What Are HIV and AIDS?

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HealthWiki > Where Women Have No Doctor > Chapter 17: HIV > What Are HIV and AIDS?

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In this chapter:

 

In this chapter:

HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is a very small germ, called a virus, that you cannot see. AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is a condition that develops later, if someone who has been infected with HIV does not get treatment or struggles to stay healthy even with treatment.

HIV

You cannot tell from looking at a person if they have HIV or not.

When a person becomes infected with HIV, the virus attacks their immune system, the part of the body that fights off infection. HIV slowly kills cells of the immune system until the body can no longer defend itself against other infections. Most people who are infected do not get sick from their HIV for 5 to 10 years. But eventually the immune system cannot fight off common infections. Because HIV can take years to make someone sick, many people with HIV feel healthy and do not know they have it.

IMPORTANT! HIV can spread to others as soon as you are infected, even if you look and feel healthy. The only way to know if you are infected is to get an HIV test.

Around the world, about 650,000 people died from AIDS-related causes in 2021

AIDS (also called Advanced HIV Disease)

If HIV is not treated, it will become AIDS after several years (often faster for babies with HIV). Signs of worsening HIV infection are different for different people and can include ongoing diarrhea, cough, flu, skin problems, and mouth sores. This is not called AIDS until certain cancers or infections develop. Common serious infections during AIDS are tuberculosis and a form of meningitis, a brain infection.

Good nutrition and treatment with HIV medicines help the immune system stay strong so people can live a healthy life with HIV. But there is no cure for HIV. And many millions of people need better access to medicines.

How HIV spreads
HIV can live in certain body fluids of people infected with HIV—blood, semen, breast milk, and the fluids in the vagina. The virus can spread when these fluids get into the body of another person. This means that HIV can be spread by:
unsafe sex with someone who has the virus. This is the most common way HIV spreads.		unclean needles or syringes, or any tool that pierces or cuts the skin.
blood transfusions, if the blood has not been tested to be sure it is free from HIV.	pregnancy, birth or breastfeeding, if the pregnant person is infected and not taking ART.	getting infected blood in an open wound.

IMPORTANT! Being on HIV medicines (called ART) greatly reduces the amount of HIV in body fluids. This means HIV spreads less easily

How HIV does NOT Spread
HIV does not live outside the human body for more than a few minutes. It cannot live on its own in the air or in water. This means you cannot give or get HIV in these ways:
by touching, kissing, or hugging	by sharing food	by sharing a bed
by sharing or washing clothes, towels, bed covers, latrines, or toilets, if you follow this advice.	by caring for someone with HIV or AIDS, if you follow this advice.	from insect bites

This page was updated:13 Nov 2023