The surest way to avoid the transmission of HIV and AIDS is to abstain from sexual contact or to be in a long term monogamous relationship with a partner who has been tested and is known to be uninfected. Other ways to prevent the contraction of HIV or AIDS are:
- Do not have sex, including oral and anal sex, with anyone who is infected with HIV or AIDS,
- Reduce your number of sex partners to one,
- Know you partners sexual history and find out whether your partner has engaged in high-risk behaviors,
- Avoid alcohol and drugs which can impair both your judgment and your immune system, and
- Do not share or use needles that have used by anyone.
TESTING
HIV-1 testing consists of initial screening with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect antibodies to HIV-1. Specimens with a nonreactive result from the initial ELISA are considered HIV-negative unless new exposure to an infected partner or partner of unknown HIV status has occurred.
Specimens with a reactive ELISA result are retested. If the result of either duplicate test is reactive, the specimen is reported as repeatedly reactive and undergoes confirmatory testing with a more specific supplemental test (e.g., Western blot) or, less commonly, an immunofluorescence assay (IFA). Only specimens that are repeatedly reactive by ELISA and positive by IFA or reactive by Western blot are considered HIV-positive and indicative of HIV infection.
