Human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, is a virus that attacks the immune system. This makes it hard for the body to fight infection and disease. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). But having HIV doesn't mean that you have AIDS.

HIV often causes flu-like symptoms soon after a person gets infected. These early symptoms go away in a few weeks. After that, signs of illness may not appear for many years. But as the virus multiplies in the body, symptoms reappear and then remain. Fatigue, weight loss, fever, night sweats, diarrhea, and other symptoms are common.

Treatment of HIV may prevent or delay HIV from developing into AIDS. If HIV isn't treated and progresses to AIDS, symptoms get worse and the body is less and less able to fight infections like pneumonia and tuberculosis.

Medicines are the main treatment for HIV. A doctor would likely prescribe several antiretroviral medicines, sometimes called antiretroviral therapy, or ART. By fighting the virus, these medicines can help the immune system stay healthy and delay or prevent AIDS. And they may help a person live longer.

An HIV test checks for HIV antibodies or antigens in the blood. If they are found, the test is considered positive.

Most doctors use a blood test, such as the ELISA. If the test is positive (meaning that HIV antibodies or antigens are found), another test, such as PCR, may be done to be sure the test result is accurate.

Most test facilities will have the ELISA test results in 2 to 4 days. Results of the Western blot take longer, 1 to 2 weeks. Rapid antibody tests are available that give results right away. But positive results of the rapid test need to be confirmed by the ELISA or Western blot test.

Even if HIV antibodies or antigens aren't found, you may need to be tested again, especially if you think you have been exposed. This is done to make sure that HIV antibodies or antigens don't appear at a later time. It can take about 3 months from the time you become infected with HIV for the antibodies or antigens to be found in your blood.

During this period, an infected person can still spread the infection even though his or her test was negative.

You can get HIV testing in most public health units, hospitals, and HIV care clinics, or through your doctor's office. You can also buy a home HIV test kit (blood test) in a pharmacy or online. But be very careful to choose only a test that has been approved by Health Canada. If a home test is positive, you'll need to see a doctor to have the result confirmed and to find out what to do next.

Many experts and provincial health organizations in Canada recommend HIV screening for everyone. The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) recommends screening for HIV if you engage in high-risk behaviour.^{footnote 1}

High-risk behaviour means that you:

• Are a man who has sex with other men.
• Have multiple sex partners, especially partners who inject drugs.
• Inject drugs or steroids, especially if you share needles, syringes, cookers, or other equipment used to inject drugs.
• Have high-risk partner(s) (a man or woman who has multiple sex partners or injects drugs, or a man who has sex with men).
• Have or have recently had a sexually transmitted infection, such as syphilis or genital herpes.
• Have had tattooing, piercing, or acupuncture with unsterilized equipment.

Some expert opinions may vary, and your doctor may recommend testing based on your personal history.

Even if you don't think you're at risk, it's worthwhile getting tested once. In some cases people who've had a positive test didn't believe they had a high risk before having the test.

The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC) and the Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) recommend that women who are pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant consider being tested for HIV.^{footnote 2, footnote 4} Early treatment with antiretroviral therapy (ART) can reduce the risk of passing HIV to your baby.

Getting tested can help find an infection early or when you have no symptoms. This is important so that:

• You can take steps to avoid spreading the infection.
• You can tell your sex partner(s) so they can be tested, get treatment if needed, and avoid spreading the infection.
• You can start treatment right away. Treatment can help your immune system stay healthy and delay or prevent AIDS. And it may help you live longer. AIDS is the last and most severe stage of HIV infection. Treatment also lowers the chance that you will give the infection to a sex partner who doesn't have the infection.^{footnote 3}
• A sex partner who does not have HIV could choose to take medicine to help prevent getting infected with HIV.
• If you are pregnant, you can get early treatment that can reduce the risk of passing HIV to your baby.

If your test shows that you have HIV, your sex partner(s) will need to know and get tested, which may affect your relationship.

If you have HIV, provincial law requires your doctor or the place where you had the test to report it to the provincial health authority. Some provinces allow anonymous reporting (the person's name or other identifying information is not provided). Other provinces require confidential reporting (identifying information is provided but only to authorized public health officials).

With an ELISA test, you could have a false-positive test result, which shows that you have the disease when you actually don't. This could cause you unneeded worry until you have more tests to confirm that you don't have the disease.

If you use a home test kit, you could get a fast result, but it will still need to be confirmed with a test that can take several weeks.

Your doctor may want you to be tested if:

• You're sexually active.
• You have never had an HIV test.
• You have a high risk for getting HIV.
• You're pregnant.