Women and HIV

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What is HIV?

HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS.

HIV is a virus that attacks your immune system. The immune system has “T cells” that help protect your body from disease. A person with HIV does not have as many “T cells” as a healthy person. HIV makes it hard for your body to fight off sickness.

A person with HIV is called HIV positive (HIV+).

How do you get HIV?

You can get HIV by:

You can’t get HIV by:

What are the signs?

It may take a few weeks or months for the HIV to show up on a test. This is called the “window period”. This means that a person who was just infected may not test positive, even though they have the virus. During the “window period” a person can pass the virus to others.

Always protect yourself from HIV.

How do you get tested for HIV?

There are three main types of tests for HIV:

How do you get treated for HIV?

What should pregnant women know about HIV?

What can you do if you are HIV+?

To learn more:

FDA HIV/AIDS Program
www.fda.gov/oashi/aids/hiv.html

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Phone: 1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636)
TTY/TDD: 1-888-232-6348

The National Women’s Health Information Center
Phone: 1-800-994-WOMAN (1-800-994-9662)
TTY/TDD: 1-888-220-5446
www.4woman.gov/hiv/

AIDSinfo
www.aidsinfo.nih.gov
Phone: 1-800-448-0440
TTY/TDD: 1-888-480-3739

FDA Office of Women’s Health
www.fda.gov/womens

2007