Contrary to popular belief, HIV doesn’t discriminate – regardless of your age, race or sexual orientation.
The condition, which is medically known as human immunodeficiency virus, can impact anyone from your milkman to your nan.
According to the UK’s leading HIV charity, the Terrence Higgins Trust, men who have sex with other men and Black African people are ‘disproportionately affected’ by the illness.
However, the number of heterosexuals diagnosed with HIV is continuing to rise – particularly among women.
In comparison to 2019, there has been a 26 per cent increase in the number of females who have been exposed to the virus after having sex with men, the BBC reports.
This spike was described as ‘alarming’ in a recent report by the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee, so it’s no wonder women want to weigh up the risk HIV poses in modern society.
Hearing Ellie Harrison’s story of being diagnosed with HIV at the age of 21 while in a long-term relationship has only hammered this home further for a lot of females, too.
Despite having ‘no symptoms’, she received the shocking news that she had been infected with the virus – and she admitted that she had previously thought it was something that would ‘never happen to her’.
There has been a rise in the number of women being diagnosed with HIV in the UK (Getty Stock Image)
“There is a proportion of women, especially in the UK, living with HIV, who are the same race, gender, sexuality as me,” Ellie told LADbible on World Aids Day earlier this week.
“But you don’t really see women talking about it, and I think because of that you do sometimes get this mis-illusion that, ‘Oh, it would never happen to me’.”
However, as Ellie found out the hard way, it can happen to anyone – which is why experts are keen for everyone to know exactly how the virus is spread.
According to the NHS, HIV is passed on when infected bodily fluids enter a person’s bloodstream – so the most common method of transmission is having vaginal, anal or oral sex.
If you have intercourse with a person who has HIV and don’t use protection, you are putting yourself at risk of contracting it. As I’m sure you can imagine, the same goes for sharing sex toys.
Sharing needles or other implements of injection implements with someone who has HIV is another common way of passing on the virus.
As well as this, a person with a ‘detectable viral load’ can also transmit HIV to their baby during pregnancy.
Research has shown that different types of unprotected sex present different risks, according to Stanford Medicine.
Using protection during sex is the best way to minimise the risk of contracting the virus (Getty Stock Image)
Health experts at Stanford explain that receptive anal sex carries a much higher risk of HIV infection than receptive vaginal sex, with the risk of transmission being 18 times higher.
Receptive anal sex is also riskier than insertive anal sex, with the risk of HIV transmission being 3 to 23 times higher.
Meanwhile, boffins at Stanford say that receptive vaginal sex is riskier than insertive vaginal sex, with the risk of transmission being ‘about twice as high’.
The experts go on to explain that ‘no two exposures to HIV are exactly the same’ though, as a whole host of factors come into play which can ‘increase or decrease the risk’ of being infected.
These include the presence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), a high viral load, a man being uncircumcised and a woman menstruating.
Stanford Medicine warns that ‘activities’ that can cause tearing and inflammation – such as rough sex, longer sex, douching, enemas before anal sex, and tooth brushing, flossing or dental work before oral sex – can also play a part.
“Each exposure to HIV carries a unique risk of transmission that depends on the type of sex and a combination of biological factors,” it adds. “The more exposures, the greater the risk.”
So, to be on the safe side, whatever your gender – make sure you’re using condoms, and try to avoid the ‘riskier’ types of sex mentioned above.
