Things to know about barebacking

If you think you're HIV negative

Life, love and sex can be complicated enough without adding HIV to the mix. Talking to men with HIV you'll find nearly all would rather be HIV negative. Those of us with HIV often have to deal with:

• gossip and prejudice
• family and friends getting to know you have HIV
• time in hospitals, life-long treatment and its side-effects (maybe including visible changes to your face and body)
• getting sick with minor and life-threatening illnesses.

And each year several hundred UK gay and bisexual men die of HIV-related illnesses.

If you're HIV positive

You might think getting HIV means the worst has already happened. But not using condoms leaves you open to other infections, different strains of HIV and the risk of being prosecuted for passing on HIV.

Other infections

Some sexually transmitted infections (STIs), like herpes, can't be cured and others can do serious damage. Even easily cured STIs can cause us permanent harm if we're unlucky, such as damaged balls (epididymitis) or long-term health problems (such as reactive arthritis, or hard to treat prostate infections).

Whether we're HIV positive or negative, having STIs puts strain on our immune system, making us more open to other infections or illness. And STIs make it easier for HIV to get out of one body into another: find out more about STIs and HIV here.

Studies show that some serious STIs are more common among men who bareback. These are:

• hepatitis C
• syphilis
• LGV
• herpes

Hepatitis C

This serious liver infection is a growing problem among men who bareback and fist without gloves, especially poz men.
Find out more

Syphilis

Syphilis infects several thousand UK gay and bisexual men each year. Treating it can be harder if you have HIV.
Find out more

LGV

Lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV) can cause nasty inflammation in the arse. It arrived in the UK in 2004 and hundreds of gay and bi men have been treated for it, especially those who bareback or fist without gloves.
Find out more

Herpes

Herpes can't be cured and often causes worse symptoms if you have HIV.
Find out more

Different strains of HIV

It's now been proved that unprotected sex can give someone with HIV a different strain or type of the virus to the one they already have. What isn't known is if this is very rare or happens quite often.

If you have HIV there's a chance you might pick up a more aggressive type, causing more damage to your health more quickly. You might get a type that's resistant to some HIV drugs. If you're on HIV drugs your treatment might fail. If not yet on treatment, the new type will mean that your future treatment options will be reduced as certain drugs won't work for you.

For more on this go to www.aidsmap.com, search for 'superinfection' and 'reinfection'.

Prosecutions for passing on HIV

A small number of people with HIV (including gay and bisexual men) have been prosecuted for passing on HIV. Unsafe sex itself is not illegal. You can only be prosecuted if you don't tell someone you have HIV, HIV is passed on as a result and that person complains.

Anyone prosecuted might have their identity revealed to the media and if found guilty can get up to five years in prison. To avoid the risk of prosecution, people with HIV are advised to use condoms and/or tell their sexual partners that they have HIV before they have sex.