Because early HIV infection often causes no symptoms, it is primarily detected by testing a person's blood for the presence of antibodies (disease-fighting proteins) to HIV. HIV antibodies generally do not reach detectable levels until one to three months following infection and may take as long as six months to be generated in quantities large enough to show up in standard blood tests.

People exposed to HIV should be tested for HIV infection as soon as they are likely to develop antibodies to the virus. Such early testing will enable them to receive appropriate treatment at a time when they are most able to combat HIV and prevent the emergence of certain opportunistic infections (see Treatment below). Early testing also alerts HIV-infected people to avoid high-risk behaviors that could spread HIV to others.

HIV testing is done in most doctors' offices or health clinics and should be accompanied by counseling. Individuals can be tested anonymously at many sites if they have particular concerns about confidentiality.

Two different types of antibody tests, ELISA and Western Blot, are used to diagnose HIV infection. If a person is highly likely to be infected with HIV and yet both tests are negative, a doctor may test for the presence of HIV itself in the blood. The person also may be told to repeat antibody testing at a later date, when antibodies to HIV are more likely to have developed.

Babies born to mothers infected with HIV may or may not be infected with the virus, but all carry their mothers' antibodies to HIV for several months. If these babies lack symptoms, a definitive diagnosis of HIV infection using standard antibody tests cannot be made until after 15 months of age. By then, babies are unlikely to still carry their mothers' antibodies and will have produced their own, if they are infected. New technologies to detect HIV itself are being used to more accurately determine HIV infection in infants between the ages of 3 months and 15 months. A number of blood tests are being evaluated to determine if they can diagnose HIV infection in babies younger than 3 months.

Earlier there was no treatment available for HIV/AIDS and anyone who was HIV positive developed AIDS within a few years and ultimately died. But that situation has changed now. NACO [National AIDS Control Organisation], the organisation of the Indian Government that is responsible for controlling HIV in India has made a policy that all HIV positive persons should be treated for all opportunistic infections. This means that any infection that an HIV positive person acquires has to be treated expeditiously, so that he can continue to lead a healthy life.

But now certain drugs, called ‘Anti Retroviral’ or ARV are also available. These drugs reduce the amount of virus in the body and stop them from multiplying. They are usually administered in a combination of 2 or 3 different ARVs, and have to be strictly adhered to. Although ARV therapy is not a cure, with ARV, an HIV positive person can live a healthy and productive life for a very long time. But ARV therapy is very costly [Approximately Rs. 4500/- per month] and most people in India who are HIV positive cannot afford it. ARVs also have a lot of severe side effects, and many people cannot tolerate the drugs. But most importantly nearly 30% of persons do not respond to ARV therapy. Keeping all this in mind one can safely say that prevention is the best option.

Since no vaccine for HIV is available, the only way to prevent infection by the virus is to avoid behaviors that put a person at risk of infection, such as sharing needles and having unprotected sex.

Because many people infected with HIV have no symptoms, there is no way of knowing with certainty whether a sexual partner is infected unless he or she has been repeatedly tested for the virus or has not engaged in any risky behavior. It is recommended that:

• People either abstain from sex or protect themselves by using latex condoms whenever having oral, anal or vaginal sex with someone they are not certain is free of HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases. Only condoms made of latex should be used, and water-based lubricants should be used with latex condoms.
• Although some laboratory evidence shows that spermicides can kill HIV organisms, scientists are still evaluating the usefulness of spermicides in preventing HIV infection.
• The risk of HIV transmission from an infected pregnant woman to her fetus is significantly reduced if she takes AZT during pregnancy, labor and delivery and her baby takes it for the first six weeks of life.

Adapted from http://aids.about.com