HIV/AIDS: The Disease

© 2004 Minnesota AIDS Project. Reprinted with permission.

HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is the virus that causes AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). HIV slowly breaks down the body’s immune system, leading to an advanced stage of HIV disease known as AIDS. AIDS is diagnosed when a person has a T-cell count of less than 200 or a specific type of illness as a result of HIV infection.

HIV Is Transmitted…

  • Through blood, semen, vaginal secretions, and breast milk of a person with HIV.
  • During unprotected oral, anal, and vaginal sex.
  • Through sharing injection needles.

HIV can also be transmitted from mother to child in the womb or at birth through blood or HIV may pass to a baby during breast-feeding.

HIV Is NOT Transmitted…

  • By kissing or holding hands.
  • By mosquitoes.
  • By sharing bathrooms.
  • Through sneezes or coughing.
  • Through normal workplace, daycare, or school interaction.

To Protect Yourself from HIV…

  • You can choose not to have sex.
  • Use a latex or polyurethane condom with water-based lube every time you have vaginal or anal sex.
  • Use a latex or polyurethane condom or barrier for oral sex.
  • Don’t share injection needles.
  • Talk with sexual partners about their HIV status and consider testing for HIV.
  • Don’t use oil-based lubricants. Lotion, Vaseline®, etc. can weaken a condom, causing it to leak or break.
  • Don’t have sex when you are drunk or high. Using alcohol or other drugs affects judgment and can lead to unsafe sex.

HIV Testing

HIV tests look for HIV antibodies and not the virus itself. A person’s body responds to HIV by developing antibodies to help fight off the virus. The window period refers to the period of time between HIV exposure and when enough antibodies are produced so that an accurate test can be performed. The average time it takes for someone infected to develop and test positive for HIV antibodies is 25 days, but the window period can be as long as three months after a risk. (Note: You may hear that the window period is six months but recently the Centers for Disease Control officially changed this to three months.)

What Does a Negative Test Result Mean?

  • It means that no HIV antibodies were in your body at the time of the test.
  • This may mean that you do not have HIV or, that you have HIV but your body has not yet made HIV antibodies.
  • Because of the window period, get tested again at least three months after any risky behavior to know your HIV status.

What Does a Positive Result Mean?

  • It means that HIV antibodies are in your body and you have HIV.
  • Learning that you are HIV-positive, you may feel shocked, angry, sad, or overwhelmed and not know what to do first. Please call the nearest AIDS service organization to learn about different options available or just to talk with someone about your recent diagnosis.

HIV Treatment

There is no cure for HIV disease or AIDS. Yet there are drugs used to slow down the damage that HIV does to the immune system. When they are effective, these drugs can reduce the amount of HIV in a person’s body. The drugs do not work for everyone or totally rid the body of the virus. The virus continues to actively make copies of itself but does this work hidden in certain areas of the body until a person’s immune system can no longer fight them as effectively. A person can still transmit HIV to someone else by having unsafe sex or sharing needles, even when the amount of virus is not detectable.

What is the status of HIV/AIDS now?

An epidemic update report released by UNAIDS on November 21, 2005 says that 40,300,000 people are now living with HIV. 4,900,000 people were infected in the previous 11 months, alone. Of those people, 700,000 were children under the age of 15. And 3,100,000 people died in 2005 from AIDS-related illness.

Sub-Saharan Africa remains the hardest hit, with nearly three-quarters of the known cases of HIV infection. New epidemics are being seen in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and East Asia. Concerted prevention efforts appear to be working in Uganda, Thailand, Cambodia, Spain, Brazil, Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Haiti, among specifically-targeted groups.

You can check out the World Health Organizations section on HIV/AIDS for an up-to-date look at worldwide infection statistics and treatment plans and projects.