HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a virus that attacks cells that help the body fight infection, making a person more vulnerable to other infections and diseases.
If left untreated, HIV can lead to the disease AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome).
The human body can’t get rid of HIV and no effective HIV cure exists. So, once you have HIV, you have it for life.
Where did HIV come from?
HIV infection in humans came from a type of chimpanzee in Central Africa.
The chimpanzee version of the virus (called simian immunodeficiency virus, or SIV) was probably passed to humans when humans hunted these chimpanzees for meat and came in contact with their infected blood.
Studies show that HIV may have jumped from chimpanzees to humans as far back as the late 1800s.
Over decades, HIV slowly spread across Africa and later into other parts of the world. We know that the virus has existed in the United States since at least the mid to late 1970s.
HIV is transmitted through bodily fluids that include:
⚫blood
⚫semen
⚫vaginal and rectal fluids (during unprotected sex i.e sex without a condom or HIV medicine to prevent or treat HIV)
⚫breast milk
⚫through sharing injection drug equipment.
The virus isn’t transferred in air or water, or through casual contact.
HIV can cause changes throughout the body.
At that point, the immune system is too weak to successfully respond against other diseases, infections, and conditions.
Untreated, HIV can progress to AIDS within a decade. There’s currently no cure for AIDS, and without treatment, life expectancy after diagnosis is about 3 yearsTrusted Source.
This may be shorter if the person develops a severe opportunistic illness. However, treatment with antiretroviral drugs can prevent AIDS from developing.
What is AIDS?
AIDS is the late stage of HIV infection that occurs when the body’s immune system is badly damaged because of the virus.
Most people with HIV do not develop AIDS because taking HIV medicine every day as prescribed stops the progression of the disease.
A person with HIV is considered to have progressed to AIDS when:
the number of their CD4 cells falls below 200 cells per cubic millimeter of blood (200 cells/mm3). (In someone with a healthy immune system, CD4 counts are between 500 and 1,600 cells/mm3.) OR
they develop one or more opportunistic infections regardless of their CD4 count.
Without HIV medicine, people with AIDS typically survive about 3 years. Once someone has a dangerous opportunistic illness, life expectancy without treatment falls to about 1 year. HIV medicine can still help people at this stage of HIV infection, and it can even be lifesaving. But people who start ART soon after they get HIV experience more benefits—that’s why HIV testing is so important.
Cases of HIV progress through three stages:
stage 1: acute stage, the first few weeks after transmission
stage 2: clinical latency, or chronic stage
stage 3: AIDS
As HIV lowers the CD4 cell count, the immune system weakens. A typical adult’s CD4 count is 500 to 1,500 per cubic millimeter. A person with a count below 200 is considered to have AIDS.
How quickly a case of HIV progresses through the chronic stage varies significantly from person to person. Without treatment, it can last up to a decade before advancing to AIDS. With treatment, it can last indefinitely.
Are there symptoms?
These symptoms may last for a few days or several weeks.Possible symptoms include:-
Fever,
Chills,
Rash,
Night sweats,
Muscle aches,
Sore throat,
Fatigue,
Swollen lymph nodes, and
Mouth ulcers.
But some people may not feel sick during acute HIV infection. These symptoms don’t mean you have HIV. Other illnesses can cause these same symptoms.
Getting tested for HIV is the only way to know for sure.
How can you tell if someone is HIV positive?
The only way to tell if a person has HIV is through the HIV Antibody Test, which detects the presence of antibodies produced by the body in response to the HIV virus. It can take up to three months for antibodies to be developed.
HIV can be suppressed by treatment regimens composed by a combination of 3 or more ARV drugs. Current ART does not cure HIV infection but highly suppresses viral replication within a person’s body and allows an individual’s immune system recovery to strengthen and regain the capacity to fight off infections.
HIV and AIDS are related, but they’re not the same thing.
