HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. HIV is passed from one person to another during unprotected sex (vaginal, anal, or oral sex without a condom) with someone who has HIV. HIV is passed through contact with blood with a person who has HIV. 

We offer nonjudgmental, anonymous (no name) and confidential (name kept private) HIV testing using an oral swab technique called rapid testing. Click here to learn what to expect when being tested for HIV at the Center.

HIV testing is especially important for pregnant women. An infected mother can pass HIV to her child during pregnancy or birth or through breastfeeding. It is much better to know your HIV status before or early in pregnancy so you can make decisions about your own health and the health of your baby. If you are pregnant and have HIV, treatment is available for your own health and to prevent passing HIV to your baby. IF you have HIV and do not get treatment the change of passing HIV to your baby is one in four. If you get treatment, your chance of passing HIV to your baby is much lower.

Symptoms of HIV: Most individuals infected with HIV do not have any physical symptoms for several years. Between 1-6 weeks from the time of infection, the individual may have flu-like symptoms: fever, swollen lymph nodes joint pain, and a rash, but this is not always the case, and these symptoms do not last so it is easily confused with a flu-bug.

HIV Incubation Period: Three to six months; AIDS: two to ten years

HIV Transmission:  Sexual activities that exchange body fluids; blood contact; sharing needles; infected mother to newborn; breastmilk (blood contains the highest concentration of the virus, followed by semen, then vaginal fluids, then breast milk.)

Testing and Diagnosis of HIV:  blood test; mouth swab test

Treatment for HIV/AIDS:  There is no known cure for HIV/AIDS, but anti-viral medications can slow down the infection and should be used as soon as possible after diagnosis. 

Prognosis:  HIV used to be considered a “death sentence.” This is no longer the case. Now, if an HIV positive person takes anti-viral medication every day, the prognosis is good. HIV is now seen as a chronic long-term treatable illness. The sooner treatment starts, the more manageable the illness. If a person is diagnosed at later stages of the disease, treatment becomes more difficult and the outcome is worse.