What does reinfection mean?

Reinfection usually means getting a strain of HIV that replaces someone's existing strain with something new.

Why does it matter?

Getting a new strain of HIV could be significant as the new virus could be drug resistant.  Or it could be more aggressive and make us more ill.

This will have an effect on the types of treatment that will work for us. It could mean there is less choice about what medication we can take. 

What makes reinfection more likely?

Many scientists agree that the most likely time for reinfection to take place is when we’re fairly recently first infected with HIV. And they think it only takes place up to four years after first infection.

We are more likely to be reinfected if:

• the person we’re fucking has a high viral load and we don't use a condom
• there’s another route for HIV to get into our bodies, such as blisters, sores or inflammation caused by another sexually transmitted infection.
  
  

Preventing reinfection

If you’re worried about reinfection, you could use condoms, even if you know your partner is also HIV positive. It might also be useful to talk to a health adviser or your doctor about it.

Of course, unprotected sex between two people with HIV still carries the risk of other infections, such as hepatitis C and syphillis.