Question
Can someone be HIV negative but an HIV “carrier”?
26 March 2010. Related: All topics.
Answer
No, people are either HIV positive or HIV negative. There is no such thing as a carrier – and the word is not relevant to HIV.
You cannot tell if anyone is HIV positive. The way to know if someone is HIV positive is if they tell you about their status and they have had conclusive evidence from an HIV test.
For more information on testing and transmission please follow this link to the i-Base factsheet.
We have been together for 10yrs but I tested positive and we not using condoms. How come he is testing negative.
Hi Nesu,
Unfortunately it’s not always easy to know how somebody was infected. Some people are born HIV positive if their mother has HIV. Others are infected through blood transfusions. But most people are infected through unprotected sex. You can read about the ways HIV is transmitted in our testing and transmission guide.
I have been diagonised HIV positive in 2008 and have been sleeping with my husband everyday of my life without using any protection. Today my husband has tested negative. Where could I possibly have gotten the virus because I never slept with anyone else and was never imposed to HIV situation.
Hi Loise,
It’s very important that this young woman is told about her HIV status. She is no longer a child and needs to be given control over her own health. She has been lucky not to have fallen sick so far, but she is likely to need treatment at some point in the future. HIV treatment can prevent her from getting ill.
While she doesn’t know that she has HIV this young woman is at risk of getting very ill. It is also possible that she could pass the infection to a sexual partner.
Hallo,
I know of someone who was detected positive at 6 years, confirmed again at 15 years and she is now 19 years. She is un aware of it and has never taken any form of medications apart from the normal medicines. She rarely falls sick but the only person who knows the truth is very worried. she does not know how and when to deliver the shocking news and what will happen when the `victim`starts falling sick.. What would you advice? and in the mean time, what symptoms should the person be on the look out for?
Hi Mudzhi,
Right now anybody taking ARVs should plan to take these for the rest of their life. If you are already treatment this is will be the case for you.
If you’re not on treatment yet then you may be able to take a short course of treatment during your pregnancy, and stop after you give birth.
How ARVs are used during pregnancy is explained in our pregnancy guide.
What is it about taking ARVs that you are frightened of?
I am positive but my partner is not,I am planning to have a baby but I am afraid to take ARVs for the rest of my life. My viral load is undetactable and CD4 count is 600. Does this mean I will take the ARVs for the rest of my life if I plan to have a baby?
These are things your friend needs to talk about with here doctor and HIV health care team. Getting an HIV positive test result is difficult and stressful. It takes time and support. Learning you are positive when you are pregnant also involves finding out about treatment, and using this during the pregnancy to reduce the risk of passing HIV to the baby.
This is all more important than understanding how the infection occurred, which may have been months or years earlier. Most people will never know when or how they were actually infected, and looking back is not as important as looking forward.
If your friend’s boyfriend is negative then he does not have HIV and has just been lucky if they did not use condoms. He could still become infected in the future though, so probably needs to confirm the test in a few months.
This guide has more information about HIV and pregnancy.
My friend tested positive while she was pregnant n his bf tested negative,my freind says they did sex even if she was on her period,she doesn’t how she get infected and how his bf is negative while they do unprotected sex. please clarify
It sounds like both you and your girlfriend need to talk to the doctor at the testing centre. It is very difficult to try and find out when someone became positive, but this might involve you both having your tests confirmed. You can not infect someone if you are HIV negative. I think the term that may have been used is DISCORDANT couple. This is used when one person is positive and the other is negative. Lots of positive people have relationships with negative people and this can include having children. Treatment for your girlfriend can reduce the chance of the baby having HIV.