What is HIV?
HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus.
HIV attacks and gradually destroys an infected person's immune system, reducing his or her protection against infection and cancers.
HIV is carried in body fluids, in particular blood, semen, vaginal fluids and breast milk. It can be transmitted;
- through unprotected sex with an infected partner
- by sharing needles when injecting, or using other shared contaminated injecting or skin-piercing equipment
- through contaminated blood and blood products – infected transfusions or donor transplants
- or from an infected mother to her child, in the womb, at birth, or during breast-feeding
Note that:
- all blood, blood products and donated organs in the UK are now screened for HIV to prevent transmission and so are perfectly safe and
- in all other routes of transmission listed above the risk of transmission can be significantly reduced if precautions are taken
Like another virus, the common cold, there is no cure for HIV. Initially, someone living with HIV may show no symptoms of infection as his or her immune system fights to combat it. However, in most cases the immune system will need help from anti-HIV drugs to keep the HIV infection under control. These drugs do not completely rid the body of HIV infection but can drive down the levels of the virus in the body and help slow its progress. In the short term though, the treatment (known as combination therapy as a number of drugs are taken together) does generally have unpleasant side-effects.
The term AIDS is now very rarely used. It is more usual to talk of late-stage or advanced HIV infection. AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is not a single disease or condition: it is a term that describes the point at which a person’s immune system can no longer cope because of the damage caused by HIV. People do not actually die from AIDS; they die from the cancers, pneumonia or other conditions that may take hold at this point when their immune system has been weakened by HIV.
If you need further information please email cchengagement@southglos.gov.uk or telephone 01454 865948.