HIV/AIDS has been identified in virtually every region of the world, reaching epidemic levels and affecting the lives of millions of men, women, and children of all ages, races, ethnicities, religions, and sexual orientations. Despite its widespread devastation, HIV/AIDS is a relatively new illness.
HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. HIV infects only humans, creates deficiencies in the body's immune system which normally protects the body against illness, and is a virus. Viruses are tiny substances that enter the body's cells and cause illness.
AIDS stands for acquired immune deficiency syndrome. People do not inherit AIDS through their genes. AIDS is the worst form of HIV infection. AIDS is primarily a sickness of the body's immune system—the very system that is designed to defend the body against sickness. People with AIDS have a deficiency in their immune systems, meaning that the immune system no longer works properly. Without a healthy immune system, people infected with HIV get sick with other diseases much more easily, and get well much more slowly, if at all. AIDS includes many different diseases and opportunistic infections, so it is not just one illness but a syndrome made up of many symptoms and illnesses.
To diagnose an HIV infection, healthcare providers examine a person's blood or body tissues for the virus using tests designed and licensed for this purpose. A person who has HIV in his or her body is said to be HIV positive (HIV+ or seropositive for HIV). Because HIV causes subtle changes in the immune system long before the infected person feels sick, the term HIV disease is used to cover the time spanning from initial infection with the HIV virus to the diagnosis of AIDS. AIDS is the late stage of infection with HIV. In the absence of HIV treatment, most, if not all people with HIV will develop AIDS.
To diagnose AIDS in the United States, healthcare workers use criteria established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). People are diagnosed with AIDS if they are HIV+ and have at least one of certain diseases called opportunistic diseases, which take advantage of the weakened immune system of people with HIV. There are 26 opportunistic diseases associated with AIDS including pneumonia, Kaposi's sarcoma (a cancer), invasive cervical cancer, and pulmonary tuberculosis (ie, tuberculosis of the lungs). People are also diagnosed with AIDS if they are HIV+ and have very low levels of certain kinds of white blood cells called T-cells. T-cells are some of the most important cells of the immune system. They protect from viral infections, help other cells produce antibodies, fight bacterial infections, and fight cancers.
Discussion question: What are some opportunistic diseases that may lead to a diagnosis of AIDS?
People with AIDS often are called just that, or by the acronym PWAs. In recent years, the more optimistic term "people living with AIDS" (PLWAs) has become preferred by some AIDS activist groups.
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