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Sexuality
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While it may be difficult, it is important to have serious discussions with teenagers who may be thinking about becoming sexually active. This is extremely important in HIV positive teenagers who are considering becoming sexually active. For all teenagers, having sex for the first time is a very big deal. This is truer for the HIV positive teenager. The potential partner must be told of the teenager’s HIV positive status before sexual activity is initiated. Precautions should be discussed and taken before any sexual activity occurs. Not all potential sex partners will remain interested after being informed of the HIV status which may lead to feelings of isolation and sadness or anger. Support for the teenager should be provided by the family and health care team. When both partners are infected with HIV, it is still not safe to engage in unprotected sex. Research has shown that HIV positive people can be and often are re-infected or superinfected by different strains of HIV, like giving them a double dose of infection. This can cause more rapid weakening of the immune system and more rapid progression to AIDS. [Keywords:HIV] |
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