{"id":5938,"date":"2021-06-01T12:00:37","date_gmt":"2021-06-01T12:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/?page_id=5938"},"modified":"2022-09-12T16:35:12","modified_gmt":"2022-09-12T16:35:12","slug":"introduction","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/testing\/introduction","title":{"rendered":"Introduction"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-14814\" src=\"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Test-trans-Jan2020-cover-210x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"159\" height=\"226\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Test-trans-Jan2020-cover-210x300.png 210w, https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Test-trans-Jan2020-cover-768x1098.png 768w, https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Test-trans-Jan2020-cover-716x1024.png 716w, https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Test-trans-Jan2020-cover.png 813w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 159px) 100vw, 159px\" \/>Over the last few years, HIV rates in the UK and many other countries have started to drop.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>This is because of a combination of reasons.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>More frequent HIV testing.<\/li>\n<li>Earlier diagnoses.<\/li>\n<li>Starting HIV treatment (ART) earlier.<\/li>\n<li>Better HIV drugs that are easier to take and reduce viral load more quickly.<\/li>\n<li>Wider use of PrEP.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>But knowing how to protect your sexual health is still very important &#8211; whether you are HIV positive or HIV negative.<\/p>\n<p><strong>This guide is about sexual transmission of HIV and HIV testing.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><b style=\"color: #333333; font-style: normal;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-14808\" src=\"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Intro-quote-259x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"259\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Intro-quote-259x300.png 259w, https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Intro-quote.png 479w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 259px) 100vw, 259px\" \/><\/b><\/p>\n<p>It includes information on:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>How HIV risk is more than just about condoms.<\/li>\n<li>How and when different HIV tests can be used.<\/li>\n<li>What test results mean, especially in relation to the time since your last potential risk.<\/li>\n<li>The importance of making your own decisions about your sexual health.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This guide is written for people who want to have sex.<\/p>\n<p>This booklet is focused on different risks for transmission and on ways to stay HIV negative.<\/p>\n<p>But sex is complicated. Even when being careful, some people will still become HIV positive.<\/p>\n<p>If this happens, there is little to gain from looking back. ART is very effective.<\/p>\n<p><b>If you are HIV positive, i-Base and other organisations can help.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<h2>Changes to the 5th edition<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The main change to this edition is the UK recommendation to wait for six weeks before testing. This is based on new\u00a0UK guidelines in 2020.<\/li>\n<li>There is also wider confidence that ART stops HIV, even if you don\u2019t use condoms. Most HIV positive people are now diagnosed and are on ART.<\/li>\n<li>PrEP is also more widely used to protect against HIV.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0In the UK, PrEP is now available free on the NHS.<\/span><\/li>\n<li>PrEP is when an HIV negative person uses HIV drugs to prevent infection. When used correctly PrEP reduces the risk of transmission by more than 99%.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over the last few years, HIV rates in the UK and many other countries have started to drop. This is because of a combination of reasons. More frequent HIV testing. Earlier diagnoses. Starting HIV treatment (ART) earlier. Better HIV drugs &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":5467,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-guides.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5938","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5938\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}