An official website of the United States government
Here’s how you know
Official websites use .gov A
.gov website belongs to an official government
organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A
lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to
the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official,
secure websites.
Because of a lapse in government funding, the information on this website may not be up to date, transactions submitted via the website may not be processed, and the agency may not be able to respond to inquiries until appropriations are enacted. The NIH Clinical Center (the research hospital of NIH) is open. For more details about its operating status, please visit cc.nih.gov. Updates regarding government operating status and resumption of normal operations can be found at opm.gov.
Protect yourself from HIV: Use condoms correctly every time you have sex, use pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) if you believe you are likely to be exposed to HIV, and avoid sharing drug injection equipment.
HIV medicines (known as antiretrovirals) should be started as soon as possible during pregnancy and/or continued throughout pregnancy to maintain good health, prevent perinatal transmission of HIV, and prevent HIV transmission to sexual partners.
Because most HIV medicines are considered safe during pregnancy,
To prevent perinatal transmission of HIV after childbirth, HIV medicines should be continued postpartum and should be started for infants exposed to HIV at birth, ideally within six hours of delivery.
HIV testing is recommended for all infants who may be exposed to HIV during pregnancy or childbirth; more frequent testing is recommended for infants at incr
A latent HIV reservoir is a group of CD4 T lymphocytes (CD4 cells) in the body that are infected with HIV but are not actively producing new HIV particles.
HIV researchers are exploring ways to target and either destroy or silence latent reservoirs as a potential strategy to cure HIV.
