HIV
HIV attacks the immune system. There is no cure, but treatment controls the virus well enough that people live long, healthy lives - and an undetectable viral load means it is not passed on through sex.
Get tested for HIV
Why test for HIV?
When can I test?
HIV does not show up immediately after exposure.
What Is HIV?
HIV, the human immunodeficiency virus, attacks the body’s immune system. Without treatment it can lead to AIDS. There is currently no effective cure — once people get HIV, they have it for life — but proper medical care controls the virus. People who get on and stay on effective treatment live long, healthy lives and protect their partners.
HIV symptoms
Two to four weeks after infection some people get a flu-like illness — fever, chills, rash, night sweats, muscle aches, sore throat, fatigue, swollen lymph nodes or mouth ulcers. This is acute HIV infection, and it is when the amount of virus in the blood is highest and HIV is most easily passed on. Not everyone gets it, and those who do often put it down to flu. What follows is clinical latency, which can run for years with no symptoms at all while the virus continues to damage the immune system. Untreated, it eventually progresses to AIDS, with rapid weight loss, recurring fever, prolonged swelling of the lymph glands, extreme tiredness and infections the body would normally fight off. Symptoms cannot tell you your status at any point in that sequence — only a test can, and treatment started early keeps HIV from progressing at all. The early signs are the same in men and women, though some are more often reported by women; we cover those in early signs of HIV in females.
How is HIV spread?
Only certain body fluids transmit HIV. In practice that means sex without a condom and sharing drug injection equipment, and it can also pass during pregnancy, labor and delivery. A person’s viral load, other sexually transmitted infections, and alcohol or drug use all affect the chances of getting or transmitting it.
How is HIV treated?
HIV is treated with antiretroviral therapy, taken as prescribed by a healthcare provider. Treatment reduces the amount of HIV in the blood, and can lower it so far that a test cannot detect it. With an undetectable viral load, HIV is not transmitted to partners through sex. Starting treatment as soon as possible after diagnosis is what makes progression to AIDS uncommon today.
How common is HIV?
New HIV diagnoses in the United States, 2008–2023
702 cases
211 cases
2,514 cases
4,302 cases
856 cases
HIV, answered
Other infections
HIV often occurs alongside other STIs. Many panels screen for several at once.
HIV FAQs
How soon after exposure do HIV symptoms appear?
Most people have flu-like symptoms within two to four weeks after infection, lasting from a few days to several weeks. Symptoms alone do not confirm or rule out HIV — only a test does.
Is there a cure for HIV?
No. There is currently no effective cure, and once people get HIV they have it for life. Proper medical care controls the virus, and people on effective treatment live long, healthy lives.
What does undetectable mean?
Treatment can reduce the amount of HIV in the blood so far that a test cannot detect it. With an undetectable viral load, HIV is not transmitted to partners through sex.
Can I have HIV with no symptoms?
Yes. After the early stage comes clinical latency, where people may have no symptoms and feel well while still being able to transmit the virus.
Which HIV test detects it earliest?
The HIV RNA early-detection test finds the virus sooner after exposure than the 4th-generation antibody test, which makes it the option to consider when exposure was recent.
