This recent headline is a shocking wake up call for Australia as it loses the war on HIV infection rates. The underlying message here is of course safe sex prevents HIV transmission. However, a second message is highlighted by the fact that this sort of infection is nor the normal method of HIV transmission. That is the person transmitting the HIV virus to an un-expecting individual is mostly unaware they even carry the virus themselves. So ignoring this shocking headline lest look at that majority of HIV infections. They are as a result of unprotected sexual contact between with an HIV infected individual who does not know they are infected. So, how does that happen. They also had unprotected sex with an HIV infected person who did not know they were infected or shared a needle with a drug user who did not know they were infected. Most certainly those same individuals, whilst not knowing they carried the HIV virus did know they had been at risk, they did know they had had unprotected sex or shared a drug needle. You may well be reading this blog following such an event worrying if you have been infected. You have two options now. Firstly, do nothing and risk being yet another person in the chain unknowingly infecting others with HIV or to test. Test now. More testing saves lives. You may very well be carrying the stress of uncertainty with you for no reason, but just in case you have been infected with HIV your life and the lives of others depends on you carrying out HIV testing now. Purchase HIV self-test kits and you can test for HIV in the privacy of your home. HIV self-testing removes any obstacle or embarrassment or convenience that may put people off testing through the STD/STI clinics. Anything that can increase HIV testing rates following unsafe sex is a set in the right direction for reducing HIV infection rates in Australia.
You can purchase HIV self-test kits from https://buystdtestkits.com.
For more information about HIV infections and risks please read
If you have been recently infected with HIV or wish to know more about the stages of HIV you can read https://www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics/overview/about-hiv-and-aids/symptoms-of-hiv