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Basic Information about HIV and AIDS
African Americans
En Español
Basic Information
What are HIV and AIDS?
Funding Where did HIV come from?
HIV-2
Global HIV/AIDS How is HIV spread?
How do HIV tests work? Get News and We
Hispanics/Latinos How can HIV be prevented? Updates from e-H
Men Who Have Sex HIV/AIDS A-Z In
with Men (MSM) For information on HIV and AIDS statistics, please VIH/SIDA en espa
Statistics & visit the Basic Statistics page.
CDC Responds to
Surveillance
HIV/AIDS
Testing While there have been great strides in the prevention of
Order Free HIV/A
HIV transmission and care of HIV infection and AIDS
Women Publications
since AIDS was first recognized in 1981, many people
still have questions about HIV and AIDS. The RSS | RSS H
More Topics... information below is designed to answer some of these Media
questions based on the best available science. Conferences and T
Resources by Format
Questions & Answers What are HIV and AIDS? Key Resources
Fact Sheets Site Map
Brochures
Slide Sets • He
Podcasts • Sha
Software • Mo
Journal Articles
Newsletters Find HIV/A
Prevention & S
Reports Electron microscope image of HIV, seen as small
Providers
Recommendations & spheres on the surface of white blood cells.
Guidelines Enter your locati
HIV is the human immunodeficiency virus. It is the
Other Documents as: "Washington,
virus that can lead to acquired immune deficiency
LEGEND: syndrome, or AIDS. CDC estimates that about 56,000 "20002".
Link to a PDF people in the United States contracted HIV in 2006.
document For more inform
Link to non- There are two types of HIV, HIV-1 and HIV-2. In the this widget, plea
governmental site United States, unless otherwise noted, the term “HIV” AIDS.gov
and does not primarily refers to HIV-1.
necessarily represent Please cont
the views of the CDC Both types of HIV damage a person’s body by contact@aids.gov
destroying specific blood cells, called CD4+ T cells, comments, sugges
Adobe Acrobat (TM) which are crucial to helping the body fight diseases. concerns.
Reader needs to be
installed on your Within a few weeks of being infected with HIV, some • Embed
computer in order to people develop flu-like symptoms that last for a week or • Email to
read documents in PDF two, but others have no symptoms at all. People living • Faceb
format. Download the with HIV may appear and feel healthy for several years. • MySp
Reader. However, even if they feel healthy, HIV is still affecting • Dig
their bodies. All people with HIV should be seen on a • Stumble
regular basis by a health care provider experienced with • Techn
treating HIV infection. Many people with HIV, • Red
including those who feel healthy, can benefit greatly • Delic
from current medications used to treat HIV infection.
These medications can limit or slow down the Distance
destruction of the immune system, improve the health of
people living with HIV, and may reduce their ability to
transmit HIV. Untreated early HIV infection is also Services
associated with many diseases including cardiovascular
disease, kidney disease, liver disease, and cancer.
• HIV
Support services are also available to many people with
HIV. These services can help people cope with their • Ho
diagnosis, reduce risk behavior, and find needed
• Health
services.
• Menta
AIDS is the late stage of HIV infection, when a person’s • Sub
immune system is severely damaged and has difficulty Abu
fighting diseases and certain cancers. Before the
development of certain medications, people with HIV • Family
could progress to AIDS in just a few years. Currently,
people can live much longer - even decades - with HIV Act Against A
before they develop AIDS. This is because of “highly
active” combinations of medications that were Find an HIV test
introduced in the mid 1990s. near you. For ad
HIV services, se
No one should become complacent about HIV and "More" tab
AIDS. While current medications can dramatically
improve the health of people living with HIV and slow
progression from HIV infection to AIDS, existing
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