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5. Prevention

Prevention

Every year, another 56,000 Americans become infected with HIV—but it doesn’t have to be that way! It’s easy to protect yourself and others from HIV if you know the facts.

Your risk for getting HIV—or transmitting it to others—is extremely low if:

• You aren’t having sex of any kind (anal, oral, or vaginal)
• You aren’t injecting drugs
• You aren’t pregnant
• You aren’t likely to have contact with infected body fluids in your workplace

But if you are having sex, injecting drugs, pregnant, or might be exposed to HIV at work, here’s what you need to know...

Safer Sex

Most people who get HIV get it by having unprotected sex (anal, oral, or vaginal) with a partner who is HIV-positive. “Unprotected” means without a condom or other barrier to protect you from infected body fluids.

Prevention Before and During Sex

Here’s what you can do to protect yourself and others if you are sexually active:

• Know your own HIV status and your partner’s too
• Use condoms, correctly and consistently
• Limit your number of sexual partners

Knowledge Is Power
Have you been tested for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs)? Has your partner? Knowing your health status, and that of your sex partner(s), is the best way to protect each of you from STIs, including HIV.

Condoms Keep You Safer
Condoms offer excellent protection against HIV if you use them correctly. Both male condoms and female condoms are effective in preventing HIV infection.

Male Condom

Female Condom

The Department of Veterans Affairs offers great, plain-language tips for using condoms and dental dams. You can also check out this video to see a demonstration:

A word of warning: Condoms are highly effective in preventing most STIs, including HIV—but they will not protect you against all of them. You can get—or give—some STIs, like herpes or genital warts, even if you or your partner are wearing a condom. But condoms still significantly reduce your risk, even for those STIs.

You are always safer using a condom!

Fewer Partners Means Less Risk
The more sexual partners you have, the greater your risk of getting HIV, or passing it to someone else.

If you are sexually active, mutual monogamy is the safest way to go. That means: 1) You are in a sexual relationship with only one person, and 2) Both of you are having sex only with each other. In addition, both of you need to be tested for HIV and other STIs before you have sex without a condom.

Prevention After Sex

Protecting yourself and your partner before sex is best, but we don’t live in a perfect world. Sometimes you may not have the option to protect yourself during sex—if, for example, you have been sexually assaulted (raped).

Or you might be regretting your choice to have sex without a condom—or the condom broke or came off during sex.

If you believe you may have been exposed to HIV through unprotected sex, you can take medications that will lower your risk of getting HIV. The treatment is called PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis).

But for PEP to work, you need to get medical care ASAP. The meds are most effective if you start them within 36 hours of possible exposure. You can get PEP at hospital emergency rooms, urgent care clinics, or your local HIV clinic.

Safer Drug Use

Using illegal drugs greatly increases your risk for getting, or transmitting, HIV.

That’s especially true if you are injecting illegal drugs (like narcotics or steroids) and you share any of your needles or “works” with others. That’s because used needles and works can easily deliver infected blood into your body.

Drugs can also affect your ability to make good choices. If you are high, you are more likely to do things that can lead to HIV infection, such as forgetting to use a condom or having multiple sex partners.

If you are injecting illegal drugs, the best thing you can do to protect yourself from HIV is to quit. There are drug-abuse treatment services and counseling available to help you.

But if you can’t stop injecting drugs, here are some things you can do to reduce your risk of getting HIV or transmitting it to others:

• Never reuse or share anything you use to prepare or inject your drugs.
• Only use syringes obtained from a reliable source (such as pharmacies or needle-exchange programs).
• Use a new, sterile syringe each time to prepare and inject drugs.
• If possible, use sterile water to prepare drugs—otherwise, use clean water from a reliable source (such as fresh tap water).
• Use a new or disinfected container ("cooker") and a new filter ("cotton") each time you prepare drugs.
• Clean the injection site with a new alcohol swab before you inject.
• Safely dispose of syringes after one use.

For more information, see CDC’s How can injection drug users reduce their risk for HIV infection? and AIDS.gov’s Reduce Your Risk: Substance Abuse.

If you use illegal drugs, your sex partner(s) are also at risk for HIV. You can help to protect others by being tested for HIV and by using condoms consistently and correctly.

A Note About Needles
You may use needles/syringes to inject legal prescription drugs, like insulin or allergy medicines—or for body piercing and tattooing. No matter why you use needles/syringes, you should always use a new, sterile syringe every time you prepare and inject drugs—or for each piercing or tattoo. This will help protect you and others from HIV.

Safer Moms & Babies

If you are pregnant, or think you might be, please talk to a doctor or your local health department about getting an HIV test. If you are HIV-positive, there are medications that can dramatically reduce your chance of passing HIV to your baby. The sooner you take those medications, the more likely your baby will be protected.

Safer Work

Very few people have ever gotten HIV because of their work. You are most at risk for job-related HIV infection if you work in healthcare.

Healthcare-Related Risks
You can protect yourself from HIV by: following standard infection-control guidelines in your workplace. These include:

• Using safer techniques with sharp objects, like needles or lancets:
  • Don’t recap sharps after you use them
  • Dispose of used sharps in the correct container
• Wear gloves, eye and face protection, and gowns to protect yourself from contact with blood or other body fluids
• Treat all blood and body fluids as if they are infectious

For more information, see CDC’s Preventing Occupational HIV Transmission to Healthcare Personnel.

Prevention After Work-Related Exposure 
If you believe you have been exposed to HIV at work, you can take medications that will lower your risk of getting HIV. The treatment is called PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis).

But for PEP to work, you need to get medical care ASAP. The meds are most effective if you start them within 36 hours of possible exposure. You can get PEP at hospital emergency rooms, urgent care clinics, or your local HIV clinic.

Testing & Early Treatment

You can help prevent HIV infections by getting an HIV test. That’s because knowing your HIV status can keep you from accidentally passing the virus to someone else.

Early treatment is another important part of prevention. If you test positive for HIV, you can get the medical care that will help keep you healthy. Treatment can make you less infectious to others, and help you to protect your partner(s).

Last revised: 06/20/2011