Signs of HIV after woman in ‘long term relationship’ was diagnosed with virus at 21

The NHS has information on the signs of HIV as they can easily be mistaken for another illness and people can be asymptomatic for a long time.

When Ellie Harrison was told she was HIV positive at the age of 21 it came as a 'huge shock', with her diagnosis coming out of the blue after she decided to order a home STI testing kit.

She'd been in a long-term relationship and was about to head into her final year at university, with her reckoning that with things going long distance it would put 'a lot of pressure on the relationship' as she thought it might be 'coming to an end'.

Since then, she's become an activist raising awareness of HIV and how anyone can get it despite thinking otherwise due to 'education that hasn't passed really that far along since the 80s'.

Ellie Harrison was shocked to be diagnosed with HIV (Ellie Harrison/Supplied)

Speaking to LADbible on World AIDS Day (1 December), Ellie said people from all walks of life could get HIV and the idea that it 'doesn't happen to people like me' would be wrong.

Signs of HIV

The NHS says that everyone with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) will experience different symptoms, though some people will get a 'short flu-like' illness a few weeks after infection.

That can result in a high temperature, sore throat, swollen glands, skin rash, aching muscles and tiredness, but these are also symptoms which can be the sign of many other illnesses.

Ellie remembered having 'really bad flu for three weeks' which is when she thinks something called seroconversion, where the virus 'basically takes over in your blood', occurred.

However, other than that she had 'no symptoms' and 'no reason to suspect anything', so the diagnosis came as a huge shock to her.

"The problem is, all of the symptoms of HIV are, if I'm honest, very easily confused with something else," she said.

She remembered having what she thought was the flu, but now thinks was HIV seroconversion (Ellie Harrison/Supplied)

Causes of HIV

HIV is transmitted by infected bodily fluids entering a person's bloodstream, so the most common cause of it being transmitted is having vaginal, anal or oral sex with a person who has it and is not using protection.

Sharing needles or other implements of injection with someone who has HIV is another common way of passing on the virus, while sharing sex toys is another way.

A person with a 'detectable viral load' can also transmit HIV to their baby during pregnancy.

Effective treatment means a person with HIV has an 'undetectable viral load' meaning they cannot pass the virus onto another person.

A 2014 study found that in 58,000 instances of unprotected sex between a person with HIV and a partner without the virus there were zero cases of transmission where the person with HIV was on treatment.

A follow-up study in 2018 once again studied thousands of instances of unprotected sex and found zero cases of transmission from someone with an undetectable viral load.

Ellie's dad had said that ironically someone with HIV who was getting treatment was 'the safest person to sleep with' because they were guaranteed not to transmit the virus.

The NHS says that someone taking medication for HIV, which are called 'antiretrovirals', will take around six months for the virus to get down to undetectable levels.

You cannot get HIV from kissing, hugging shaking hands, sharing toilet seats, food, drinks or cutlery with someone who has the virus.

Someone can have HIV for years before realising it, though a person receiving treatment cannot transmit it (Ellie Harrison/Supplied)

How long someone can have HIV without knowing

NHS advice for someone who thinks they might have HIV is to go to a sexual health clinic, if you think you've been exposed to the virus in the past 72 hours you may be able to receive emergency medicine to prevent an infection.

Regardless of how long it has been, the sooner you get a test and know for sure the better, as you will be able to receive treatment in the form of a pill a day which means you will not suffer symptoms of HIV or transmit the virus to anybody else.

People can live with HIV for a long time without knowing they have it as many of the signs are the same as other illnesses, with the Terrence Higgins Trust explaining that after seroconversion a person can be asymptomatic 'for several years'.

However, the longer it lasts without treatment the more dangerous it is.

You can find more information about HIV and Aids on the NHS website, here.

Support is also on hand at the National Aids Trust.