HIV
HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. This virus attacks the immune system. This means that your body is less and less able to defend itself against all kinds of diseases. An HIV infection is a serious STI.
Testing
A blood test can show whether you have an HIV infection. The doctor will check whether you have antibodies to HIV in your blood. The body makes these antibodies within three months after you have contracted the virus. A test can therefore only give a certain answer to the question of whether you have HIV three months after you had unprotected sex.
A person who is infected with HIV is said to be seropositive. You can’t tell that a person has an HIV infection simply by looking at him or her. If you are seropositive, you are not necessarily ill. It may take as long as ten years before you have serious symptoms. If you have been infected with HIV, you can pass the virus on to others.
Treatment
The treatment of an HIV has improved.
Since 1996, combination therapies have been available which inhibit the virus from reproducing in the body. If the therapy is effective, people who are seropositive have almost no complaints.
The medicine does have some unpleasant side effects. And you need to be disciplined to take the combination therapy.
