The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) causes AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). HIV attacks the immune system, damaging white blood cells (T-cells). Eventually the body is no longer able to fight off diseases it could before. Most people who contract HIV eventually progress to AIDS. Situations that can activate the virus are re-exposure to the virus, poor diet, alcohol/drug misuse, excessive stress, other infections, and trauma (surgeries, accidents, etc.)

A person may have no symptoms for 11 years or more after being infected. During this time, the person can unknowingly pass the virus to others as early as 8 hours after being infected. When symptoms begin, they may include rapid and extreme weight loss, excessive tiredness, lack of appetite, profound diarrhea, fever, swollen glands, severe night sweats, and unexplained rash or purplish blotches on the skin.

No, HIV is not spread through saliva. Four body fluids that can carry the HIV virus are blood, semen, vaginal fluids, and breast milk.

No, you cannot get HIV from toilet seats. Also, you cannot get HIV from:

• Swimming pools, public showers or bathrooms
• Drinking fountains
• Being in the same room with someone who has HIV or AIDS
• Donating blood
• Touching, hugging, dry kissing

Yes, the HIV virus can be spread from mother to baby through breast milk. The other ways of getting the HIV virus are through unprotected sex – oral, anal, and vaginal, and/or by sharing needles.

• You may choose not to have sex.
• Have sex with only one low-risk person who only has sex with you.
• Know your partner well enough to know they do not engage in activities that may expose them to the virus.
• Limit your number of sexual partners.
• Always use latex or plastic condoms with a water-based lubricant.
• Do not share injection drug equipment (works), tattooing equipment piercing equipment, razors or toothbrushes.
• Clean your injection drug equipment (works) with bleach and water.
• Use condoms and dental damsfor oral sex. 

• At the end of 2003, an estimated 1,039,000 to 1,185,000 persons in the United States were living with HIV/AIDS, with 24-27% undiagnosed and unaware of their HIV infection.
• In 2004, 38,730 cases of HIV/AIDS were diagnosed in the 35 areas (33 states, Guam, and the US Virgin Islands) with long-term, confidential name-based HIV reporting. The CDC has estimated that approximately 40,000 persons become infected with HIV each year.
• In the U.S., the cumulative estimated number of deaths of persons with AIDS through 2004 is 529,113.
• For African-American men between the ages of 25 and 44, HIV is the fourth leading cause of death. It is the third leading cause of death for African-American women between the ages of 25 and 44.
• About 71% of women currently living with HIV were infected through heterosexual sex, and 27% infected through injection drug use.
• If a pregnant woman who is HIV positive takes HIV medications, her risk of passing the virus on to her baby lowers to less than 2% compared with approximately 25% when no interventions are given.
• The Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) now estimates that 16,200 residents are living with HIV disease in Michigan.

Yes, there are some medicines that may slow down the replication process of HIV. However, there is no known cure or medication that kills the virus or repairs the damage that HIV causes to the immune system. Everybody who contracts HIV may not progress to an AIDS diagnosis. Currently we do not know how many people are infected with HIV, which is why it is very important to use a latex or plastic barrier for oral, anal, and vaginal sex.

• I am a man who has had sex with a man.
• I have had sex with a man who has sex with other men.
• I have had sex with a man who has sex with both men and women.
• I have shared or am now sharing injection drug needles.
• I have had sex with someone who has shared injection drug needles.
• I have had sex with someone who has sex with many partners.
• I have had sexual partners that I did not know well.
• I have, or my sex partner has, exchanged drugs or money for sex.
• I had blood transfusions between 1978 and March of 1985.
• I have hemophilia (bleeder).
• I had sex with someone who has hemophilia (bleeder).
• I have checked one or more statements above and am pregnant or considering pregnancy.

Testing is FREE and we WILL NOT ask your name. The "AIDS Test," as it is often called, is not a test for AIDS. The test:

does not tell if you have AIDS.
does not tell if you will ever get AIDS.
CAN tell if you have been infected with the AIDS virus.

Please visit these websites for more information regarding how the virus is passed, statistics for Michigan and the United States, treatment for HIV/AIDS, and confidentiality around this infection:

http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/default.html/

https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/hivaids.html

http://michigan.gov/mdhhs/0,5885,7-339-71550_2955_2982---,00.html

No. You DO need to tell your sex or needle sharing partner(s) before having sex or sharing needles

You could be infected with the AIDS virus if one or more of the following apply:

• I am a man who has had sex with a man.
• I have had sex with a man who has sex with other men.
• I have had sex with a man who has sex with both men and women.
• I have shared or am now sharing injection drug needles.
• I have had sex with someone who has shared injection drug needles.
• I have had sex with someone who has sex with many partners.
• I have had sexual partners that I did not know well.
• I have, or my sex partner has, exchanged drugs or money for sex.
• I had blood transfusions between 1978 and March of 1985.
• I have hemophilia (bleeder).
• I had sex with someone who has hemophilia (bleeder).
• I have checked one more more statement above and am pregnant or considering pregnancy.