About HIV/AIDS

What is HIV?
HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) was identified in 1983 as the virus that causes AIDS. This virus passes from person to person through body fluids: blood, semen, vaginal fluid, breast milk. While HIV antibodies have been found in saliva of affected people, there is no evidence that the virus is spread by contact with saliva.

What is AIDS?
AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) is a condition caused from HIV infection. The HIV virus attacks the body's immune system making it difficult to fight off other infections. These infections may eventually become fatal. People with AIDS develop diseases that most healthy people can normally resist or control, such as certain pneumonias, thrush, or recurrences of childhood infections. They may also suffer from cancers rarely found among people with healthy body defenses. Since the virus can enter the brain and other organs throughout the body, many people with AIDS have trouble with movement, memory, and body functions.

If I have HIV will I get AIDS?
People with HIV have what is called HIV infection; many will eventually develop AIDS as a result of their HIV infection. As of 1992, scientists estimated that about half of the people who become infected with HIV will develop AIDS within 10 years. However, new treatments have been shown to slow the pace of the infection in some people.

How can I tell if I have the virus that causes AIDS?
Before developing symptoms, people with HIV can look and feel healthy. They may not even know they have the virus, but they can still infect others through blood-to-blood or sexual contact. Typically a blood test will show whether you have antibodies to HIV (the virus that causes AIDS). If you have HIV antibodies, it is assumed that you have the HIV infection. It can take up to two weeks to get these results. But now there is a faster test with results in as little as 20 minutes (click here to learn more about HIV Testing).

What happens when someone gets the virus that causes AIDS?
HIV (the virus that causes AIDS) attacks the body's defenses. People with HIV may not have any symptoms; however, they may develop severe or prolonged fevers, swollen lymph glands, diarrhea, and other symptoms. Many develop AIDS which makes them susceptible to diseases that most healthy people resist.

How is AIDS diagnosed?
Doctors look for HIV antibodies in the blood by ordering special blood tests. Before making a diagnosis, doctors can count the number of T-helper cells (a type of white blood cell) in the blood, a measure of how strong the immune system is. Doctors also look for other signs that show the body's defenses are damaged - for example cancers or illnesses that generally attack only people whose defenses aren't working.

How long does it take for someone who is infected with HIV to develop AIDS?
About half of the people with HIV develop AIDS within 10 years of becoming infected. This time period between becoming infected with HIV and developing full-blown AIDS is known as the incubation period. During this time you can spread HIV through high risk behaviors, such as unprotected sex and sharing needles.

What do I do if I think I may have been infected with HIV?
Get tested for HIV ASAP - call 244-9000 to schedule an appointment for a confidential HIV Test.

When was the first case of AIDS in the United States?
The first cases of AIDS in the US were reported in 1981, but the illness was not referred to as AIDS until 1982.

Is AIDS found only in the United States?
No. AIDS is a growing epidemic around the globe, especially in Asia, Eastern Europe, India and Africa. The disease does not discriminate. Women, children and teens have been infected with the disease.

AIDS statistics from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

• As of the end of 2003, an estimated 39.4 million people worldwide (37.2 million adults and 2.2 million children) were living with HIV/AIDS. For the United Nations AIDS clock, click here (http://www.unfpa.org/aids_clock/main.htm).
• More than 20 million people worldwide with HIV/AIDS have died since the first AIDS cases were identified in 1981.
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 850,000 to 950,000 US residents are living with HIV infection, one-quarter of whom are unaware of their infection.
• Approximately 40,000 new HIV infections occur each year in the United States, about 70 per cent among men and 30 per cent among women. Of these newly infected people, half are younger than 25 years of age.
• Of the newly infected men, about 50 % are black, 30 % are white and 20% are Hispanic. Of newly infected women, 64% are black, 18% are white, and 18% are Hispanic.