For those who’re at a excessive danger of an infection — for instance, in case your present sexual associate has HIV — taking an oral or injectable medicine referred to as PrEP can decrease your danger of contracting HIV from intercourse by about 99 p.c.
PrEP tablets may lower the danger of transmission amongst individuals who inject medicine by greater than 74 p.c. PrEP injections should not really helpful for individuals who inject medicine.
Along with taking PrEP, individuals who inject medicine can decrease their HIV danger by utilizing sterile needles and syringes. These might be obtained with out a prescription at pharmacies and thru syringe applications by state or native well being departments.
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When used appropriately, condoms may decrease the danger of transmitting HIV in addition to different sexually transmitted infections (STIs), together with syphilis, herpes, gonorrhea, and chlamydia. If a sexual associate has an untreated STI or an an infection resembling bacterial vaginosis, the danger of getting HIV will increase as a lot as 8 instances. To lower your danger of HIV, it’s vital to be examined for STIs, too.
When you have HIV, you possibly can drastically scale back the percentages of passing alongside the virus by taking antiretroviral remedy (ART). These medicines can decrease the quantity of HIV that resides within the physique, referred to as viral load, to a stage that’s undetectable by trendy testing. Folks with HIV who take ART as prescribed and hold an undetectable viral load don’t transmit HIV via intercourse.
