If you're sexually active, you should know your HIV status

Embarrassed to go to the clinic? You can test yourself for HIV with a home test kit. — Filepic

It's not making major news headlines like in the 1980s, but HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) remains a significant health concern.

About 38 million people are living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

It’s important to get tested and know your HIV status, which will help you choose options to stay healthy.

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Mayo Clinic infectious diseases specialist Dr Stacey Rizza says people should take the virus more seriously.

“I want people to know that it’s still prevalent in society,” she says.

According to Dr Rizza, HIV attacks and weakens the immune system.

It destroys a type of white blood cell called CD4, which protects against infections.

She says most people in the early phase of the disease often don’t know they have it.

“It can hide away in the body in a latent state for many, many, many years, and that’s why it’s so difficult to cure HIV,” she explains.

If you’re HIV positive and unaware of your status, you can unknowingly transmit the virus to others through sexual contact or sharing needles.

Dr Rizza says that HIV prevention includes using barrier protections, like condoms, dental dams and female condoms, and using clean needles.

Screening for HIV can help detect the virus early, and knowing your status enables you to prevent spreading it to others.

“I would love for more of society to get tested for HIV and then connect those who are infected to care, so we can take care of them and give them long, long, healthy lives,” she says.

HIV can be diagnosed through blood or saliva testing, such as:

• Antibody tests: These tests look for antibodies the immune system produces in response to HIV infection.
• Combination tests: These tests look for HIV antibodies and antigens (proteins produced by the virus).
• Nucleic acid tests: These tests look for the genetic material of the virus in the blood.
• Home test kits: These are HIV tests that can be done at home using a saliva or blood sample. – By Sonya Goins/Mayo Clinic News Network/Tribune News Service