HIV/AIDS Facts
How to Protect Yourself
In the United States, investments in HIV prevention have paid off. The rate of new HIV infections has slowed from more than 150,000 in the mid-1980s to around 40,000 per year now. Despite the substantial decline, the rate of new infections is still unacceptably high, making prevention as important as ever.
Preventing HIV Infection
The most reliable ways to avoid becoming infected with or transmitting HIV are:
- Abstain from sexual intercourse (i.e., oral, vaginal, or anal sex)
- Be in a long-term, mutually monogamous relationship with an uninfected partner
- Abstain from sharing needles and/or syringes for nonprescription drugs
HIV and STDs
All partners should get tested for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) before initiating sexual intercourse. Having another STD increases, by two to five times, the likelihood a person will become infected with HIV and increases the likelihood an infected person will transmit HIV
If a person chooses to have sexual intercourse with a partner whose infection status is unknown or who is infected with HIV or another STD, a new condom should be used for each act of insertive intercourse - oral, anal, or vaginal.
HIV and Injection Drug Users
Injection drug users, their partners, and their children account for at least 36% of all AIDS cases reported in the United States through 2000. Beyond abstinence, using a new, sterile needle or syringe with each injection remains the safest, most effective approach for limiting HIV and hepatitis transmission.
HIV and Pregnancy
Pregnant women should be routinely counseled and voluntarily tested for HIV. Early diagnosis allows a woman to receive effective antiretroviral therapies for her own health and preventive drugs (e.g., Zidovudine, also known as ZDV) to improve the chances that her infant will be born free of infection.