HIV and AIDS
HIV-Human immunodeficiency
virus
AIDS-Acquired immune deficiency
syndrome
HIV and AIDS are different.
• HIV is the virus that primarily infects cells
of the immune system and that causes
AIDS which weakens the immune system.
• HIV is an infection in which HIV has
entered the blood and is multiplying in a
person’s body cells. The virus destroys the
cells they infect.
• HIV eventually destroys the body’s ability
to fight off infection.
Getting AIDS
• Being infected with HIV does not mean that the
person has AIDS.
• A person is said to have AIDS when the virus
has destroyed many immune system cells and
has badly damage the immune system.
• It usually takes 5 to 10 years for a person
infected with HIV to develop AIDS if the person
has not received treatment.
• Persons can live with HIV and not develop AIDS.
Transmission of HIV
• Bodily fluids that carry HIV: blood, vaginal fluid,
semen and breast milk.
• HIV is spread through sexual activity, which
includes vaginal, oral and anal sex, with an
infected person.
• HIV is spread through sharing needles or other
intravenous injection equipment with an infected
person. This includes needles used to inject
drugs as well as body piercing and tattoos.
• HIV can be spread from infected mother to
her unborn child during or before the birth
process. HIV positive mothers can deliver
healthy uninfected babies.
• Infected mothers who breast-feed can also
pass the virus to their infant through breast
milk.
Ways that HIV is NOT Transmitted
• Bodily fluids that DO
NOT carry HIV:
saliva, sweat, tears,
vomit, feces and urine
do not contain
enough of the virus to
spread HIV to another
person.
• Mosquitoes do not
transfer HIV.
HIV Stats
• CDC estimates that more than one million
people are living with HIV in the United
States.
• One in five (21%) of those people living
with HIV is unaware of their infection.
• Why is this significant to me?
• If people don’t know their status they can
easily infect others through sexual contact.
• More than 18,000 people with AIDS still
die each year in the US.
• More than 10,000 teens between the ages
of 13 and 19 have been diagnosed with
HIV in the US-more than 4,000 of these
kids have developed full blown AIDS.
• People do live with HIV and medical
advances are making easier to live a
longer life than before.
Protecting yourself from HIV and
AIDS
• HIV infection is
preventable.
• Eliminate the Risks:
– Practice Abstinence or
– Be Monogamous-one
partner-no others and
– Don’t share needles
– Get tested before
having intercourse
with anyone and
– Always use a condom
• The origin of AIDS and HIV has puzzled scientists ever since the
illness first came to light in the early 1980s. For over twenty years it
has been the subject of fierce debate and the cause of countless
arguments, with everything from a promiscuous flight attendant to a
suspect vaccine program being blamed. So what is the truth? Just
where did AIDS come from?
• The first recognized cases of AIDS occurred in the USA in the early
1980s (more about this period can be found on our History of AIDS
page). A number of gay men in New York and California suddenly
began to develop rare opportunistic infections and cancers that
seemed stubbornly resistant to any treatment. At this time, AIDS did
not yet have a name, but it quickly became obvious that all the men
were suffering from a common syndrome.
• The discovery of HIV, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, was
made soon after. While some were initially resistant to acknowledge
the connection (and indeed some remain so today), there is now
clear evidence to prove that HIV causes AIDS. So, in order to find
the source of AIDS, it is necessary to look for the origin of HIV, and
find out how, when and where HIV first began to cause disease in
humans.
• HIV is a lentivirus, and like all viruses of
this type, it attacks the immune system.
• Lentiviruses are in turn part of a larger
group of viruses known as retroviruses.
• However, the most interesting lentivirus in
terms of the investigation into the origins
of HIV is the Simian Immunodeficiency
Virus (SIV) that affects monkeys, which is
believed to be at least 32,000 years old.
• It is now generally accepted that HIV is a
descendant of a Simian Immunodeficiency
Virus.
How could HIV have crossed
species?
• The most commonly accepted theory is that of
the 'hunter'.
• In this scenario, Simian Virus was transferred to
humans as a result of chimps being killed and
eaten or their blood getting into cuts or wounds
on the hunter.
• Some other rather controversial theories have
contended that HIV was transferred via medical
interventions. One particularly well-publicized
idea is that polio vaccines played a role in the
transfer.