World Aids Day NSW | HIV - Frequently Asked Questions

HIV FAQ

What is HIV?

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a virus that causes damage to the body's immune system.

What is AIDS?

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) refers to a range of specific illnesses that people with HIV may get when their immune system is badly damaged. This can occur many years after HIV infection.

If a person has HIV, it does not mean they have AIDS. People with HIV can live many years without developing AIDS. Treatments have been effective in ensuring a sharp drop in the number of people with HIV who develop AIDS.

What are the symptoms?

Some people who become infected with HIV will show symptoms. The symptoms can be flu-like and may include fever, swollen glands and a rash on the body. The symptoms will appear in the weeks following infection.

Many people who become infected show no symptoms at all. You can have HIV for many years and not know it.

When a person develops AIDS, symptoms may include a loss of appetite, diarrhoea, weight loss, fever, lethargy, fatigue or the specific symptoms of a number of other illnesses.

How is it transmitted?

By blood, semen or vaginal fluids of an HIV infected person entering the bloodstream of another person.

HIV is usually transmitted through vaginal or anal sex without a condom.
HIV can be transmitted by sharing drug injecting equipment, piercing or tattooing equipment.
HIV can be passed on from an infected mother to her baby during pregnancy, at childbirth or by breastfeeding*.

There have been some cases of HIV transmitted by oral sex. In most of these cases sores, wounds, cuts, herpes or infections in the mouth were present. Without those factors it isn't considered easy for HIV to enter the bloodstream via the mouth or throat.

Pulling out before ejaculation is also unsafe, as fluid leaks from the penis during sex. This fluid can pass HIV.

*Breastfeeding. Your doctor will be able to advise you on steps that can be taken to minimise transmission risk by breastfeeding.

You can't catch HIV from

kissing, hugging, sharing utensils, tears, sweat, mosquito bites and casual contact.

How can I prevent transmission?

Use a condom and water based lubricant during sex.
Use sterile equipment if you inject drugs and do not share any equipment.
Get tested regularly for HIV.
Get informed and talk about HIV/AIDS.

How is it diagnosed?

HIV can be diagnosed by taking a blood test. The most common test is an antibody test (it tests to see if antibodies have developed in response to exposure to HIV). The antibodies can take up to three months to develop, this is referred to as the ‘window period'. This means you have to wait for three months before testing to be sure of the results of your test.

Post Exposure Prophylaxis

If you believe you have been recently exposed to HIV, within the last 72 hours, there is a four-week treatment that may prevent you becoming infected. It is called PEP (post exposure prophylaxis). Ask your local doctor or sexual health clinic – but you need to do this not more than 72 hours after exposure.

How is it treated?

While there is no cure yet for HIV or AIDS yet and no vaccine to prevent infection, there have been significant advances in the treatment of HIV.

The best treatment option available is taking a combination of anti-HIV drugs (known as antiretroviral drugs). The drugs have a range of side effects, from mild to severe and, in addition, require strict adherence to the dosing schedule to be effective.

While not a cure, combination treatments have proven effectivefor most people with HIV in improving their health and reducingprogression to AIDS.

More information on HIV/AIDS, organisations and services in NSW

Facts and statistics

Every minute, 5 people are infected with HIV around the world.¹
Every day, an estimated 1,000 children (< 15 years) become infected with HIV/AIDS.¹
Globally 33 million people are currently living with HIV and of these;
- 2.7 million became newly infected in 2007.
- 15.5 million are women, ie 47% of all adults living with HIV worldwide.
Young people under 25 years old account for half of all new HIV infections worldwide.¹
27 million people have died of AIDS since 1981, including an estimated 2 million deaths in 2007.
Africa has 11.6 million AIDS orphan
Diagnoses of HIV in Papua New Guinea, Australia’s closest neighbour, are 64,000 – almost 2% of the population.²
Up to 17,000 Australians are currently living with HIV/AIDS including 12,000 in the age group 15-49.³
By the end of 2008 , 28 330 people had been infected with HIV, 10,348 had been diagnosed with AIDS and 6,767 deaths following AIDS had occurred.³
Over the past 10 years, the number of new HIV diagnoses in Australia increased by 38% from 718 in 1999 to 995 in 2008.³
In NSW an average of 366 diagnoses of HIV infection have been notified each year over the past 5 years.⁴
NSW recorded a stable population rate at around 6.0 per 100,000 population over the past 5 years.
Over the 25 year period 1981-2000, 13,269 men and 856 women have been diagnosed with HIV in NSW.³
The per capita rate of HIV diagnosis in Australia in 2006 – 2008 was at more than eight times higher among people
born in countries in sub-Saharan Africa than among Australian born people.
In NSW in 2001-2006, 20 per cent of HIV notifications were for people born in non-English speaking countries.
Worldwide HIV/AIDS has become a disease of young people. People under 25 years old account for half of all new
HIV infections and around 6,000 become infected with HIV every day.¹
The profile of HIV in Australia is very different to the global trend. For example in NSW, the largest proportion of HIV notifications is among men who have sex with men aged 30-39 and 40-49 years.³

^{Sourced from:

1. Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), 2008.

2. HIV AIDS in Papua New Guinea AUSAID. Accessed October 2009.

3. 2009 Annual Surveillance Report: HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis and Sexually Transmissible Infections in Australia, National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, University of New South Wales, 2009.

4. HIV notifications in NSW residents by quarter of disease onset. Jan-Mar2005 to Apr-Jun 2009, NSW Health Department Notifiable Diseases Database System (NDD)(HOIST), Communicable Diseases Branch and Epidemiology and Surveillance Branch, NSW Health Department.}