What is HIV and How Do I Get it?

What is HIV?

What is HIV and how do I get it?

Human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, is a virus that lives and reproduces within the body. Over time, the virus will eventually destroy the immune system, making the body susceptible to illnesses and infections that a healthy person would normally be able to fight off.

HIV is carried within the blood, semen, vaginal fluid and breast-milk. It can be passed from person to person where contact with these fluids is possible, such as unprotected anal, vaginal and oral sex, sharing injecting equipment, breastfeeding and blood transfusions.

Since when?

A relatively new illness, HIV first came into public consciousness in the late 1970s in the USA as rare types of cancer, pneumonia and other opportunistic infections began to appear in homosexual male patients, however at the time little known was about the condition. By 1983, scientists had discovered the virus and studied its effects on the immune system.

So, walk me through all the medical stuff

The immune system is made up of different kinds of cells whose job it is to fight infection, namely CD4+ T cells. The virus attaches itself to these cells and triggers a sequence of events that make the cell ‘self-destruct’, not only reducing the number of infection-fighting CD4+ T cells in the body but also giving the virus a place to replicate before the cell self-destructs, allowing it to release more of itself into the body.

With a reduced capacity to fight infection due to a lack of CD4+ T cells, a person is considered to have AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) when their number of cells falls below 200 cells per cubic millimetre of blood, or they develop one or more opportunistic infections irrespective of their CD4 cell count. For reference, a person with an immune system in good working order has a CD4 count of between 500 and 1600 cells/cubic millimetre of blood.

Is there a cure?

Like with other blood-borne viruses, HIV is for life, but it is now considered a manageable illness instead of the ‘death sentence’ it once was. Over the past few decades, scientists have created antiretroviral (ARV) drugs to treat HIV, which slow and inhibit the replication of the virus in the body, and also reduce the chance of transmission, leading to a longer and better quality of life for people living with the condition.

In Australia, access to these medications is available through the PBS (Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme) and sees 83% of people living with HIV in our country being treated.

Other innovations in HIV treatment and prevention include PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) and PEP (Post-Exposure Prophylaxis) which are once-a-day and month-long courses of tablets respectively, which stop the transmission of the virus either before or after infection. PrEP has been available on the PBS since March 2019, with roughly one-third of eligible people accessing the medication, and is also available without a Medicare card, as it can be imported from overseas. Being a once-a-day tablet, it can be used on demand for people who can plan or predict their sexual activity.

By being treated with ARVs, a person living with HIV can lower the amount of the virus within the blood, and when there are below 200 copies per millilitre of blood, the person is deemed to have an undetectable viral load. With an undetectable viral load, HIV is considered to be untransmittable through having sex, although having unprotected sex can still leave you at risk of catching other STIs.

Am I alone?

We are lucky to live in a time where stigma towards HIV is the lowest it has historically ever been, and while there is still a way to go, there are many resources available to help treat, educate and support people living with the condition and their loved ones. These resources and initiatives such as World AIDS Day, the WA AIDS Council, and many others have helped bring this health issue into the public forum and change community misconception of what HIV means.

It’s estimated that there are 28,180 people living with HIV in Australia, and 37.9 million people worldwide as of 2018. On a global scale, HIV is still a major health issue in developing countries, with approximately 70% of all cases being found in Africa. However, in Australia, we have seen a yearly decrease in notifications, down to 833 notifications nationwide in 2018, although these figures also show that an estimated 9% of Australian’s living with HIV are still undiagnosed.

What can we do?

Winning the fight against HIV is all about prevention, education, early intervention and regular testing, and living by these simple steps you can do your bit to help.

Get tested. Test often and early if you believe you are at risk.
If you believe you are at high risk of contracting HIV, speak with a trusted medical professional who can provide you with the most up to date treatment and management information
Make the use of PrEP a part of your sexual protection to reduce the chance of HIV transmission
Use condoms with new partners to protect from risk of other STIs
Educate the people around you with facts, resources like the World Health Organisation and the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations are great places to get the most up to date stats, facts and avoid all the fake news and misinformation.

What is HIV?

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