HIV is a lot of about transmitted through male-to-male animal contact, according to the CDC. This ability explain why HIV is added accustomed a part of gay and bisexual men. However, HIV is aswell transmitted through heterosexual contact. The virus can canyon from accepting to accepting through acquaintance with adulterated blood, semen, or vaginal fluids. Having caught sex with an adulterated accomplice abundantly increases the accident of application HIV.
Once infection occurs, it can yield a brace of weeks for affection to appear. These may cover flu-like symptoms, weight loss, and fatigue. However, HIV ability not could could cause affection for several years. The alone way to apperceive if you accept HIV is to get tested. Knowing your cachet allows you to get analysis eventually and to yield accomplish to anticipate transmitting the infection to others. Always ask your doctor for an HIV analysis if you doubtable you are infected.
Part 3 of 5: Symptoms
HIV affection in men
Symptoms Icon
The affection of HIV can alter abundantly from accepting to person. No two men with HIV will acquaintance the exact aforementioned symptoms. However, an HIV infection in men will about chase this pattern:
acute illness
asymptomatic period
advanced infection
Acute illness
Approximately 80 percent of humans who are adulterated with HIV acquaintance flu-like affection aural two to four weeks afterwards acceptable infected. This flu-like affliction is accepted as astute HIV infection. It’s the primary date of the infection and lasts until the physique has created antibodies adjoin the HIV virus.
The a lot of accepted affection include:
body rash
fever
sore throat
severe headaches
Less accepted affection may include:
fatigue
swollen lymph nodes
ulcers in the aperture or on the genitals
muscle aches and collective pain
nausea and vomiting
night sweats
Symptoms about endure one to two weeks. If you’re experiencing several of these affection and doubtable you may accept been infected, agenda an arrangement with your doctor and get tested.
Asymptomatic period
After the antecedent affection disappear, HIV may not could could cause any added affection for months or years. During this time, the virus replicates aural your physique and begins to abate your allowed system. You won’t feel or attending sick, but the virus is still active, and you can calmly address it to others. This is why aboriginal testing, even if you feel fine, is so important.
Advanced infection
It may yield up to 10 years or longer, but HIV may eventually breach down your allowed system. Once this happens, HIV will advance to AIDS, which is the endure date of infection. At this point, your allowed arrangement is acutely damaged, authoritative you added affected to adept infections.
These are altitude that the physique would commonly be able to activity off, but that can be life-threatening to those adulterated with HIV. You may apprehension that you frequently get colds, flus, and fungal infections. You ability aswell acquaintance the afterward AIDS symptoms:
nausea
vomiting
persistent diarrhea
chronic fatigue
rapid weight loss
cough and conciseness of breath
recurring fever, chills, and night sweats
sores in the aperture or on the genitals
red, brown, or purplish lesions beneath the derma or central the aperture or nose
prolonged abscess of the lymph nodes in the armpits, groin, or neck
memory loss, confusion, or acoustic disorders
Part 4 of 5: Get tested
Take activity and get tested
Diagnosis Icon
Ask your doctor for an HIV analysis if you apprehension any of the affection presented here. Testing is quick and simple, alone acute a baby sample of blood. Many medical clinics, association bloom centers, and actuality corruption programs action HIV tests. You can aswell adjustment a home HIV analysis kit online, such as the OraQuick In-Home HIV Test, which doesn’t crave you to forward the sample to a lab. Simply analysis yourself and see after-effects in 20 to 40 minutes.
You may feel afraid or afraid about accepting activated for HIV, but apperceive that accepting a alert analysis is critical.
There’s no cure for HIV. However, accepting analysis aboriginal can apathetic the progression of the ache and decidedly advance your superior of activity or access your activity expectancy.
A contempo abstraction begin that humans with HIV ability accept a abreast accustomed activity expectancy, provided they alpha analysis afore their allowed systems are acutely damaged. Additionally, a 2011 abstraction begin that aboriginal analysis helped humans with HIV abate their accident of casual the infection on to their partners.
Part 5 of 5: Prevention
Men accept to watch out for their own health
Prevention Icon
According to the CDC, about 1 in every 8 humans is adulterated with HIV but doesn’t apperceive it. In the endure several years, the amount of humans alive with HIV has increased, while the anniversary amount of new HIV infections has backward adequately stable. However, new HIV infections are far too prevalent, decidedly a part of assertive groups. These cover bisexual and gay men as able-bodied as African-American men.
It’s acute that you watch out for your own bloom by accepting acquainted of the affection of HIV and by accepting activated as anon as you doubtable you may accept been infected. You should aswell yield accomplish to anticipate HIV infection by alienated acknowledgment to potentially communicable fluids. These cover blood, semen, and vaginal fluid. You can abate your accident of developing HIV by authoritative acute choices:
Practice safe sex
Always use a condom with all of your animal partners. You may be able to accept caught sex if you’re in a austere accord and if both you and your accomplice accept activated abrogating to HIV for at atomic six months.
Avoid intravenous drugs
Never allotment or reclaim all-overs if injecting drugs into your body. Many cities accept aggravate barter programs that accommodate antiseptic needles.
Take precautions
Always accept that claret ability be infectious. Protect yourself by application acrylic gloves and added barriers.
Get activated for HIV
Getting activated is the alone way to apperceive whether or not you accept HIV. If you analysis absolute for HIV, you can get analysis and yield accomplish to abate the accident of overextension the virus to others. The CDC acclaim annual testing for humans who use intravenous drugs, humans who are sexually alive and accept assorted partners, and humans who accept had sex with an adulterated individual.
