HIV Basics

AIDS HIVwas first reported in the United States in 1981 and has since become a major worldwide epidemic. AIDS is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV. By killing or damaging cells of the body’s immune system, HIV progressively destroys the body’s ability to fight infections and certain cancers. People diagnosed with AIDS may get life-threatening diseases called opportunistic infections. These infections are caused by microbes such as viruses or bacteria that usually do not make healthy people sick.

HIV Causes AIDS

Since 1981, more than 980,000 cases of AIDS have been reported in the United States to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to CDC, more than 1,000,000 Americans may be infected with HIV, one-quarter of whom are unaware of their infection. The epidemic is growing most rapidly among minority populations and is a leading killer of African-American males ages 25 to 44. According to CDC, AIDS affects nearly seven times more African Americans and three times more Hispanics than whites. In recent years, an increasing number of African-American women and children are being affected by AIDS HIV.

HIV kills CD4 + cells, which are white blood cells that help maintain the immune system. As the virus attacks those cells, the person infected with HIV is less equipped to fight off infection and disease ultimately resulting in the development of AIDS.

Often people who have HIV take a long time to develope AIDS because their immune systems can fight the virus for a period of time. However, there is a strong connection between high levels of HIV in the blood and the decline in CD4+ T cells and the development of AIDS. Antiretroviral medications can help slow the infection, save CD4+ T cells and ramatically slow the advance of HIV infection.