you’re still negative?
- “If a guy had HIV, he’d tell me”
- “He didn’t mention HIV. So no need for condoms.”
- “I tested negative in the past, so must still be OK”
- “If I had HIV I’d know. I’d feel ‘different’.”
- “If I’ve got HIV I’d rather not know.”
- “I’ll wait until I’m ill before I test.”
- “I sometimes worry about getting HIV”
- “I got ill a few weeks after unsafe sex. Was it serious?”
Downloads about sex and
sexual health
“I sometimes worry about getting HIV”
But ever thought you might already have HIV? And be giving it to others? Thousands of us have picked it up without realising and infected people. The first weeks and months you have HIV you’re very infectious, with a much higher chance HIV is passed on during unprotected sex.
Between 8,000 and 10,000 gay men in the UK have HIV without knowing. Most think they’re still HIV negative. 1 in 4 gay men with HIV don’t realise they have it.
In some big city gay scenes nearly half of men with HIV may not know they have it.**source: Health Protection Agency, 2008 and J Dodds A tale of three cities, 2007.
So lots of us have HIV without realising. Now let’s bust some myths!