 | | If you have, or plan to have, more than one sex partner, | | | consider the following:
|
 | | Get tested for HIV
|
 | | If you are a woman who is planning to get | | | pregnant or who is pregnant, get tested as soon
as possible, before you have your baby.
|
| | Talk about HIV and other STDs with each partner before | | | you have sex.
|
| | Learn as much as you can about each partner’s past | | | behavior (sex and drug use) and consider the risks to
your health before you have sex.
|
| | Ask your partners if they have recently been tested for | | | HIV; encourage those who have not been tested to do
so.
|
| | Use a latex condom and lubricant every time you have | | | sex.
|
| | If you think you may have been exposed to another STD | | | such as gonorrhea, syphilis, or Chlamydia trachomatis
infection, get treatment. These diseases can increase
your risk of getting HIV.
|
| | Even if you think you have low risk for HIV infection, get tested | | | whenever you have a regular medical check-up.
|
| | Do not inject illicit drugs (drugs not prescribed by your doctor). | | | You can get HIV through needles, syringes, and other works if
they are contaminated with the blood of someone who has HIV.
Drugs also cloud your mind, which may result in riskier sex.
|
| | If you do inject drugs, do the following:
|
| | Use only clean needles, syringes, and other works.
|
| | Never share needles, syringes, or other works.
|
| | Be careful not to expose yourself to another person's | | | blood.
|
| | Get tested for HIV test at least once a year.
|
| | Consider getting counseling and treatment for your drug | | | use.
|
| | Do not have sex when you are taking drugs or drinking alcohol | | | because being high can make you more likely to take risks.
|
To protect yourself, remember these ABCs:
A=Abstinence
B=Be Faithful
C=Condoms
If you are a woman, there are even
more things you can do.
DO
| | Use a female condom.
|
| | Get tested, especially if you’re
|
pregnant.
| | If you are pregnant and have HIV, talk to your doctor about | | | taking medicine so your baby does not get your HIV.
|
DO NOT
| | Do not use spermicides that contain nonoxynol-9 (N-9). This | | | product may help keep you from getting pregnant, but it will not
protect you from HIV. In fact, using N-9 often may actually
make it easier for you to get HIV.
|
| | Do not count on most birth control methods to protect you from | | | HIV. The following birth control methods will NOT protect you
from HIV:
|
| | The pill
|
| | Diaphrams
|
| | Shots
|
| | Implants
|
| | N-9
|
| | Do not douche. Douching removes some of your body’s | | | natural protection.
|
|
