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When it comes to your health, knowledge is power. AvitaCare Atlanta provides HIV and AIDS education that empowers you to make healthier choices and adopt safer practices. This education creates a supportive, stigma-free environment where everyone thrives.
Despite advances in treatment, the battle against HIV continues, with new cases occurring every day, particularly in communities of color and women. Learn the latest facts you need to know to fight against the virus.
PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) is a once-daily pill that prevents HIV by 99%. When taken as prescribed, PrEP is one of our most powerful tools in the fight against HIV. This preventative medication stops the HIV virus from spreading in your body but does not protect against other STIs.
When taken as prescribed, PrEP reaches maximum protection after 7 days when HIV risk is related to anal sex and 21 days when related to vaginal sex. This pill taken once daily can be further effective at preventing HIV and other STIs when used in combination with condoms and Doxy-PEP.
There is also an injectable PrEP with Cabotegravir (Apretude) that is highly effective at protecting adults and adolescents who weigh at least 77 pounds at risk of getting HIV through sex. Apretude is FDA approved as an intramuscular injection in the buttocks initiated as a first injection followed by a second injection 1 month later and then continued with an injection every 2 months thereafter (source CDC.gov).
PrEP is covered by most insurance and is often available at no or low-cost to males and females. New forms of PrEP (including pills and injections) are becoming available and may be right for you. Talk to your AvitaCare Atlanta provider about which form of PrEP is the best fit for you.
Condoms are highly effective in preventing HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), like gonorrhea and chlamydia.
Use water-based or silicone-based lubricants to help prevent condoms from breaking or slipping during sex.
Learn the right way to use an external condom (sometimes called a male condom) and an internal condom (sometimes called a female condom).
Doxycycline Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (doxy-PEP) is a prevention tool used to reduce the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea. Taking doxy-PEP lowers the risk of chlamydia by 88% and gonorrhea and syphilis by over 50%. This antibiotic is most effective at preventing STIs when taken within 24 to 72 hours after unprotected sex.
Use new, clean syringes and injection equipment every time you inject. Find out if your community has syringe services programs (SSPs) where you can get new needles and syringes and safely dispose of used ones. Some pharmacies will also sell needles without a prescription.
If you do share needles, syringes, or other drug injection equipment, clean them with bleach. A disinfected syringe is not as good as a new, sterile syringe, but it can greatly reduce your risk for HIV and viral hepatitis.
Getting tested and treated for other STIs can lower your chances of getting HIV. Often, people who have STIs do not have any symptoms. To make sure you don’t have an STI and to know your HIV status, it’s important to get tested early and often.
AvitaCare Atlanta has an onsite, state-of-art laboratory. Results can be provided within hours instead of days. To learn about our fearless testing process or schedule an appointment, click the Be Fearless. Get Tested. link.
We want you and your partner to stay healthy. If you are already living with HIV, getting and staying on treatment can make undetectable the amount of virus in your system also known as viral load. Having an undetected viral load means you will not pass HIV to your sexual partner. Click to learn more or get a consultation about our compassionate and comprehensive in-person and online HIV Care program.
The CDC recommends for everyone between the ages of 13 and 64 get tested for HIV at least once.
Get tested at least once a year if you:
Are a man who has sex with other men (MSM)
Had anal or vaginal sex with someone who has HIV
Had more than one sex partner since your last HIV test
Share needles, syringes, or other drug injection equipment
Were treated for another sexually transmitted infection
Were treated for hepatitis or tuberculosis (TB).
The CDC recommends for everyone between the ages of 13 and 64 get tested for HIV at least once.
Get tested at least once a year if you:
Are a man who has sex with other men (MSM)
Had anal or vaginal sex with someone who has HIV
Had more than one sex partner since your last HIV test
Share needles, syringes, or other drug injection equipment
Were treated for another sexually transmitted infection
Were treated for hepatitis or tuberculosis (TB).
HIV tests are covered by health insurance without a co-pay, as required by the Affordable Care Act. If you do not have medical insurance, some places offer free or low-cost tests.
If you test for HIV and have a positive result, you will need a follow-up test to confirm you are actually positive. If the follow-up test is also positive, it means you have HIV.
No. Testing positive for HIV does not mean you have AIDS.
AIDS is the most advanced stage of HIV disease. HIV is the virus that can lead to AIDS if a person with HIV does not get treatment or care. When people living with HIV take their HIV treatment as prescribed, they can live long, healthy lives.
There is a window period between becoming exposed to HIV and when a test can detect HIV in your body. If you get an HIV test and the result is negative, get tested again after the window period for the test you took.
If you test again after the window period, and are not exposed to HIV during that time, and the result is negative, you do not have HIV.
No. Your HIV test result only reveals your status. Consider getting tested together so you can both know your HIV status and take steps to keep yourselves healthy.
If you receive an HIV diagnosis, it means that you have HIV.
There is no cure for HIV. Once you have HIV, you have it for life.
People with HIV who get effective HIV treatment live long, healthy lives and protect their partners.
Receiving an HIV diagnosis can be life changing. You may feel many emotions—sadness, hopelessness, or anger. AvitaCare Atlanta providers will help you through every stage of your diagnosis and treatment journey.
Get into care and take your HIV medication as prescribed.
Taking HIV medicine consistently can reduce the amount of HIV in the blood (called viral load).
HIV medicine can make the viral load so low that a test can’t detect it (called an undetectable viral load).
Getting and keeping an undetectable viral load (or staying virally suppressed) is the best thing you can do to stay healthy and prevents transmission to others.
If you have an undetectable viral load, you will not transmit HIV to your partner. Most people can get the virus under control within six months.
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