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Quick Facts About HIV

Human Immunodeficiency Virus, or HIV, is the virus that causes AIDS. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that between its discovery in 1981 and 2006, AIDS killed over 25 million people. Many people are misinformed about HIV, and knowing the facts about the virus can help prevent its spread.

  1. What is HIV?

    • HIV is a retrovirus that destroys the cells that fight infection and disease. HIV progressively weakens the body's immune system, eventually making it impossible for disease and infection to be fought off. HIV is found in bodily fluids such as blood, vaginal fluid, breast milk and semen.

    What is AIDS?

    • Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, or AIDS, is the final stage of HIV when the body's immune system can no longer fight off infection. A doctor gives the diagnosis of AIDS when the body experiences one or more AIDS-defining illnesses, develops certain types of cancer or when the immune system's CD4 cell count becomes extremely low.

    Symptoms

    • According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), when someone first contracts HIV they may not have any signs or symptoms. Within the first two to four weeks of contracting HIV, it is common to experience flu-like symptoms including fever, swollen lymph nodes, rash and joint pain. In the secondary stages of HIV, symptoms include chronic respiratory infections, weight loss, diarrhea and fever. Symptoms increase and progress over time.

    Transmission

    • HIV is transmitted through unprotected sexual intercourse or oral sex with an HIV-infected individual, sharing needles or syringes with someone that is HIV-infected, or the virus may be passed on through pregnancy, childbirth or breast-feeding. In the early days of the epidemic, the virus was sometimes contracted through blood transfusions or blood products. However, mandatory blood testing has made the U.S. blood supply one of the safest in the world.

      HIV cannot be contracted through casual contact including hand shaking, coughing, sneezing, hugging or sharing a drinking glass. HIV also cannot be passed through swimming pools, bathrooms or insect bites.

    Treatment

    • There are no drugs available that cure HIV, but there are treatments on the market that help impede the development of AIDS. Antiretroviral (ARV) therapy uses a combination of three or more drugs to prevent the HIV virus from multiplying in the body. Once the growth stops, the body's immune cells are able to live and protect the body longer.

    Prevention & Testing

    • There is no vaccine for HIV but there are a number of ways to protect against it. The best prevention is to abstain from unprotected sex and injection drugs. Drug treatments can help reduce the risk of HIV transmission during pregnancy.

      Early testing can also help to stop the spread of HIV. Tests use saliva or blood to detect the antibodies that HIV produces when it infects the body. It takes three months or longer for these antibodies to develop, so it is recommended that you wait at least 12 weeks after possible exposure before testing. HIV testing is confidential and can be done by most health care providers.

    Statistics

    • According to WHO, there are over 33 million people infected with HIV worldwide. Over two million of those infected are children. In 2008, 2.7 million people were newly infected with HIV and 2 million people died from AIDS.

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