What is HIV&AIDS, How you get it, and ways to AVOID it

WHAT IS HIV?

HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. It is the virus that can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS, if not treated. Unlike some other viruses, the human body can’t get rid of HIV completely, even with treatment. So once you get HIV, you have it for life.

HIV attacks the body’s immune system, specifically the CD4 cells (T cells), which help the immune system fight off infections. Untreated, HIV reduces the number of CD4 cells (T cells) in the body, making the person more likely to get other infections or infection-related cancers. Over time, HIV can destroy so many of these cells that the body can’t fight off infections and disease. These opportunistic infections or cancers take advantage of a very weak immune system and signal that the person has AIDS, the last stage of HIV infection.

No effective cure currently exists, but with proper medical care, HIV can be controlled. The medicine used to treat HIV is called antiretroviral therapy or ART. If taken the right way, every day, this medicine can dramatically prolong the lives of many people infected with HIV, keep them healthy, and greatly lower their chance of infecting others. Before the introduction of ART in the mid-1990s, people with HIV could progress to AIDS in just a few years. Today, someone diagnosed with HIV and treated before the disease is far advanced can live nearly as long as someone who does not have HIV.

WHAT IS AIDS?

AIDS is the most severe phase of HIV infection. People with AIDS have such badly damaged immune systems that they get an increasing number of severe illnesses, called opportunistic infections.

HOW DO YOU GET HIV?

Body fluids that can contain HIV include the following:

* Blood (including menstrual blood) * Semen and possibly pre-seminal fluid  * Vaginal secretions * Breast milk

In order for HIV to be transmitted

* HIV must be present. * HIV must get inside the body.

Sexual behaviors that can transmit HIV

* Vaginal sex (penis in the vagina) * Anal sex (penis in the anus) involving either men or women * Oral sex (mouth on the penis or vagina) The risk of transmitting HIV is greatly reduced by using a condom.

Other ways that HIV can be transmitted

* Sharing needles when shooting drugs * Home tattooing and body piercing * Accidental needle sticks * Blood transfusions * Childbirth * Breast-feeding * Organ transplantation (if the donor organ is HIV infected)

It is important to know

* Most people with HIV infection do not look sick. * Many people with HIV infection have not been tested and don't know they are infected.

It is important to remember that HIV is NOT transmitted through * Saliva, tears, sweat, feces, or urine * Hugging * Kissing * Massage * Shaking hands * Insect bites * Living in the same house with someone who has HIV * Sharing showers or toilets with someone with HIV

WAYS TO AVOID HIV
HIV is a virus that infects people by getting inside their blood cells. To avoid getting HIV, you must prevent 

*the blood 
*semen 
*vaginal fluids
*breast milk

 of someone who is infected from entering your body through your 

*mouth
*vagina
*anus
*tip of your penis
*breaks in your skin.

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REFERENCES:   
https://www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics/overview/about-hiv-and-aids/what-are-hiv-and-aids 

http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/hiv?page=basics-00-05