The ABC of HIV

All the important information you need to know about HIV and Aids…

What is the difference between HIV and Aids?

Many people think that being HIV positive means that you have AIDS. But an HIV infection and AIDS are not the same thing.

HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. HIV is passed from one person to another through blood, semen and vaginal fluids. Once the virus enters your body, it multiplies and destroys special cells called CD4 cells. These CD4 cells are very important because they make sure that our immune systems are working. As the virus increases, the CD4 cells decrease which makes the immune system very weak. Because the immune system is too weak to protect the body from diseases and infections, HIV positive people start to get very sick from many diseases that their bodies would usually have been able to fight off. These diseases are called opportunistic infections.

So it is only when an HIV positive person starts to become sick with all these illnesses that you can then say the person has Aids. Aids stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome and it is the collection of diseases that a person gets once their immune system has been terribly weakened by HIV.

How does HIV become AIDS?

There are four main stages between being HIV positive and having AIDS

Stage 1:HIV enters the body and starts using the CD4 cells to multiply. An infected person looks normal and healthy.>

Stage 2: Minor skin problems, weight loss, head or chest colds, shingles

Stage 3: The amount of HIV (commonly called the Viral Load) in the body increases. In the process the CD4 count (number of CD4 cells) decrease.

Stage 4: Very serious diseases start – an HIV positive person now has Aids. Most of these diseases such as serious lung infections, fungal infection in the throat, brain infections, very serious diarrhoea, extreme weight loss and certain types of cancer only affect HIV positive people.

How does a person get HIV?

1. Sex (including oral sex) without a condom with a person who already has HIV
2. A pregnant mother who is HIV positive can pass it to her unborn baby
3. Getting in contact with the blood of a person who is HIV positive
4. Sharing needles used for injecting medicine or drugs with a person who is HIV positive
5. Sharing toothbrushes and razor blades (used for shaving) – the virus can spread through cuts in the mouth and bleeding gums or through cuts and bruises on the skin