There are many ways to lower your r...

There are many ways to lower your risk of getting human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. You can win HIV infection from blood, sperm or vaginal fluid. If a mother has HIV infection, her baby can become infected during birth or from breastfeeding.

in what way can I lower my risk of getting HIV?

Talk honestly about HIV with your sex partner:

* Ask your partner about his or her HIV status.

* Ask your partner if he or she has had a new HIV test. Ask if your partner has been touchstoneed for other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) as it was as gonorrhea or syphilis.

* Do not do anything more than kiss until you and your partner have had HIV tests

* If you are pregnant, gain tested for HIV. If you have HIV infection, there are medicines that can preserve you and your baby.

Use a condom whenever you have sex:

* Always carry condoms with you.

* continue condoms near your bed.

* Ask your partner to use a condom each time you have sex. Unles a condom is used, do not have any sex including anal or oral sex

barely have one sex partner:

* Stop seeing your partner if he or she is having sex with other people

* Break up with your partner before you have sex with a novel partner.

Do not use remedys or alcohol before sex:

* It's better to not use medicines at all.

* If you use medicines and cannot stop, use clean needle syringes, "cottons," and "cookers" Cottons are filters used to draw up a remedy solution. Cookers include bottle caps, spoon and other containers used to dissolve drugs

* Make an appointment at a unsalable article treatment center or an alcohol treatment center

What if I am already infected?

If you already have HIV infection, you can lower the risk of giving the virus to others. Here are a certain things you can do:

* Take your HIV mix with drugss the right way so that they will withhold working.

* Consider not having any sex

* If you want to continue having sex talk honestly with your partner about your HIV status. Ask about his or her HIV status.

* preserve using condoms with your partner, calm if you both have HIV. Use a condom each time you have oral, anal, or vaginal sex

* If you are a remedy user, do not share needle and other "drug works."

* describe your doctor right away if you are pregnant.

COPYRIGHT 2004 American Academy of Family Physicians

COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group