What is the difference between HIV and AIDS?How is HIV transmitted?How can I avoid HIV?What are the symptoms?Do I need to get tested for HIV?
HIV stands for "Human Immunodeficiency Virus." HIV is the virus that causes AIDS.
While many viruses can be controlled by the immune system, HIV targets and infects the same immune system cells that are supposed to protect us from illnesses. These are a type of white blood cells called CD4- or T-cells.
HIV takes over T-cells and turns them into virus factories that produce thousands of viral copies. As the virus grows, it damages or kills T-cells, weakening the immune system.
AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. AIDS is the most advanced stage of HIV infection.
HIV causes AIDS by attacking the T-cells, which are essentially the immune system's soldiers. When the immune system loses too many T-cells, you are less able to fight off infection and can develop serious, often deadly, infections (a normal count for T-cells varies by laboratory, but usually is in the 600 - 1,500 range). These infections are called opportunistic infections (OIs) because they take advantage of the body's weakened defenses.
When someone dies of AIDS, it is usually opportunistic infections or other long-term effects of HIV infection that cause death. AIDS refers to the body's immune-compromised state that can no longer stop OIs from developing and becoming so deadly.
What is the difference between HIV and AIDS?
You don't have AIDS as soon as you are infected with HIV. You can be HIV positive for many years with no signs of disease, or only mild-to-moderate symptoms. But without treatment, HIV will eventually wear down the immune system in most people to the point that they develop more serious OIs.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines someone as having AIDS if he or she is HIV positive and meets one or both of these conditions:
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Has had at least one of 21 AIDS-defining OIs (for a complete list, click here). |
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Has had a T-cell count of 200 cells or less. |
HIV lives in the bodily fluids of an infected person - blood, vaginal secretions, semen, and breast milk - and often in high concentrations. Transmission can take place when these fluids are exchanged. There are several ways HIV is transmitted:
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HIV must get into your blood stream to infect you. Unprotected sex (vaginal, anal, or oral) with an infected person. That means if you're having sex and any of your partner's blood, semen (including pre-cum), or vaginal secretions come in contact with a cut or a tear in the lining of your vagina, anus, or mouth, even tiny, invisible ones, you are at risk of being infected. You CANNOT get infected with HIV through everyday social contact such as kissing, hugging, touching, sneezing, coughing, playing sports, sharing eating utensils, or sharing a bathroom with a person who is infected. There are no documented cases of transmission through saliva, sweat or tears. Mosquitoes, fleas and other biting insects don't transmit HIV either. |
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Sharing needles/syringes when injecting drugs, using unclean tattooing and piercing equipment with someone who is HIV positive. |
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Babies born to HIV-positive women can be infected with the virus before or during birth, or through breast feeding after birth. |
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HIV can be transmitted through donated blood or blood-clotting procedures. However, this is now very rare in countries like the U.S. where blood is screened before use. |
HIV has also been detected in saliva, tears and urine, but only in extremely low amounts. There hasn't been a single report of HIV transmission through these fluids.
Not having sex (abstinence) or having sex only in a monogamous relationship with a partner you know is uninfected and is monogamous with you are the surest ways to avoid HIV infection. If you are sexually active-or injecting drugs-consider the following:
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Get tested for HIV on a yearly basis as part of your regular health care. Approximately 20 percent of HIV-positive people in the U.S. don't know they're infected. Know your status to protect your health-and the health of others. |
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Practice safer sex. To be safe from HIV infection, you should avoid contact with certain bodily fluids, namely blood, vaginal secretions, and semen (including pre-cum). In other words, these fluids must not enter your bloodstream or that of your partner. Small, vulnerable cuts and sores exist all over your body, especially on the penis and inside the mouth, vagina and anus, where skin is very delicate. That means you need a physical barrier between your body and your partner's bodily fluids to protect you and your partner from infection. So, before you take your clothes off (even for oral sex), reach for the right protection. |
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Reduce drug injection risk. If you inject drugs, never share needles, syringes or other "works." If unused injection equipment is not available, be sure to clean shared needles, syringes and other works with bleach and water. Make sure that equipment used for piercings and tattoos is also properly cleaned. |
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If you're pregnant-or are thinking of starting a family-get tested for HIV. If you're positive, careful prenatal care, including the use of medications for the mother, can greatly reduce the risk of passing the virus on to the baby to 2 percent or less. |
The following may be warning signs of advanced HIV infection:
- Rapid weight loss
- Dry cough
- Recurring fever or profuse night sweats
- Profound and unexplained fatigue
- Swollen lymph glands in the armpits, groin or neck
- Diarrhea that lasts for more than a week
- White spots or unusual blemishes on the tongue, in the mouth, or in the throat
- Pneumonia
- Red, brown, pink, or purplish blotches on or under the skin or inside the mouth, nose or eyelids
- Memory loss, depression and other neurological disorders
However, no one should assume they are infected if they have any of these symptoms. Each of these symptoms can be related to other illnesses. The only way to know whether you are infected is to be tested for HIV infection. For information on where to find an HIV testing site near you, enter your zip code into HelpEXPRESS on this site, or call the Louisiana statewide AIDS/STD Infoline at
(800) 992-4379 in English, en Español. These resources are confidential. You can also ask your health care provider to give you an HIV test. You cannot rely on symptoms to establish that a person has HIV or AIDS. The symptoms of HIV/AIDS are similar to the symptoms of many other illnesses.
Do I need to get tested for HIV?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1 in 5 people who are living with HIV in the United States do not know they are infected. They recommend that anyone who is between 13 and 64 and is sexually active be tested for HIV. If you are negative, you can take steps to make sure you stay that way. If you are positive, the sooner you know it, the better so that you can take advantage of the treatments available and avoid infecting other people. The test is easy and you can get your results in as little as 20 minutes. HIV testing should be part of your regular health check-up just like blood pressure and other screening tests.
If you are pregnant or thinking about becoming pregnant, HIV testing is very important for you and your baby. If a woman is infected with HIV, proper medical care and certain drugs given during pregnancy can lower the chance of passing HIV to your baby. Thus, all women who are pregnant should be tested during each pregnancy.
For information about testing centers near you, simply enter your Zip Code into our HelpEXPRESS search.
