FAQs: HIV

HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus.  

Viruses are responsible for many of the hard-to-treat ailments in our society, from the common cold or flu to more serious conditions like AIDS.  

AIDS is a disease caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. The HIV virus is spread from person to person through the exchange of contaminated body fluids, like blood, semen, vaginal secretions, and breast milk.  

When HIV enters the body, it attaches itself to white blood cells (part of the immune system). The virus contains a protein that causes the white blood cells to produce new HIV cells, which attach to other white blood cells and are carried to all areas of the body.  

Just like the virus that causes the common cold, HIV cannot be “cured” with medications. Furthermore, there is no vaccine to prevent infection. However, many medications do exist today that can help to keep the number of viruses in check for long periods of time.

HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. This is the virus that causes AIDS. HIV is different from most other viruses because it attacks the immune system. The immune system gives our bodies the ability to fight infections. HIV finds and destroys a type of white blood cell (T cells or CD4 cells) that the immune system must have to fight disease.

AIDS stands for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. AIDS is the final stage of HIV infection. It can take years for a person infected with HIV, even without treatment, to reach this stage. Having AIDS means that the virus has weakened the immune system to the point at which the body has a difficult time fighting infections. When someone has one or more of these infections and a low number of T cells, he or she has AIDS.  

Please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for more information.

HIV is spread by sexual contact with an infected person, by sharing needles and/or syringes (primarily for drug injection) with someone who is infected, or, less commonly (and now very rarely in countries where blood is screened for HIV antibodies), through transfusions of infected blood or blood clotting factors. Babies born to HIV-infected women may become infected before or during birth or through breast-feeding after birth.  

In the health care setting, workers have been infected with HIV after being stuck with needles containing HIV-infected blood or, less frequently, after infected blood gets into a worker’s open cut or a mucous membrane (for example, the eyes or inside of the nose). There has been only one instance of patients being infected by a health care worker in the United States; this involved HIV transmission from one infected dentist to six patients. Investigations have been completed involving more than 22,000 patients of 63 HIV-infected physicians, surgeons, and dentists, and no other cases of this type of transmission have been identified in the United States.  

Some people fear that HIV might be transmitted in other ways. However, no scientific evidence to support any of these fears has been found. If HIV were being transmitted through other routes (such as through air, water, or insects), the pattern of reported AIDS cases would be much different from what has been observed. For example, if mosquitoes could transmit HIV infection, many more young children and preadolescences would have been diagnosed with AIDS.  

All reported cases suggesting new or potentially unknown routes of transmission are thoroughly investigated by state and local health departments with the assistance, guidance, and laboratory support from CDC. No additional routes of transmission have been recorded, despite a national sentinel system designed to detect just such an occurrence.

In the United States, investments in HIV prevention have paid off. The rate of new HIV infections has slowed from more than 150,000 in the mid-1980s to around 40,000 per year now. Despite the substantial decline, the rate of new infections is still unacceptably high, making prevention (HIV testing and education) as important as ever.  

The most reliable ways to avoid acquiring or transmitting HIV are:  

• Abstain from sexual intercourse (i.e., oral, vaginal, or anal sex) 
• Be in a long-term, mutually monogamous relationship with an uninfected partner 
• Abstain from sharing needles and/or syringes for nonprescription drugs 

All partners should get tested for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) before initiating sexual intercourse. Having another STI increases, by two to five times, the likelihood a person will become infected with HIV and increases the likelihood an infected person will transmit HIV.  

If a person chooses to have sexual intercourse with a partner whose infection status is unknown or who is infected with HIV or another STI, a new condom should be used for each act of insertive intercourse – oral, anal, or vaginal.

Injection drug users, their partners, and their children account for a significant number of AIDS cases reported in the United States. Beyond abstinence, using a new, sterile needle or syringe with each injection remains the safest, most effective approach for limiting HIV and hepatitis transmission.

Pregnant women should be routinely counseled and voluntarily tested for HIV. Early diagnosis allows a woman to receive effective antiviral therapies for her own health and preventive drugs (e.g., Zidovudine, also known as ZDV) to improve the chances that her infant will be born free of infection.

HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus.  

2010 Arkansas Code, Title 5 – Criminal Offenses, Subtitle 2 – Offenses Against The Person, Chapter 14 – Sexual Offenses, Subchapter 1 – General Provisions  

§ 5-14-123 – Exposing another person to human immunodeficiency virus.  

5-14-123. Exposing another person to human immunodeficiency virus.  

(a) A person with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or who tests positive for the presence of human immunodeficiency virus antigen or antibodies is infectious to another person through the exchange of a body fluid during sexual intercourse and through the parenteral transfer of blood or a blood product and under these circumstances is a danger to the public.  

(b) A person commits the offense of exposing another person to human immunodeficiency virus if the person knows he or she has tested positive for human immunodeficiency virus and exposes another person to human immunodeficiency virus infection through the parenteral transfer of blood or a blood product or engages in sexual penetration with another person without first having informed the other person of the presence of human immunodeficiency virus.  

(c) (1) As used in this section, “sexual penetration” means sexual intercourse, cunnilingus, fellatio, anal intercourse, or any other intrusion, however slight, of any part of a person’s body or of any object into a genital or anal opening of another person’s body.”  

(2) However, emission of semen is not required.  

(d) Exposing another person to human immunodeficiency virus is a Class A felony.

Arkansas is one of the four strictest states when it comes to state laws regarding HIV disclosure. Michigan, New Jersey, and Ohio are the other three. Even if a condom is used, even if there is no emission of semen or HIV is not transmitted, sexual conduct without disclosure in Arkansas is still considered a crime, which carries severe penalties.  

Arkansas law requires disclosure in four defined instances: 

1. Medical professionals must disclose to the Arkansas Department of Health the results of any positive test. Conversely, medical staff are required to disclose to any person who tests HIV positive.  

2. An HIV positive person is required by law to disclose their HIV status to any physician or dentist prior to receiving any health care service.  

3. If an HIV+ person plans to engage in sexual conduct with someone, they must disclose their status to that person prior to the act. Notice how Arkansas sexual conduct is defined in part C above.  

4. If there is to be the transfer of blood or blood products (including the sharing of needles), there must be full disclosure of one’s known HIV status.  

There is protection against disclosure of one’s status by medical professionals without your consent. ACT 614 in 1989 established confidentiality standards for those who test HIV positive due to the sensitive nature of an HIV diagnosis.  

For people living with HIV, if you have a concern regarding HIV-related discrimination, contact Lambda Legal for guidance.

Appointments are highly recommended. Available testing hours may vary by location. 

To schedule a testing appointment at one of our locations, click here to complete a test request form.

Rapid HIV, Hepatitis C, and Syphilis testing services at EAC are always free of charge.

No. You do not need to present any insurance information to receive rapid HIV testing with ARcare Positive Connections.

Currently, we offer an oral swab test that requires no blood and no needles at each of our locations. For this test, a result is able to be read in just twenty minutes.  We also offer finger-stick testing for HIV, HIV and Syphilis, and/or Hepatitis C at select locations with results available in a matter of minutes.

To schedule a testing appointment at one of our locations, click here to complete a test request form.

No, testing is not anonymous. EAC offers confidential testing. Our program complies with the confidentiality requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Privacy and Security Rules implementing the Act. Unless an exception to the Act applies or you authorize the release of the information, Protected Health Information relating to your HIV/STI testing will remain confidential.

The CDC recommends all sexually active individuals get HIV screenings at least annually. People who have multiple or anonymous partners should be tested for HIV more frequently. Getting tested every 3-6 months is recommended.  

Yes. Testing together is an HIV testing and counseling service for people and their sexual partner.  Testing together helps couples get tested and talk about safer sex together.  It’s a chance for both of you to find out your current HIV status, learn how to protect each other, and talk openly and honestly about sex and your relationship!

To schedule a testing appointment at one of our locations, click here to complete a test request form.

Let us know! Contact us and let us know you are interested in having us provide testing at your event. We will reach out to you for more information. Visit our Contact Us page here.

Our EAC Speaks! Speaker's Bureau offers a great selection of professional speakers with a vast range of experience presenting on topics related to HIV, sexual health, health empowerment, social justice issues, and LGBTQ health issues. Visit our EAC Speaks! page to learn more about each of our speakers.

The Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program provides a comprehensive system of HIV primary medical care, essential support services, and medications for low-income people living with HIV who are uninsured and underserved. The Program funds grants to states, cities/counties, and local community-based organizations to provide care and treatment services to people living with HIV to improve health outcomes and reduce HIV transmission among hard-to-reach populations.  

More than half of people living with diagnosed HIV in the United States receive services through the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program each year. That means more than half a million people received services through the Program. More information available here.

The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program was named for a courageous young man named Ryan White who was diagnosed with AIDS following a blood transfusion in December 1984. Ryan White was diagnosed at age 13 while living in Kokomo, Indiana and was given six months to live. When Ryan White tried to return to school, he fought AIDS-related discrimination in his Indiana community. Along with his mother Jeanne White Ginder, Ryan White rallied for his right to attend school – gaining national attention – and became the face of public education about his disease. Surprising his doctors, Ryan White lived five years longer than predicted. He died in April 1990, one month before his high school graduation and only months before Congress passed the legislation bearing his name in August 1990 – the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act. Read more here.  

We can help you connect with a Ryan White case manager or office closes to you. If you are living with HIV, we can also offer several supportive services to help you get to or remain in care, including transportation to appointments, limited food assistance, emergency financial assistance to purchase a photo ID, etc.  Contact us for more information.

People living with HIV may be eligible for Ryan White services who show Arkansas residency and who fall within the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) limitation for household income and size.  Other documentation, such as proof of any insurance will be necessary.  Contact us for more information or to be connected with a Ryan White Service Access Center near you.