AIDS and Infections

What Is HIV? What Is AIDS?

Like most people, you probably have heard a lot about HIV and AIDS. You may have thought that these diseases weren’t your problem and that only younger people have to worry about them. But anyone at any age can get HIV/AIDS.

HIV (short for human immunodeficiency virus) is a virus that damages the immune system—the system your body uses to fight off diseases. HIV infection leads to a much more serious disease called AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). When the HIV infection gets in your body, your immune system can weaken. This puts you in danger of getting other life-threatening diseases, infections,and cancers. When that happens,you have AIDS. AIDS is the last stage of HIV infection. If you think you may have HIV, it is very important to get tested. Today there are drugs that can help your body keep the HIV in check and fight against AIDS.

What Are the Symptoms of HIV/AIDS?

Many people have no symptoms when they first become infected with HIV. It can take as little as a few weeks for minor, flu-like symptoms to show up, or more than 10 years for more serious symptoms to appear. Signs of HIV include headache, cough, diarrhea, swollen glands, lack of energy, loss of appetite and weight loss, fevers and sweats, repeated yeast infections, skin rashes, pelvic and abdominal cramps, sores in the mouth or on certain parts of the body, or short-term memory loss.

Getting Tested for HIV/AIDS:
  • It can take as long as 3 to 6 months after the infection for the virus to show up in your blood.
  • Your health care provider can testyour blood for HIV/AIDS. If you don’t have a health care provider, check your local phone book for the phone number of a hospital or health center where you can get a list of test sites.
  • Many health care providers who test for HIV also can provide counseling.
  • In most states the tests are private,and you can choose to take the test without giving your name.
You can now also test your blood at home. The “Home Access Express HIV-1 Test System” is made by the Home Access Health Corporation. You can buy it at the drug store. It is the only HIV home test system approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and legally sold in the United States. Other HIV home test systems and kits you might see on the Internet or in magazines or newspapers have not been approved by FDA and may not always give correct results.

How Do People Get HIV and AIDS?

Anyone, at any age, can get HIV and AIDS. HIV usually comes from having unprotected sex or sharing needles with an infected person, or through contact with HIV-infected blood. No matter your age, you may be at risk if:
  • You are sexually active and do not use a latex or polyurethane condom.You can get HIV/AIDS from having sex with someone who has HIV. The virus passes from the infected person to his or her partner in blood, semen, and vaginal fluid. During sex, HIV can get into your body through any opening, such as a tear or cut in the lining of the vagina, vulva, penis, rectum, or mouth. Latex condoms can help prevent an infected person from transferring the HIV virus to you.(Natural condoms do not protect against HIV/AIDS as well as the latex and polyurethane types.)
  • You do not know your partner’s drug and sexual history. What you don’t know can hurt you. Even though it may be hard to do, it’s very important to ask your partner about his or her sexual historyand drug use. Here are some questions to ask: Has your partner been tested for HIV/AIDS? Has he or she had a number of different sex partners? Has your partner ever had unprotected sex with someone who has shared needles? Has he or she injected drugs or shared needles with someone else? Drug users are not the only people who might share needles. For example, people with diabetes who inject insulin or draw blood to test glucose levels might share needles.
  • You have had a blood transfusion or operation in a developing country at any time.
  • You had a blood transfusion in the United States between 1978 and 1985.
Is HIV/AIDS Different in Older People?

A growing number of older people now have HIV/AIDS. About 19 percent of all people with HIV/AIDS in this country are age 50 and older. This is because doctors are finding HIV more often than ever before in older people, and because improved treatments are helping people with the disease live longer.

Facts About HIV/AIDS

You may have read or heard things that are not true about how you get HIV/AIDS.

Here are the FACTS:
  • You cannot get HIV through casual contact such as shaking hands or hugging a person with HIV/AIDS.
  • You cannot get HIV from using a public telephone, drinking fountain, restroom, swimming pool, Jacuzzi, or hot tub.
  • You cannot get HIV from sharing a drink.
  • You cannot get HIV from being coughed or sneezed on by a person with HIV/AIDS.
  • You cannot get HIV from giving blood.
  • You cannot get HIV from a mosquito bite.
HIV/AIDS in People of Color and Women

The number of HIV/AIDS cases is rising in people of color across the country. About half of all people with HIV/AIDS are African American or Hispanic. The number of cases of HIV/AIDS for women has also been growing over the past few years. The rise in the number of cases in women of color age 50 and older has been especially steep. Most got the virus from sex with infected partners.

Treatment and Prevention

There is no cure for HIV/AIDS.But if you become infected, thereare drugs that help keep the HIV virus in check and slow the spread of HIV in the body. Doctors are now using a combination of drugs called HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapy) to treat HIV/AIDS. Although it is not a cure, HAART is greatly reducing the number of deaths from AIDS in this country.

Prevention.

Remember, there are things you can do to keep from getting HIV/AIDS. Practice the steps below to lower your risk:
  • If you are having sex, make sure your partner has been tested and is free of HIV.
  • Use male or female condoms(latex or polyurethane) during sexual intercourse.
  • Do not share needles or any other equipment used to inject drugs.
  • Get tested if you or your partner had a blood transfusion between 1978 and 1985.
  • Get tested if you or your partner has had an operation or blood transfusion in a developing country at any time.