What is HIV and AIDS?
What is HIV and AIDS?
HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. This tells us that HIV:
- Only infects humans
- Affects the immune system
- Is a virus
What Does AIDS Mean?
AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. This means:
- AIDS is acquired and not inherited.
- That the immune system is not functioning properly so you are not able to fight off any infection very well
- That it is a collection of, or several, different illnesses.
Someone diagnosed with AIDS is in the late stages of HIV infection. The damage to their immune system is so severe that they become vulnerable to some very serious life threatening illnesses (sometimes referred to as Opportunistic Infections). The Centre of Disease Control has formulated a list of AIDS defining infections. When someone develops one of these listed infections they are then diagnosed as having AIDS.
You cannot catch AIDS. It is the HIV virus that suppresses the immune system so much that a whole range of infections can easily enter the body. With the ongoing development and combinations of anti HIV drugs it is possible to recover from certain AIDS defining illnesses, therefore rather than using the term someone has AIDS, it may be described as someone having HIV related illnesses or to talk of late stage or advanced HIV infection.
How Can I Tell Someone Has HIV Or AIDS?
You can't! People living with HIV look like everyone else. They are all someone's son, daughter, father, mother, cousin, aunt, uncle, friend... They look like you and me. Over 43 million people are living with the virus throughout the world so there is no way to know by looking at someone if they have HIV. The only way to know if you have the HIV virus is to go for an HIV antibody blood test. Look at the section on testing for further information.