HIV glossary
This page is a basic glossary for HIV-related terms we use more often in our web site. We are not doctors or psychologists, our intention is to provide essential information in order to let others understand what we are talking about.
Glossary
Bug chaser, or simply Chaser
An HIV-negative person who deliberately seeks out the virus from someone who is HIV-positive and not on antiviral treatment.
A subculture largely made of fantasies, present in certain online gay male communities, but actual real-world examples are extremely rare, despite what certain media outlets claim.
Conversion
Flu-like symptoms indicating the first stage of HIV infection are defined as “seroconversion” or “conversion.”
Vulgarly called “fuck flu” it usually appears 10 to 14 days after exposure to the virus.
Since human body does not always respond with a fever or other symptoms, no illness can automatically be related to HIV, nor can you assume you are negative if your body shows no reaction.
Seroconversion is when the viral load (amount of virus in blood) is at its highest, significantly increasing the likelihood of transmitting it to others. Consequently, the only way to know your status and seek timely treatment is to take a diagnostic test.
In fictional stories about “Poz World,” it is called the “fever of passage”, and the PlusBrothers characters consider it an unmissable ritual.
Gifter (Gift Giver)
In “bug chaser” subculture, the gifter gives HIV to the “chaser” who asks for it, stopping antiviral medication, so that the virus replicates freely.
To avoid further homophobia and stigma towards people living with HIV, we want to clarify our position: although searching the internet makes it seem full of people talking and bragging about it, deliberate infection is about 99% a fantasy passed off as real by bored keyboard warriors in a chest-thumping contest.
In our fictional and explicitly satirical stories, however, the role of GIFTER is highly sought after, but only a few are entitled to it because it carries great responsibility toward humans and viruses alike.
“Gifter” is also a playful nickname for Alessandro, co-author of this website, teasing the clichés surrounding HIV. He is undergoing therapy and has no intention of transmitting it to anyone else.
Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP)
Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) is a drug treatment used when there is a confirmed risk of acquiring HIV: sexual assault, accidents, or consensual sexual contact with individuals confirmed to be HIV-positive with a high viral load.
In the event of exposure, for PEP to be effective, the person must go to the emergency room or an infectious disease department within 48 hours of the risky event; the therapy must then be taken for 30 days.
Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP)
Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, or PrEP, is a drug treatment indicated for HIV-negative individuals who are at high risk of acquiring HIV. It does not completely eliminate the risk, but it substantially reduces it.
Seroinvolved / Seroinvolvement
HIV has become part of everyone's life, if only in the form of prejudices and fears. Because of this, it no longer makes sense to divide the world into “positives” or “negatives.” Being seroinvolved means being aware that the infection does not discriminate against anyone, and every person should contribute, as much as possible, to stopping the epidemic by staying informed and, above all, by fighting the social stigma against those who are positive—because discrimination often kills more than the infection itself.
Serodiscordant
Refers to a couple in which one partner lives with HIV and the other does not. Playfully also referred to as a “magnetic couple.”
These could be very difficult relationships back when medications did not exist, due to the high risk of both death and transmission to the HIV-negative partner.
The possibility of having children was automatically excluded because, until 1996, assisted reproductive technologies and sperm washing techniques did not exist. Not to mention that not everyone was willing to accept long-term condom use in the daily life of a relationship.
Nowadays, however, a serodiscordant couple faces no medical obstacles, thanks to antiviral therapies that eliminate all risk of transmission.
Serophobia
Serophobia is the fear, discrimination, and stigma directed at people living with HIV, who are often forced to keep their status secret to avoid consequences in their work, social, romantic lives, and even in healthcare settings—it is not the first time a doctor or dentist has refused to treat a patient with HIV.
Serosorting
A presumed risk-reduction strategy in the context of sexually transmitted infections (particularly HIV), which involves selecting sexual partners — or deciding whether to engage in condomless sex — based on their disclosed or assumed concordant HIV serostatus (e.g., HIV-negative individuals with HIV-negative partners, or HIV-positive individuals with HIV-positive partners). Choices made both in real life and in dating apps.
Status
Status, or serostatus, refers to the presence or absence of the HIV virus in the blood: HIV-positive status, or HIV-negative status.
Stealthing
Stealthing is when, during sexual contact, a partner removes a condom without the consent of the person they are with (LGBT+ or straight), or when the condom is tampered with so that it “accidentally” breaks. In some countries, it is legally considered sexual assault.
It is called “reverse stealthing” when a woman lies about taking oral contraceptives or uses male semen—via used condoms or other methods—to get pregnant without her partner's knowledge.
Fortunately, these are extreme cases, but in the context of HIV, a “stealther” is also someone who lies about their HIV status or about taking therapies that block viral replication. “Reverse stealthing” also applies to those who claim to be taking pre-exposure prophylaxis or to already have the virus, insisting on avoiding condom use under false pretenses.
Undetectable
A person living with HIV is said to have an undetectable viral load when tests show fewer than 50 copies of the virus per milliliter of plasma (liquid portion of human blood) – a result achieved through the antiviral therapies used to treat HIV.
If the patient is on medication and their viral load has been stably undetectable for at least six months, numerous scientific studies over time have proven that the chance of transmitting HIV to others through sexual contact drops to zero; if HIV does not reproduce inside blood, it does not replicate in other bodily fluids either.
Campaigns from activists and social network say “U=U”, “Undetectable=Untransmittable”.
Unscreened, undiagnosed, unaware
Refers to someone who, believing they are not at risk, is sexually active with multiple partners without protection and avoids getting tested for HIV.
Unaware of having contracted it, the unscreened individual undergoes no drug treatment for the virus, maintaining high viral replication and continuing to transmit it sexually, as well as risking severe health complications or even death.
In Poz World's stories, “unaware, undiagnosed, unscreened” is the worst insult you can throw at someone—it is equivalent to calling them a coward.