Today is National HIV Testing Day, and Hoosiers are urged to learn their status. The human immunodeficiency virus weakens a person’s immune system by destroying cells that fight disease and infection.
It can be transmitted sexually, through shared needles, blood, breast milk and other bodily fluids. HIV can also progress to a severe condition called acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS. Continue reading
Hoosiers are encouraged to know their HIV status. This is the 20th annual National HIV Testing Day. State health officials say the recent HIV outbreak in southeastern Indiana underscores the need for testing in order to help yourself and others. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in six people are living with HIV and are not aware of it. As a result they are not getting the treatment they need to stay healthy and may unknowingly pass the virus along to others. HIV can spread when someone who is infected has sex or shares needles with someone who does not have the virus.
