• What is HIV?
• How is HIV passed on?
• How is HIV not passed on?
• How can I prevent HIV infection after exposure?
• What HIV test do we use?
• When should I have an HIV test?
• Things to think about before having an HIV test
• Reasons not to test
• Reasons to test
• How will I be tested for HIV?
• What do the results mean?
• How reliable is the test?
• Can I get a certificate saying I'm HIV negative?
• Things to think about after having a negative HIV test result
• Things to think about after having a positive HIV test result

What is HIV?

HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus.

HIV infects and gradually destroys an infected person's immune system. This means your body is less able to fight off normal infections and germs and make any infections or illnesses harder to treat and take you longer to get better. With anti-HIV medication, HIV can be controlled.

Regular testing will ensure HIV infection is caught early and then is easier to control.

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How is HIV passed on?

The HIV virus is passed on from getting any of the following bodily fluids from a person who has HIV into your bloodstream: Semen (cum), blood, pre-cum, breast milk, menstrual blood and vaginal fluids.

The most common ways for these bodily fluids to get in to your bloodstream are:

• Having anal or vaginal sex without a condom
• Sharing a needle with someone, for example when sharing drugs

HIV can be transmitted from mother to baby through childbirth or breastmilk. Pregnant women with HIV can take anti-HIV drugs to prevent this from happening which is why pregnant women get tested as part of a routine series of tests. 

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How is HIV not passed on?

There is no risk of HIV being passed on from normal social contact with someone who is HIV positive. This includes: touching a person with HIV, kissing, sharing towels or clothes, sharing cups, plates or glasses with someone with HIV.

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How can I prevent HIV infection after exposure?

If you have been exposed to HIV within 72 hours, you can get Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP). If you take it as soon as possible, this may prevent HIV infection. For more information on PEP, please click here.

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What HIV test do we use?

You can find out if you have become infected with HIV by having a blood test done. When your body is infected with HIV it will produce antibodies which fight the infection and there will also be a HIV protein called p24 antigen present for a short time. The test that we use is looking for HIV antibodies in your blood and the virus itself.

The test is a fourth generation point of care HIV test used by many Sexual Health Centres in England.

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When should I have an HIV test?

It takes 12 weeks (3 months) for the antibodies to HIV to show up in blood. So you need to wait for 12 weeks from when you were at risk of being infected for the test to give you an accurate result. This is called the window period.

If you are tested within the window period and have a negative result, we will advise you to have another test when 12 weeks after exposure has passed. This will ensure that no infection is missed.

If the HIV test comes back reactive, Yorkshire MESMAC will arrange for a confirmatory test at your chosen sexual health clinic as soon as possible. This is because the test may have been triggered off by some other infection or some medication.

Yorkshire MESMAC recommends that if you are sexually active you should have an HIV test every 6 months.

If you think you may have been at risk four weeks ago, you can get in touch with your Sexual Health Clinic to see if they will be able to do an HIV test that can detect HIV faster. This test is called a 4th generation HIV test which detect HIV itself as well as HIV antibodies. This test will involve a full blood sample to be taken from your arm.

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Things to think about before having an HIV test

Having an HIV test can have a big impact on you whether you have a positive or negative result. Only you can decide if having an HIV test is right for you. You should not be pressured into having a test by other people.

Below are some of the reasons not to have an HIV and some of the reasons to have an HIV test. Everyone is different and you might have reasons of your own.

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Reasons not to test

Reasons to test

How will I be tested for HIV?

You will have a chat with a trained worker to discuss risk and how to minimise risk in the future. When you are aware of what the test involves and agree to it, we will do the test.

The test for HIV that Testing Times uses will need a finger prick of blood. No needles are seen. The test takes 20 minutes for the result to come back.

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What do the results mean?

If the test doesn't find any HIV or HIV antibodies after 12 weeks and you haven't been exposed to the virus within 12 weeks, you are negative. This means you didn't have HIV 12 weeks ago. This does not mean that you are immune.

If the test comes back reactive this means that the test has been triggered by something in your blood. There is a slim chance that it may not be HIV so we will need to arrange a confirmatory test at the Sexual Health Centre of your choice. You can pass the virus on to other people through having sex without a condom and sharing needles.

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How reliable is the test?

If the test comes back negative and you have not been at risk of HIV infection within 12 weeks, we are confident that you are HIV negative.

If the test comes back reactive, we need to arrange a confirmatory test at the Sexual Health Centre of your choice. There is a slim chance that the test may have been triggered off by something that is not HIV.

This is a result for you and does not tell you anybody else’s status, don’t assume that your partner has the same status.

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Can I get a certificate saying I'm HIV negative?

No, the test can only say that you were HIV negative 12 weeks ago. We are unable to supply a certificate as we don't know if you have been exposed to HIV within 12 weeks and the result is already out of date so may not be a reliable indicator of your current HIV status today.

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Things to think about after having a negative HIV test result

Getting a negative result doesn’t mean that you are immune from HIV. You might want to think about the times you have been uncomfortable with the risks you have taken and how you might deal with these in the future.

The result tells you what your HIV status was 12 weeks ago if you have had unprotected sex or shared injecting equipment in the last 12 weeks you may want to take another test.

This is a result for you and does not tell you anybody else’s status, don’t assume that your partner has the same status.

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Things to think about after having a positive HIV test result

This is a result for you and does not tell you anybody else’s status, don’t assume that your partner has the same status.

A positive result could mean that you face discrimination from some people if they know about your status.

If you are HIV positive you can pass HIV onto other people through unprotected sex, sharing injecting equipment and through breast feeding.

You may want to make changes in your life. Remember that you may be in shock and might not be thinking very clearly. Wait till things settle down until you make any major decisions.

Similarly, you might want to tell lots of people about being positive. It's important you have someone you can talk to, but at this stage, try only to talk to people you really trust. You can always tell people later; but you can't ever untell them.

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