Whether you've just found out that you're HIV-positive or you've known for years, you need to read these starter kits. They were written by individuals with HIV, and they are your Starter Kits on how to stay alive.
You are in the right place if you just found out you have HIV. Yeah, me too. This web page is the beginnings of your Survival Kit. I'm not a doctor or professional counselor I'm just a person with HIV, and I've gone through the same thing you're going through.
It can be very scary to learn that your AIDS blood test came back positive, but it's not a death sentence. The test means that you are infected with the virus that causes AIDS, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Even though there is no cure for HIV disease, there are many new treatments that help keep the disease under control.
Becoming Informed
A positive HIV antibody test is scary news but it's not a death sentence. Many people are alive and well 15 years or more after becoming HIV positive. Your best medicines are attitude and knowledge. Find out all you can and be assertive. It's you versus HIV.
Reporting AIDS focuses on the people, policies and issues facing the global community. Shows appear twice a month with in-depth interviews conducted by host John Mikytuck.
Healthology is one of the leading producers and distributors of physician-generated health and medical information on the Internet for consumers, patients and health professionals. It has one of the largest and most distinguished libraries of original video and text-based health content on the Web.
Dr. Kuhn is a co-founder of Global Lifeworks. In this video she covers critical basic information about HIV and AIDS. HIV is a virus that causes the disease AIDS, which can be fatal. There are treatments but no cure. HIV is spread by contact between body fluids (blood, semen, vaginal fluids, and breast milk) and mucous membranes (eyes, nose, mouth, and genitals). It is spread by sexual contact, injection drugs users sharing needles, from mother to child during childbirth or nursing, and (early on during the epidemic) by receiving blood transfusions.
Dr. Kuhn is a co-founder of Global Lifeworks. In this video Dr. Kuhn discusses the symptoms of primary HIV infection and the importance of seeing your doctor and requesting immediate HIV testing.
Dr. Kuhn is a co-founder of Global Lifeworks. In this video Dr. Kuhn explains how injection drug users can reduce their risk of contracting or transmitting HIV.
Dr. Kuhn is a co-founder of Global Lifeworks. In this video Dr. Kuhn discusses how men who have sex with men (MSM) can reduce their risk of contracting or transmitting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Dr. Kuhn is a co-founder of Global Lifeworks. In this video Dr. Kuhn discusses how the use of crystal methamphetamine (a.k.a. meth, tina, crank, speed, tweak, ice, glass, or crystal) is ... all » contributing to the spread of HIV.
Dr. Kuhn is a co-founder of Global Lifeworks. In this video Dr. Kuhn discusses the US Centers for Disease Control recommendation that all people age 13-64 be tested for HIV when they visit the doctor.
Dr. Kuhn is a co-founder of Global Lifeworks. In this video Dr. Kuhn discusses why it's so important for HIV positive people to take their antiretroviral medications (ARVs) at the prescribed dosages on the prescribed schedules.
All about OIs, how to avoid them, how to treat them. This is the most comprehensive source of information on opportunistic infections anywhere on the Internet.
By the way, the Discovery Channel used our Opportunistic Infection section as part of its science curriculum during the fall of 1997.
One of the best places for people with AIDS to be cared for is at home, surrounded by the people who love them. Many people living with AIDS can lead an active life for long periods of time. Most of the time, people with AIDS do not need to be in a hospital. Being at home is often cheaper, more comfortable, more familiar, and gives them more control of their life. In fact, people with AIDS-related illnesses often get better faster and with less discomfort at home with the help of their friends and loved ones.
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) - August 2002
An introduction to HIV and AIDS -- who gets is, what the symptoms are, etc. This is a Fact Sheet from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) - August 2001
The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is characterized by the progressive loss of the CD4+ helper/inducer subset of T lymphocytes, leading to severe immunosuppression and constitutional disease, neurological complications, and opportunistic infections and neoplasms that rarely occur in persons with intact immune function.
Dr. José Assouline, a neurobiologist and AIDS researcher at the University of Iowa College of Medicine, has spent several years creating the animations below. They graphically represent the life cycle of HIV-1, from the initial binding of the viral particle onto a host cell (Viral Entry), through insinuation into the host cell's nucleus to spark the formation of new viral RNA strands (Viral Gene Transfer), and finally to the creation and migration out of the cell of a new HIV particle, complete with two copies of viral RNA (Viral Exit).
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Rapid HIV tests are simple to use and require little or no specialized equipment. They make it possible to provide test results at the time the test is done. Six rapid HIV tests approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are commercially available for use in the United States....
U.S. Food and Drug Administration / Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research
The tests that are approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for detecting whether or not you are infected with HIV are available through your doctor or at clinics. For more information on the HIV test kits approved by FDA, see HIV, HTLV & Hepatitis Tests.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
This document provides guidance on quality assurance (QA) practices for sites using or planning to use the OraQuick® Rapid HIV-1 Antibody Test to detect antibodies to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Posted: June, 2003
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
This appendix includes several items to facilitate conducting testing and performing quality assurance using the OraQuick Rapid HIV-1 Antibody test. The forms provided are examples and templates that can be adapted for local use, adding or deleting fields, as needed. Posted: June, 2003
Bruce Mirken - AIDS Treatment News #374, November 23, 2001
HIV antibody testing has been with us since 1985. Testing technology has evolved considerably over the years, with a variety of new and improved tests coming into use, both in research and daily practice. Since determining one's HIV status is the first step in treatment decisions, it is important to understand the tests being used today, including their limitations.
Bruce Mirken - AIDS Treatment News #375, December 21, 2001
Shortly after getting infected with HIV, many patients have an acute (or "primary") HIV infection, a period of flu-like illness with symptoms like fever and malaise that could be caused by influenza or many other diseases. Many scientists and physicians believe it is important to treat during acute this HIV infection
CDC MMWR Recommendations and Reports, November 9, 2001 / 50(RR19);1-58
These guidelines replace CDC's 1994 guidelines, HIV Counseling, Testing, and Referral Standards and Guidelines, and contain recommendations for public- and private-sector policy makers and service providers of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) counseling, testing, and referral (CTR). To develop these guidelines, CDC used an evidence-based approach advocated by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and public health practice guidelines. The recommendations are based on evidence from all available scientific sources; where evidence is lacking, opinion of "best practices" by specialists in the field has been used.
CDC MMWR Recommendations and Reports, November 9, 2001 / 50(RR19);59-86
These guidelines replace CDC's 1995 guidelines, U.S. Public Health Service Recommendations for Human Immunodeficiency Virus Counseling and Voluntary Testing for Pregnant Women, and are for public- and private-sector service providers who provide health care for pregnant women. In 1998, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) published a report that recommended simple, routine, and voluntary human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing for all pregnant women in antenatal settings, given the effective interventions available to treat HIV-infected women and reduce risk for perinatal HIV transmission.
A regularly updated toolkit providing references and offering practical guidance on the processes of planning and implementing testing and counselling services in resource-limited settings.
This document contains guidelines for the use of rapid HIV tests in HIV testing and counselling services in resource constrained settings and also presents an algorithm for the use of HIV rapid tests. It explores the role for rapid HIV tests in efforts to ensure increased access to HIV testing. The advantages of rapid tests are described, in addition to several practical considerations for HIV testing services. The authors examine issues concerning the accuracy of test kits and testing algorithms.
How Do I Start?
Reporting AIDS
A Brief Introduction to HIV and AIDS: What You Need to Know
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This information is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.