The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is the virus that causes HIV infection. HIV causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), the most advanced stage of HIV infection.
What is AIDS?
AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome:
Acquired means you can get infected with it;
Immune Deficiency means a weakness in the body’s system that fights diseases.
Syndrome means a group of health problems that make up a disease.
AIDS is caused by a virus called the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). If you get infected with HIV, your body will try to fight the infection. It will make “antibodies,” special immune molecules the body makes to fight HIV. AIDS is the most severe stage of HIV (Stage 3).
AIDS is a set of symptoms (or syndrome) caused by the HIV virus. A person is said to have AIDS when their immune system is too weak to fight off infection, and they develop certain symptoms and illnesses (known as ‘opportunistic infections ’). This is the last stage of HIV, when the infection is very advanced, and if left untreated will lead to death.
How do you get AIDS?
You don’t actually “get” AIDS. You might get infected with HIV, and later you might develop AIDS. You can get infected with HIV from anyone who’s infected, even if they don’t look sick and even if they haven’t tested HIV-positive yet. The blood, vaginal fluid, semen, and breast milk of people infected with HIV has enough of the virus in it to infect other people.
Most people get the HIV virus by:
- Having sex with an infected person who is not on treatment and has a detectable viral load.
- Sharing a needle (shooting drugs) with someone who’s infected
- Being born when their mother is infected, or drinking the breast milk of an infected woman
- Getting a transfusion of infected blood used to be a way people got AIDS, but now the blood supply is screened very carefully and the risk is extremely low.
- There are no documented cases of HIV being transmitted by tears or saliva.
What happens if I am HIV positive?
If your positive result came from a lab test, then the confirmatory test will already have been done.
If you are HIV positive then your test centre will arrange for you to speak with a doctor. It is important that you then have a few other tests to see how strong your immune system is.
You should also be offered HIV treatment (called ART), Many people now start ART as soon as they find out they are HIV positive. ART is recommended for everyone with HIV. HIV medicines help people with HIV live longer, healthier lives and reduce the risk of HIV transmission.
What are the symptoms of AIDS?
Without proper and consistent treatment, people living with HIV can develop AIDS sooner. By that time, the immune system is quite damaged and has a harder time generating a response to infection and disease.
Symptoms of AIDS can include:
- recurrent fever
- chronic swollen lymph glands, especially of the armpits, neck, and groin
- chronic fatigue
- night sweats
- dark splotches under the skin or inside the mouth, nose, or eyelids
- sores, spots, or lesions of the mouth and tongue, genitals, or anus
- bumps, lesions, or rashes of the skin
- recurrent or chronic diarrhea
- rapid weight loss
- neurologic problems such as trouble concentrating, memory loss, and confusion
- anxiety and depression
How do I know if I have AIDS?
Symptoms such as fever, weakness, and weight loss may be a sign that a person’s HIV has advanced to AIDS.
AIDS is different in every infected person. A few people may die a few months after getting infected, but most live fairly normal lives for many years, A few HIV-positive people stay healthy for many years even without taking antiretroviral medications (ART).
How is AIDS diagnosed?
By tests for AIDS. It is diagnosed if the results of your test show that you have:
- Less than 200 CD4+ T cells per cubic millimeter of blood, compared with about 1,000 CD4+ T cells for healthy people. CD4+T cells are white blood cells that play an important role in the body’s immune system. These cells are destroyed by HIV. Even when a HIV-positive person feels well and is not experiencing any symptoms of the disease, CD4+ T cells are being infected by HIV.
- CD4+ T cells accounting for less than 14 percent of all lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell.
- A certain kind of infection called an opportunistic infection that is common in people who have weakened immune systems. These include Kaposi’s sarcoma or Pneumocystis pneumonia.
AIDS Treatments
At this time, there is no cure for AIDS, but medications are effective in fighting HIV and its complications. Treatments are designed to reduce HIV in your body, keep your immune system as healthy as possible and decrease the complications you may develop.
Most medications have side effects, which your doctor will discuss with you. Individuals respond differently to medications and side effects may vary. Our doctors, nurses and pharmacists can help you manage these side effects.
Basic facts about AIDS
- AIDS stands for acquired immune deficiency syndrome. It’s also called advanced HIV infection or late-stage HIV.
- AIDS is a set of symptoms and illnesses that develop when an advanced HIV infection has destroyed the immune system.
- Fewer people develop AIDS now, as more people are on treatment for HIV and staying well.
Although there is no cure for HIV, with the right treatment and support, people living with HIV can enjoy long and healthy lives. To do this, it’s especially important to commit to taking treatment correctly.
Reference
AIDS AND OPPORTUNISTIC INFECTIONS
- cdc.gov/hiv/basics/livingwithhiv/opportunisticinfections.html
WHAT ARE HIV AND AIDS?
- avert.org/about-hiv-aids/what-hiv-aids
A Comprehensive Guide to HIV and AIDS
- healthline.com/health/hiv-aids#what-is-aids
What is AIDS?
- aidsinfonet.org/fact_sheets/view/101
What happens if I am HIV positive?
- i-base.info/guides/testing/what-happens-if-i-am-hiv-positive