WHAT IS HIV?

I frequently hear people using the acronyms "HIV" and "AIDS" interchangeably. I wanted to clarify this issue, as it is important to have an accurate understanding of the basics so that you can participate in the fight against this disease by educating others about it.

HIV is an acronym for human immunodeficiency virus, which is the virus that has been proven to cause HIV disease and AIDS. A person who is HIV positive has HIV disease, which means that they have been infected with HIV. They may or may not have any symptoms of the disease, and they may or may not have AIDS. HIV positive and HIV disease simply means that you have antibodies to the virus or that you have had detectable HIV replication in your blood.

AIDS is an acronym for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, which is an advanced stage of HIV disease. If you have been diagnosed with AIDS, then you are definitely HIV positive. Certain laboratory markers and the presence of certain symptoms or opportunistic infections put an HIV positive person into the AIDS category (these will be discussed in a later post).

The classification of AIDS has a certain stigma attached to it (above and beyond that which is already associated with having HIV), especially among the HIV positive population itself.Progression of HIV disease to AIDS often makes a person feel as if their health status is rapidly deteriorating, and this can be very distressing for some patients. Everybody who has AIDS also has HIV disease, however not everybody who has HIV disease has AIDS.

As we approach World AIDS Day (December 1, 2007), let's remember to be sensitive to the emotional needs of those who are infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS.