like symptoms

• Night sweats

• Persistent cough

• Frequent diarrhea

• Skin rash

• Loss of appetite

• Persistent yeast infections (women only)

• Persistent Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) (women only)

• Sudden appearance of lesions on the skin

How Is It Transmitted?
Very important things about contracting HIV: There has to be enough of the virus within one party involved and the virus has to enter the bloodstream.
Bodily fluids that may contain enough HIV to infect another person are:

• Blood

• Semen

• Breast milk

• Pre-ejaculate/pre-cum (that clearish fluid that the penis may secrete before ejaculation)

Activities that can spread HIV include:

• Sharing needles, including syringes and needles used in tattooing

• Vaginal sex (Condoms help lessen, but do not eliminate, the risk of transmitting HIV)

• Anal sex (Condoms help lessen, but do not eliminate, the risk of transmitting HIV)

• Fingering (using one's fingers to penetrate the vagina or anus)

• Fisting (using one's fist to penetrate the vagina or anus)

• Rimming (performing oral sex on the anus)

• Sharing sex toys that haven't been sanitized

• Oral sex (Condoms help lessen, but do not eliminate, the risk of transmitting HIV)

• French kissing (if both people have open sores in the mouth or are bleeding from the gums)

• Insemination with infected semen

• A blood transfusion with HIV-infected blood or blood products. Blood is now thoroughly tested in the United States.

• HIV can be transmitted to unborn children through child-birth and pregnancy.

• HIV can be transmitted to infants via breast-feeding

How you CAN'T get HIV

• Common contact - hugs, a kiss on the cheek, holding hands

• Toilet seats

• Sharing a glass

• Food preparation

• Insect bites

• Giving blood to an established agency, or hospital

Without Treatment:

• One may transmit HIV to sexual partners.

• A pregnant mother with HIV risks giving it to her child during pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding, although medications such as AZT reduce this risk.

• Developing Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). AIDS is a fatal disease that can be cared for but not cured. There are many different treatments and medications available that may prolong ones life (often comfortably) so that one dies of age before AIDS.

Is HIV Treatable?
While HIV cannot be cured, it can be treated and cared for through careful observation and medical attention. The so-called triple cocktail medication can reduce the concentration of the virus in the blood to undetectable levels, although it is still present and transmittable. As with AIDS, there are many approaches to caring for HIV-positive patients, and there are many drugs that can prolong the period of being HIV-positive as opposed to having full blown AIDS. Though uncommon, not everyone who is HIV positive develops AIDS, but they can still transmit the disease to others.