by Michael Weinstein
President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF)

HIV Quiz

Think you know everything there is to know about HIV and bored of hearing about it? Take the following true or false quiz and we’ll see if you still need education.

1. HIV is less deadly now than it was twenty years ago. True or False?

2. Fewer people are becoming infected with HIV now than five years ago. True or False?

3. You can tell if a person is infected with HIV by the way they look. True or False?

4. If I have sex with someone and he doesn’t want to use a condom, I can assume he is negative? True or False?

5. Other sexually transmitted diseases like syphilis and gonorrhea or Chlamydia are not a big deal because they are curable. True or False?

6. If I am on top, I am not at risk for HIV. True or False?

7. If I become infected with HIV it won’t affect my life much. True or False?

8. If he pulls out before he comes it is safe. True or False?

9. If I’m drunk or high I can still keep myself safe in bed. True or False?

10. It doesn’t matter how many sexual partners I have as long as I use condoms. True or False?

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If you answered “true” to any of these questions you need an HIV refresher course.

1. False. Just because we have excellent treatment for HIV does not mean that the virus has become less virulent—we simply have better ways of containing it. A lion isn’t less deadly because it is in a cage.

2. False. HIV infection numbers are way up over what they were estimated to be five years ago and new infections are still concentrated among men who have sex with men in the U.S.

3. False. Only a small percentage of HIV patients show obvious symptoms like facial wasting or fat deposits around the belly. The people who are most infectious are those who only recently got infected.

4. False. There are HIV positive men who assume if you are willing to have unsafe sex with them you must be positive. Also, the majority of new infections occur with a person who does not know they are positive.

5. False. Infections with other sexually transmitted diseases makes it much easier for you to catch HIV. Also, if you are playing Russian roulette and coming up with other diseases because you are having unsafe sex, you are also putting yourself at risk for HIV. And, there are drug resistant strains of these diseases which are becoming harder to treat.

6. False. If you are on top you can still get infected with HIV and other STDs.

7. False. Becoming infected with HIV is traumatic—it changes your life forever. Self-esteem issues, anxiety, drug and alcohol abuse and depression are common among the newly infected.

8. False. Not having someone come inside you does not protect you as much as you want to believe. Pre-cum has HIV in it.

9. False. Your judgment is compromised if you are drunk or high. You may not even know what he does or doesn’t have on his penis.

10. False. The odds of getting one or more diseases goes up exponentially if you have many partners—no moralizing here, just the facts.

more info: aidshealth.org