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HIV Information & Facts

HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, is a virus that destroys white blood cells, called T cells, that help the body fight disease. The virus leads to AIDS, or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. AIDS is the final stage of HIV infection.

  1. Significance

    • In 2007, 33 million people worldwide were living with HIV and 2.7 million were newly infected that year, according to a joint World Health Organization and UNAIDS global summary. Developing countries were hardest hit.

    Symptoms

    • In early stages of HIV infection, there may be no symptoms--or symptoms may be mistaken for another virus such as flu. In later stages, the immune system is severely weakened, and patients may experience weight loss, fever, fatigue, pneumonia and swollen glands.

    History

    • The first known case of HIV in humans was from a 1959 blood sample from a man in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Health officials started using the term AIDS in 1982 to describe the HIV virus in its later stages.

    Treatment

    • Drugs known as antiretrovirals disrupt the action of HIV and prolong the life of the patient. HIV and AIDS have no cure.

    Transmission

    • HIV can be transmitted through vaginal and anal sex, shared needles, transfusions of infected blood and by mother to child. HIV is not transmitted by kissing, hugging, touching someone or shaking a person's hand.

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