AIDS😊

WHAT IS AIDS

• HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. It weakens a person’s immune system by destroying important cells that fight disease and infection. No effective cure exists for HIV. But with proper medical care, HIV can be controlled. Some groups of people in the United States are more likely to get HIV than others because of many factors, including their sex partners, their risk behaviors, and where they live. This section will give you basic information about HIV, such as how it’s transmitted, how you can prevent it, and how to get tested for HIV.

WHERE DID AIDS START?

• Scientists identified a type of chimpanzee in West Africa as the source of HIV infection in humans. They believe that the chimpanzee version of the virus (called simian virus or SIV) most likely was transmitted to humans and mutated into HIV when humans hunted these chimpanzees for meat and came into contact with their infected blood. Over decades, the virus slowly spread across Africa and later into other parts of the world.

FACTS ON AIDS

• HIV can be transmitted through unprotected sex, transmission of infected blood, sharing infected needles or other sharp instruments, and from a mother to her baby during pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding.
• More than 35 million people live with HIV worldwide.
• Over 1.1 million people in the US are living with HIV, but almost 1 in 6 don’t know it.
• Globally, 40 million people are infected with AIDS. Approximately 2.1 million of those are under the age of 15.d

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• HIV is the world’s leading infectious killer. To date, approximately 25 million people have die
• Every 9.5 minutes, someone in the U.S. is infected with HIV

PREVENTING AIDS

• The best way to prevent HIV is to use a condom for sex and to never share needles or other injecting equipment (including syringes, spoons and swabs). If you have HIV, you can pass it on to others if you have sex without a condom, or share needles, syringes, or other injecting equipment. HIV treatment with ART substantially reduces the risk of passing the virus onto someone else. Knowing your HIV status and that of your partner is important and if you are at regular risk of potential exposure to HIV you should have a regular HIV test.

SYMPTOMS

• Most people who are infected with HIV experience a short, flu-like illness that occurs two to six weeks after infection. After this, HIV often causes no symptoms for several years. The flu-like illness that often occurs a few weeks after HIV infection is also known as seroconversion illness. It's estimated that up to 80% of people who are infected with HIV experience this illness. The most common symptoms are: fever (raised temperature) sore throat body rash Other symptoms can include: tiredness joint pain muscle pain swollen glands (nodes)