HIV and AIDS

AIDS Facts

WHAT IS AIDS?

AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrom.
It is a serious condition in which the body's defences against some illnesses are broken down.
People with AIDS develop many different kinds of disease which the body would usually fight off quite easily.
The CDC's definition of AIDS is all HIV-infected people who have fewer than 200 CD4+ T cells per cubic millimeter of blood. (Healthy adults usually have CD4+ T-cell counts of 1,000 or more.)

WHAT CAUSES AIDS?

IF YOU ARE HIV POSITIVE, DO YOU HAVE AIDS?

No. A person can be infected with HIV for many years and still appear perfectly healthy.
But, the virus gradually multiplies inside the body and destroys its ability to fight off illnesses.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE FOR HIV TO CAUSE AIDS?

Since 1992, scientists have estimated that about half the people with HIV develop AIDS within 10 years after becoming infected.
This time varies greatly from person to person and can depend on many factors, including a person's health status and their health-related behaviors

WHAT HAPPENS (PHYSICALLY) IF YOU HAVE AIDS?

People diagnosed with AIDS may get life-threatening diseases called , which are caused by microbes such as viruses or bacteria that usually do not make healthy people sick.
In people with AIDS, these infections are often severe and sometimes fatal because the immune system is so ravaged by HIV that the body cannot fight off certain bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, and other microbes.

IS THERE A CURE?

There is no cure for AIDS. There are drugs that can slow down the HIV virus, and slow down the damage to your immune system. But there is no way to get all the HIV out of your body.
There are other drugs that you can take to prevent or to treat some of the opportunistic infections (OIs). In most cases, these drugs work very well.
The newer, stronger anti-HIV drugs have also helped reduce the rates of most OIs. A few OIs, however, are still very difficult to treat.