HIV

1. What is HIV?

HIV is human immunodeficiency virus. It means that:

1. One becomes HIV infected if the virus has been transmitted to him.
2. The virus causes immune system damage
3. HIV is a disease of humans, and the virus can be only transmitted from one human being to another, but not from insects or animals.

2. What's the difference between HIV and AIDS?

HIV-infection leads to AIDS - the syndrome of acquired immunodeficiency. AIDS is a set of certain infections specific for people with weakened immune system, also called opportunistic infections. AIDS is a mortal disease that can be developed in an HIV-positive person in a long period of time after he has been infected. If an HIV-positive patient follows a diet and other lifestyle principles, and gets effective treatment, the stage of AIDS can be developed more then 15 years after he has been infected.

3. How can one get infected?

HIV is present in all the tissues and fluids of an HIV-positive person, since the concentration can vary greatly. The highest virus concentration is in blood, semen, vaginal secretion and breast milk.

HIV can only be transmitted if one of these infected fluids gets into the bloodstream. This can happen in the following situations:

1. Unprotected penetrating sex: vaginal, anal, oral sex without a condom.
2. Blood-to-blood contact: transfusion of infected blood and its products, contacts with infected tissues and organs, sharing needles and syringes when using injecting drugs.
3. Mother-to-child transmission during pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding.

The highest probability of getting infected is during a blood-to-blood contact. That is why most of HIV-positive people living in Europe and Northern America have been infected in the connection with injecting drug use.

4. Is there a vaccine for HIV prevention?

There is no vaccine for HIV prevention because of the nature of the immunodeficiency virus. Still nowadays a lot of scientific medical centers develop their vaccines and test them. But it's to early to say that a vaccine will appear in the nearest future.

5. How can one know if he's infected?

For many years HIV can cause no acute visible manifestation, and an HIV-positive person feels as usual and may not notice any suspicious symptoms. But he can transfer HIV to others after he has been infected himself.

To learn if one has got HIV, he should pass a test. HIV test is a blood test that shows whether HIV antibodies are present in the blood. A positive result means that HIV is found.

A negative result means that HIV has not been found by the test. This can happen if:

1. There are no HIV viruses at all.
2. There are HIV copies in the blood, but the immune system has not yet provided enough antibodies, and they cannot be detected (this is called a window period that usually lasts for half a year from moment of getting infected).
3. The patient has got AIDS, and his immune system doesn't produce enough antibodies to be detected by the test.