2.5. I am living with HIV - how do I prevent passing on the virus?

When you are HIV positive, you have a big responsibility to make sure you don't pass the virus on to others:
* If you are having sex it is important to remember that you should practise safe sex to avoid infecting your partner. This means that you need to use a condom each and every time you have sex.
* It is important to practise safe sex even if your partner is HIV negative. You can still come into contact with STIs and viruses such as hepatitis B and hepatitis C, which can be sexually transmitted and can have very serious health consequences for you.
* You need to practice safe sex if both you and your partner are HIV positive. You can re-infect each other with a different strain of the virus which will make your treatment not as successful as it could be.
* You cannot spread the virus through casual contact such as using the same cups, sleeping in the same bed etc.
See 1.3 How do I get infected?
- end of chapter -



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