What do hiv mean

HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. It harms your immune system by destroying a type of white blood cell that helps your body fight infection. This puts you at risk for serious infections and certain cancers. AIDS stands for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. It is the final stage of infection with HIV. It happens when the body's immune system is badly damaged because of the virus. These symptoms may come and go within two to four weeks.

This stage is called acute HIV infection. If the infection is not treated, it becomes chronic HIV infection. Often, there are no symptoms during this stage. If it is not treated, eventually the virus will weaken your body's immune system. Then the infection will progress to AIDS.

This is the late stage of HIV infection. With AIDS, your immune system is badly damaged. In the U. Once someone has a dangerous opportunistic illness, life expectancy without treatment falls to about 1 year. The only way to know for sure if you have HIV is to get tested. Testing is relatively simple. You can ask your health care provider for an HIV test. Many medical clinics, substance abuse programs, community health centers, and hospitals offer them too.

You can also buy a home testing kit at a pharmacy or online. HIV self-testing is also an option. Self-testing allows people to take an HIV test and find out their result in their own home or other private location. Seek medical advice as soon as possible if you think you might have been exposed to HIV. You can get tested in a number of places, including at a GP surgery, sexual health clinics and clinics run by charities.

Find HIV testing services near you. This involves testing a sample of your blood or saliva for signs of the infection. Both positive and negative HIV tests may need to be repeated 1 to 3 months after potential exposure to HIV infection this is known as the window period , but you should not wait this long to seek help:.

If your first test suggests you have HIV, a further blood test will need to be carried out to confirm the result. If this is positive, you'll be referred to a specialist HIV clinic for some more tests and a discussion about your treatment options. Antiretroviral medicines are used to treat HIV. As the virus continues to multiply and destroy your immune cells — the cells in your body that help fight off germs — you may develop mild infections or chronic signs and symptoms such as:.

Thanks to better antiviral treatments, most people with HIV in the U. When AIDS occurs, your immune system has been severely damaged. You'll be more likely to develop opportunistic infections or opportunistic cancers — diseases that wouldn't usually cause illness in a person with a healthy immune system.

If you think you may have been infected with HIV or are at risk of contracting the virus, see a doctor as soon as possible. HIV is caused by a virus. It can spread through sexual contact or blood, or from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth or breast-feeding.

HIV destroys CD4 T cells — white blood cells that play a large role in helping your body fight disease. The fewer CD4 T cells you have, the weaker your immune system becomes. To become infected with HIV , infected blood, semen or vaginal secretions must enter your body. This can happen in several ways:. You can't become infected with HIV through ordinary contact. HIV isn't spread through the air, water or insect bites. HIV infection weakens your immune system, making you much more likely to develop many infections and certain types of cancers.

But you can protect yourself and others from infection. Your doctor will also test your kidney function before prescribing Truvada and continue to test it every six months. You need to take the drugs every day. They don't prevent other STIs , so you'll still need to practice safe sex.