Smileband General health

What are HIV and AIDS?

HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. HIV is the virus which, when untreated, results in an AIDS diagnosis, or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. The virus attacks the body’s immune system, especially white blood cells called T-cells. Your immune system is what fights against infections to keep your body healthy and T-cells play a key role in keeping a person protected from infections. If your immune system is weakened, it can’t protect your body and you can easily get sick.

Who gets HIV/AIDS?

Anyone who has unprotected sex (without a condom) and/or shares needles or injection drug equipment with an infected person is at risk for getting the HIV virus. Also, babies can be born with the virus if their mother is infected. In the past, people also got infected from unscreened blood transfusions, but today donated blood is screened more efficiently.

Does everyone who has HIV get AIDS?

Not all people with HIV get AIDS. However, if a person’s T-cell numbers drop and the amount of virus in the blood stream rises (viral load), the immune system can become too weak to fight off infections, and they are considered to have AIDS. It is then possible to get sick with diseases that do not usually affect other people. One of these diseases is Kaposi Sarcoma (KS), a rare type of skin cancer. Another is a type of pneumonia called Pneumocystis Pneumonia (PCP). These diseases can be treated and a person’s T-cells and viral load can return to healthier levels with the right types of medication, although the AIDS diagnosis stays with them even when healthy.   

What are the symptoms of HIV/AIDS?

Some people may get an illness within 6 weeks of HIV infection. This early period in the infection may come with some of the following symptoms:

• Fever
• Headache
• Swollen glands
• Tiredness
• Aching joints and muscles
• Sore throat

Since these symptoms are similar to the flu, HIV may go unnoticed. Therefore, it is important to tell your health care provider if you don’t use condoms during sex and/or if you share needles. That’s a good reason to get tested for HIV!

When HIV progresses to AIDS, a person may have any of the following symptoms:

• Fever lasting longer than 1 month
• Weight loss
• Extreme tiredness
• Diarrhea for longer than 1 month
• Swollen lymph glands
• Unclear thinking
• No sense of balance