What are HIV and AIDS?

HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. It is a virus that attacks and weakens the immune system. If it is untreated, HIV causes so much damage that the body is no longer able to defend itself from opportunistic infections (infections which take advantage of a weakened immune system).

People who have been infected with HIV are often referred to as being HIV positive (sometimes this is written as HIV positive, or even + ve). Although there have been many advances in treatment in recent years, there is still no cure for HIV infection, once you have been infected with HIV, you will always be HIV positive.

HIV is the virus that can lead to AIDS, although if you are diagnosed early and respond well to treatment, AIDS may be kept at bay.

AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome and is characterised by the appearance of the opportunistic infections that are a result of HIV infection. It is also used to describe the illness of someone whose immune system has been severely damaged by HIV.

The name ‘AIDS’ was more appropriate many years ago, when doctors did not fully understand the late stages of HIV infection. Today we know that AIDS is not a syndrome at all because a syndrome is a collection of symptoms that do not have an easily identifiable cause. A more current name for the illness caused by the late stages of HIV infection is HIV Disease. However, AIDS is still the name that most people use to refer to the immune deficiency caused by HIV.

As treatment for HIV infection becomes more efficient, fewer people in the UK are now given an AIDS diagnosis.