Most people do not notice when they first get HIV.

Some people may get early symptoms of HIV after about two weeks. Early symptoms are fever and body aches. These symptoms go away by themselves.

It usually takes many years before untreated HIV causes you to get AIDS. The symptoms you get then can vary. AIDS can cause different infections and diseases.   

There is no way to get rid of HIV completely. But there are good medicines. This is what happens when you get treatment for HIV:

• The amount of virus in your body decreases.
• You do not spread the virus to others.
• You do not get AIDS.

When you get treatment, you can live a normal life. This also applies to children with HIV.

If you think you may have HIV, you should contact one of these clinics:

• a healthcare centre (vårdcentral)
• a skin (dermatology) clinic (hudmottagning)
• a sexual health clinic (mottagning för sexuell hälsa).

If you are under 25 years old, you can usually contact a youth guidance centre.

An HIV test is always free at all clinics.

Call and get advice on the telephone number 1177

Call the telephone number 1177 if you want help. The people who answer are nurses. They speak Swedish and English. Sometimes you can get help in other languages.

Call +46 771 11 77 00 if you have a phone with a foreign number.

If it is urgent

You should immediately contact an infectious diseases clinic (infektionsmottagning) at a hospital if you know that you have been exposed to the virus. This could be, for example, if the condom broke when you had sex with someone with untreated HIV.

Contact an emergency clinic (jouröppen mottagning) or an emergency department (akutmottagning) if the infectious diseases clinic is closed.

Here's how you can protect yourself against HIV: 

• Use a condom if you have intercourse or oral sex with someone who has a penis.
• Put a condom on sex toys if you use them with someone else.
• Do not share syringes with anyone else.

Treatment with Prep

There is a treatment that reduces your risk of getting HIV. It is called Prep. Prep is tablets that you are prescribed by a doctor.

The treatment is for people at higher risk of getting HIV. For example, you may be a man or a transgender person and have sex with men without a condom.

You can get Prep at a sexual health clinic or an infectious diseases clinic at a hospital. Even if you get Prep, you need to continue testing yourself for HIV and other diseases.

HIV is spread through these body fluids:

• vaginal secretions
• semen
• blood
• breast milk.

HIV can be spread in the following situations:

• having sex without a condom
• sharing needles
• during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding.

How HIV is not spread

Here are some examples of situations where HIV is not spread:

• Having sex with someone who has HIV but is being treated for it.
• Hugging or kissing someone.
• Using the same towel or drinking from the same glass as someone else. 

According to the Communicable Diseases Act, you must follow these rules (smittskyddslagen)  if you have HIV:

• You need to tell the person you are going to have sex with that you have HIV.
• You need to use a condom.

This is called obligation to inform.

Your doctor can take away your obligation to inform if your treatment is working well. In that case, you choose what you tell others. You also choose whether to use a condom.