HIV & AIDS

What is HIV?

HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a virus that attacks the body’s immune system. If HIV is not treated, it can lead to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome).
There is currently no effective cure. Once people get HIV, they have it for life.
But with proper medical care, HIV can be controlled. People with HIV who get effective HIV treatment can live long, healthy lives and protect their partners.

How do I know if I have HIV?

The only way to know if you have HIV is to get tested. Knowing your HIV status helps you make healthy decisions to prevent getting or transmitting HIV.

Are there symptoms?

For many, yes. Most people have flu-like symptoms within 2 to 4 weeks after infection. Symptoms may last for a few days or several weeks.
Having these symptoms alone doesn’t mean you have HIV. Other illnesses can cause similar symptoms.
Some people have no symptoms at all. The only way to know if you have HIV is to get tested.

What are the stages of HIV?

When people with HIV don’t get treatment, they typically progress through three stages. But HIV treatment can slow or prevent progression of the disease. With advances in HIV treatment, progression to Stage 3 (AIDS) is less common today than in the early years of HIV.

Stage 1 – Acute HIV Infection

People have a large amount of HIV in their blood and are very contagious.
Many people have flu-like symptoms.
If you have flu-like symptoms and think you may have been exposed to HIV, get tested.

Stage 2 – Chronic HIV Infection

This stage is also called asymptomatic HIV infection or clinical latency.
HIV is still active and continues to reproduce in the body.
People may not have any symptoms or get sick during this phase but can transmit HIV.
People who take HIV treatment as prescribed may never move into Stage 3 (AIDS).
Without HIV treatment, this stage may last a decade or longer, or may progress faster. At the end of this stage, the amount of HIV in the blood (viral load) goes up and the person may move into Stage 3 (AIDS).

Stage 3 – Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)

The most severe stage of HIV infection.
People with AIDS can have a high viral load and may easily transmit HIV to others.
People with AIDS have badly damaged immune systems. They can get an increasing number of opportunistic infections or other serious illnesses.
Without HIV treatment, people with AIDS typically survive about three years.

More Information

Information Leaflet

The US Centres for Disease Control (CDC) have published this informative summary leaflet

Learn more

For more detailed information click here for the US CDC website.

ChemSex

What is ChemSex?

It is the intentional use of drugs (substances) to have sex over a long period of time (from several hours to several days) among gay men, bisexual men, other men who have sex with men (MSM) and more recently, people with other identities sexual (trans women, non-binary people, queer…). Some terms that are used colloquially are: session, chill, etc.

Where is ChemSex practiced?

Both at sex parties in private homes and in commercial sex venues (saunas, rental flats or sex clubs) and in cruising areas.

How is ChemSex practiced?

Consumption can be solo (for example, virtually: watching porn or chatting on live camera), one on one, threesomes or group sex (this implies that it can be between groups of friends, in open or closed relationships, with sexual partners and/or with strangers). In addition, the use of contact pages, mobile applications and WhatsApp is very frequent.

Where do I find more information?

For now we’re pointing you to this website for more information in Spanish or here in English. For support in Spanish or English see our page here.

Sexual Health Screening

Where can I go for a sexual health screening?

checkpoint Canarias can undertake rapid testing for the following: HIV, Hepatitis C, Syphilis, Chlamydia, Gonorrhoea.

To make an appointment at our Maspalomas clinic, click here.

Alternatives

In the Canary Islands there are a number of options for a full in depth screening depending on the health cover you have.

Public Health

You can contact your GP to request a sexual health screening (“Análisis ITS”)

Private Health

It depends on the coverage you have in your policy, most likely you can request an analysis from your family medicine doctor, or in hospitals with a specialist.

Private Purchase

We can recommend this private provider, Eurofins Megalab, a chain of clinical laboratories who offer the possibility of making an online purchase.
This package gives you an extensive analysis – click here
Their network is listed in our directory and here

What tests should I do?

They should perform a combination of the following tests depending on your sexual orientation and sexual practices:

Blood Tests:
- HIV
- Syphilis
- Hepatitis B
- Hepatitis C
Urine or urethral swab test:
- Chlamydia
- Gonorrhea
- Possibility of other pathogens such as Ureaplasma, Mycoplasma etc.
Rectal swab test
- Chlamydia
- Gonorrhea
- Other pathogens
Pharyngeal swab test:
- Chlamydia
- Gonorrhea
- Other pathogens
Vaginal swab test:
- Chlamydia
- Gonorrhea
- Other pathogens

_{Photo by Julia Koblitz on Unsplash}

Rapid HIV Tests

In the Canary Islands there are many options for taking a rapid test.

Currently the Rapid HIV Test is performed for:

Men who have sex with men (MSM), transsexual women who work in prostitution, bisexual men, high-risk prostitution, injecting drug users (UDVP), serodiscordant couples and people living in extreme poverty.

Why should I take a test?

If the result is NEGATIVE, you have:

Peace of mind knowing that you do not have an infection.
The ability to protect yourself and avoid infections in the future.

If the result is POSITIVE, you have:

Health due to being able to treat yourself and prevent the infection from advancing and becoming more complicated.
Control of the situation and decision-making about your life.
Quality of life since the control and treatment of the infection allows to continue with the normal activities of life.
The ability to avoiding re-infections or transmitting the infection to other people.

How is the test done?

In Oral fluid: OraQuick Advance:

It is a single-use qualitative immunoassay to detect antibodies against HIV type 1 and 2 in oral fluid samples.

In Blood:

It is a single-use qualitative immunoassay to detect antibodies against HIV type 1 and 2 in samples of a few droplets of blood drawn from a finger.

How long will the results take?

The rapid tests will have results within about 20 minutes, depending on the type of test performed.

Where do they test?

Take the test in our own site in Maspalomas.

See here the network of detection points in the islands

Take a self test, buying it in the pharmacy network

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Category Archive Sexual Health

HIV & AIDS

What is HIV?

How do I know if I have HIV?

Are there symptoms?

What are the stages of HIV?

Stage 1 – Acute HIV Infection

Stage 2 – Chronic HIV Infection

Stage 3 – Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)

More Information

Information Leaflet

ChemSex

What is ChemSex?

Where is ChemSex practiced?

How is ChemSex practiced?

Where do I find more information?

Sexual Health Screening

Where can I go for a sexual health screening?

Alternatives

Public Health

Private Health

Private Purchase

What tests should I do?

Rapid HIV Tests

Why should I take a test?

How is the test done?

How long will the results take?

Where do they test?

¿How to take a rapid test?

Useful Links

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