I am HIV positive and don’t want to infect

I am HIV positive and don’t want to infect
others. What should I do?
Understanding how HIV is transmitted is an important step
in prevention. Talk with your doctor about how HIV is
transmitted and what you can do to prevent infecting others.
Each time you visit your doctor, discuss your high-risk
behaviors, such as unprotected sex and needle sharing.
You may feel reluctant to talk with your doctor about your
high-risk behaviors. It can be difficult to change behaviors,
even when you want to. However, it is important to be honest
with your doctor about risky activities. You and your doctor
can then discuss ways to minimize the risk of infecting others.
If you are a woman, you and your doctor should discuss ways
to prevent pregnancy. If you want to become pregnant, you
and your doctor can talk about what you should do to prevent
transmitting HIV to your baby (see HIV During Pregnancy,
Labor and Delivery, and After Birth Fact Sheet Series).
How can I prevent infecting someone else?
Successful HIV treatment can lower your viral load, which
may reduce the risk of HIV transmission. But there are other
factors that influence sexual transmission of HIV, such as:
• presence of other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)
• genital irritation
• menstruation
• lack of circumcision in men
• taking birth control pills
• hormone imbalances
• vitamin and mineral deficiencies
Always use prevention strategies, such as condoms and safer
sex practices. If you inject drugs, don’t share your works with
anyone else. Talk with your doctor if you have trouble sticking
to these prevention strategies. You and your doctor can then
find ways to make your high-risk behaviors safer.
Should I tell my partners that I am HIV
infected?
Yes. It is very important that you tell your sexual partners and
people with whom you have shared injected drugs that they
may have been exposed to HIV and should be tested. You and
your doctor can discuss the best way to notify your partners.
Some health departments and HIV clinics have anonymous
partner notification systems—your partners are told that they
have been exposed but are not told who reported their names
or when the reported exposure occurred.
It is important to use HIV prevention strategies even if your
partner is also HIV positive. Your partner may have a different
strain of the virus that could act differently in your body or be
resistant to different anti-HIV medications.
I am taking anti-HIV medications and my viral
load is undetectable. Am I cured? Can I infect
others?
An undetectable viral load does not mean that you are cured. It
means that the amount of HIV in your blood is so low that the
viral load tests cannot detect it. You are still infected with HIV
and can infect others. You should continue to use prevention
strategies and should see your doctor regularly.