People have been warned about HIV and AIDS for over twenty years now. AIDS has already killed millions of people, millions more continue to become infected with HIV, and there's no cure – so AIDS will be around for a while yet. AIDS is one of the biggest problems facing the world today and nobody is beyond its reach. Everyone should know the basic facts about AIDS.

What is AIDS?
AIDS is a medical condition. People develop AIDS because HIV has damaged their natural defences against disease.

What is HIV?
HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) HIV is a virus. Viruses infect the cells that make up the human body and replicate (make new copies of themselves) within those cells. A virus can also damage human cells, which is one of the things that can make a person ill. HIV can be passed from one person to another. Someone can become infected with HIV through contact with the bodily fluids of someone who already has HIV. HIV stands for the 'Human Immunodeficiency Virus'. Someone who is diagnosed as infected with HIV is said to be 'HIV+' or 'HIV positive'.

Why is HIV dangerous?
The immune system is a group of cells and organs that protect your body by fighting disease. The human immune system usually finds and kills viruses fairly quickly. So if the body's immune system attacks and kills viruses, what's the problem? Different viruses attack different parts of the body - some may attack the skin, others the lungs, and so on. The common cold is caused by a virus. What makes HIV so dangerous is that it attacks the immune system itself - the very thing that would normally get rid of a virus. It particularly attacks a special type of immune system cell known as a CD4 lymphocyte. HIV has a number of tricks that help it to evade the body's defences, including very rapid mutation. This means that once HIV has taken hold, the immune system can never fully get rid of it. There isn't any way to tell just by looking if someone's been infected by HIV. In fact a person infected with HIV may look and feel perfectly well for many years and may not know that they are infected. But as the person's immune system weakens they become increasingly vulnerable to illnesses, many of which they would previously have fought off easily. The only reliable way to tell whether someone has HIV is for them to take a blood test, which can detect infection from a few weeks after the virus first entered the body.

When HIV causes AIDS
A damaged immune system is not only more vulnerable to HIV, but also to the attacks of other infections. It won't always have the strength to fight off things that wouldn't have bothered it before. As time goes by, a person who has been infected with HIV is likely to become ill more and more often until, usually several years after infection, they become ill with one of a number of particularly severe illnesses. It is at this point in the stages of HIV infection that they are said to have AIDS - when they first become seriously ill, or when the number of immune system cells left in their body drops below a particular point. Different countries have slightly different ways of defining the point at which a person is said to have AIDS rather than HIV. AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is an extremely serious condition, and at this stage the body has very little defence against any sort of infection.

How long does HIV take to become AIDS?
Without drug treatment, HIV infection usually progresses to AIDS in an average of ten years. This average, though, is based on a person having a reasonable diet. Someone who is malnourished may well progress to AIDS and death more rapidly. Antiretroviral medication can prolong the t ~dulla^@204~ ~dulla^@204~ nd the onset of AIDS. Modern combinat~dulla^@204~ s highly effective and, theoretically~dulla^@204~ h HIV can live for a long time before~dulla^@204~ IDS. These medicines, however, are no~dulla^@204~ lable in many poor countries around t~dulla^@204~ millions of people who cannot access~dulla^@204~ ontinue to die.

How~dulla^@204~ d on?
HIV is found in t~dulla^@204~ the sexual fluids of an infected pers~dulla^@204~ e breast milk of an infected woman. H~dulla^@204~ on occurs when a sufficient quantity ~dulla^@204~ ds get into someone else's bloodstrea~dulla^@204~ various ways a person can become infe~dulla^@204~ .

Ways in which you~dulla^@204~ ted with HIV :
• Unprot~dulla^@204~ intercourse with an infected person S~dulla^@204~ urse without a condom is risky, becau~dulla^@204~ which is present in an infected pers~dulla^@204~ luids, can pass directly into the bod~dulla^@204~ rtner. This is true for unprotected v~dulla^@204~ al sex. Oral sex carries a lower risk~dulla^@204~ IV transmission can occur here if a c~dulla^@204~ used - for example, if one partner ha~dulla^@204~ ms or an open cut, however small, in ~dulla^@204~ • Contact with an infected person's~dulla^@204~ ficient blood from an infected person~dulla^@204~ ne else's body then it can pass on th~dulla^@204~ From mother to child HIV can be trans~dulla^@204~ n infected woman to her baby during p~dulla^@204~ ivery and breastfeeding. There are sp~dulla^@204~ hat can greatly reduce the chances of~dulla^@204~ ng, but they are unavailable in much ~dulla^@204~ ping world. • Use of infected blood~dulla^@204~ y people in the past have been infect~dulla^@204~ y the use of blood transfusions and b~dulla^@204~ which were contaminated with the vir~dulla^@204~ tals, for example. In much of the wor~dulla^@204~ longer a significant risk, as blood ~dulla^@204~ routinely tested. • Injecting drug~dulla^@204~ use injected drugs are also vulnerabl~dulla^@204~ ction. In many parts of the world, of~dulla^@204~ t is illegal to possess them, injecti~dulla^@204~ or works are shared. A tiny amount of~dulla^@204~ ansmit HIV, and can be injected direc~dulla^@204~ bloodstream with the drugs.

• sharing crockery a~dulla^@204~ • insect / animal bites • touching,~dulla^@204~ haking hands • eating food prepared~dulla^@204~ ith HIV • toilet seats


People~dulla^@204~ k just like everybody else Around~dulla^@204~ here are a number of different myths ~dulla^@204~ AIDS. Here are some of the more comm~dulla^@204~ You would have to drink a bucket of i~dulla^@204~ a to become infected yourself' . . . ~dulla^@204~ a typical myth. HIV is found in sali~dulla^@204~ antities too small to infect someone.~dulla^@204~ a bucket of saliva from an HIV posit~dulla^@204~ ou won't become infected. There has b~dulla^@204~ recorded case of HIV transmission via~dulla^@204~ of all the many millions of kisses. ~dulla^@204~ both partners had extremely badly bl~dulla^@204~ 'Sex with a virgin can cure HIV' . ~dulla^@204~ is common in some parts of Africa, a~dulla^@204~ lly untrue. The myth has resulted in ~dulla^@204~ young girls and children by HIV+ men~dulla^@204~ nfect their victims. Rape won't cure ~dulla^@204~ is a serious crime all around the wor~dulla^@204~ y happens to gay men / black people /~dulla^@204~ , etc' . . . This myth is false. Most~dulla^@204~ ecome infected with HIV didn't think ~dulla^@204~ en to them, and were wrong. 'HIV ca~dulla^@204~ h latex' . . . Some people have been ~dulla^@204~ ours that the virus is so small that ~dulla^@204~ hrough 'holes' in latex used to make ~dulla^@204~ is untrue. The fact is that latex bl~dulla^@204~ well as sperm - preventing pregnancy,~dulla^@204~ br>What does 'safe sex' mean?~dulla^@204~ Safe sex refers to sexual activitie~dulla^@204~ t involve any blood or sexual fluid f~dulla^@204~ n getting into another person's body.~dulla^@204~ e are having safe sex then, even if o~dulla^@204~ infected, there is no possibility of ~dulla^@204~ son becoming infected. Examples of sa~dulla^@204~ ddling, mutual masturbation, 'dry' (o~dulla^@204~ sex . . . In many parts of the worl~dulla^@204~ ly the USA, people are taught that th~dulla^@204~ f safe sex is no sex - also called 's~dulla^@204~ nce'. Abstinence isn't a form of sex ~dulla^@204~ nvolves avoiding all sexual activity.~dulla^@204~ ng people are taught that they should~dulla^@204~ ally until they marry, and then remai~dulla^@204~ their partner. This is a good way fo~dulla^@204~ avoid HIV infection, as long as their~dulla^@204~ ife is also completely faithful and d~dulla^@204~ them.

What is 'saf~dulla^@204~ ng>
Safer sex is used to refer t~dulla^@204~ sexual activities that hold little ri~dulla^@204~ ection. Safer sex is often taken to~dulla^@204~ condom for sexual intercourse. Using~dulla^@204~ es it very hard for the virus to pass~dulla^@204~ le when they are having sexual interc~dulla^@204~ om, when used properly, acts as a phy~dulla^@204~ that prevents infected fluid getting~dulla^@204~ er person's body.

I~dulla^@204~ ky?
Kissing someone on ~dulla^@204~ so known as social kissing, does not ~dulla^@204~ of HIV transmission. Deep or open-~dulla^@204~ ng is considered a very low risk acti~dulla^@204~ smission of HIV. This is because HIV ~dulla^@204~ saliva but only in very minute quant~dulla^@204~ icient to lead to HIV infection alone~dulla^@204~ only been one documented instance of~dulla^@204~ n as a result of kissing out of all t~dulla^@204~ f cases recorded. This was as a resul~dulla^@204~ blood getting into the mouth of the ~dulla^@204~ during open-mouthed kissing, and in t~dulla^@204~ both partners had seriously bleeding ~dulla^@204~ br>Can anything 'create' HIV?~dulla^@204~ No. Unprotected sex, for example, i~dulla^@204~ if one partner is infected with the v~dulla^@204~ partner is not carrying HIV, then no~dulla^@204~ or sexual activity between you is goi~dulla^@204~ ou to become infected - you can't 'cr~dulla^@204~ having unprotected anal sex, for exam~dulla^@204~ so can't become infected through mast~dulla^@204~ fact nothing you do on your own is go~dulla^@204~ ou HIV - it can only be transmitted f~dulla^@204~ erson who already has the virus. Is there a cure for AIDS?