HIV/AIDS

On this page

Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Symptoms
• Diagnosis and Tests
• Prevention and Risk Factors
• Treatments and Therapies

Learn More

• Living With
• Related Issues

See, Play and Learn

• Images

Research

• Statistics and Research
• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Reference Desk
• Find an Expert

For You

• Children
• Teenagers
• Men
• Women
• Older Adults
• Patient Handouts

Summary

HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. It harms your immune system by destroying the white blood cells that 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. Not everyone with HIV develops AIDS.

HIV most often spreads through unprotected sex with a person who has HIV. It may also spread by sharing drug needles or through contact with the blood of a person who has HIV. Women can give it to their babies during pregnancy or childbirth.

The first signs of HIV infection may be swollen glands and flu-like symptoms. These may come and go within two to four weeks. Severe symptoms may not appear until months or years later.

A blood test can tell if you have HIV infection. Your health care provider can do the test, or you can use a home testing kit. Or to find free testing sites, call the national referral hotline at 1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636 in English and en español; 1-888-232-6348 - TTY).

There is no cure, but there are many medicines that fight HIV infection and lower the risk of infecting others. People who get early treatment can live with the disease for a long time.

Strategies to reduce the risk of HIV infection include not having sex, limiting your number of sexual partners, never sharing needles, and using condoms the right way every time you have sex. People who are at high risk may take HIV prevention medicines.

Start Here

• HIV / AIDS (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)
• HIV and AIDS: Know the Facts (National Institutes of Health) Also in Spanish
• HIV Basics (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• HIV/AIDS (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
• What Are HIV and AIDS? (AIDS.gov)

Symptoms

• Symptoms of HIV (AIDS.gov)

Diagnosis and Tests

• CD4 Lymphocyte Count (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Get Tested for HIV (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion)
• HIV Screening Test (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• HIV Testing (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish
• HIV Viral Load (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Information Regarding the OraQuick In-Home HIV Test (Food and Drug Administration)
• Testing for HIV (Food and Drug Administration)
• Understanding HIV Test Results (AIDS.gov)

Prevention and Risk Factors

• CDC Vital Signs: HIV and Injection Drug Use (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish
• HIV Risk and Prevention (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish
• HIV Transmission (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish
• HIV: PrEP and PEP: MedlinePlus Health Topic (National Library of Medicine)
• What is a Preventive HIV Vaccine? (AIDSinfo) Also in Spanish

Treatments and Therapies

• HIV/AIDS Medicines: MedlinePlus Health Topic (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish

Living With

• Live Well (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Related Issues

• Drug Use and Viral Infections (HIV, Hepatitis) (National Institute on Drug Abuse) Also in Spanish
• HIV and Hepatitis B (AIDSinfo) Also in Spanish
• HIV and Hepatitis C (AIDSinfo) Also in Spanish
• HIV and Pulmonary Hypertension (Pulmonary Hypertension Association) - PDF
• HIV and Tuberculosis (TB) (AIDSinfo) Also in Spanish
• HIV Risk Among Persons Who Exchange Sex for Money or Nonmonetary Items (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish
• Substance Use and HIV Risk (AIDS.gov)
• Vaccinations for Adults with HIV Infection (Immunization Action Coalition) - PDF

Images

• Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Primary Infection (Logical Images)

Statistics and Research

• Basic HIV/AIDS Statistics (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• HIV among African American Gay and Bisexual Men (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• HIV Among Asians (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• HIV among Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• HIV among Transgender People (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish
• HIV and African Americans (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• HIV and American Indians and Alaska Natives (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• HIV in the United States and Dependent Areas (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• HIV/AIDS Statistics Overview (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Microbicides (AIDS.gov)
• The Science Is Clear: With HIV, Undetectable Equals Untransmittable (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)
• What is a Therapeutic HIV Vaccine? (AIDSinfo) Also in Spanish

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: HIV Infections (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: HIV/AIDS Vaccines (National Institutes of Health)
• HIV/AIDS Clinical Trials (AIDSinfo)
• HIV/AIDS Clinical Trials Fact Sheet (AIDSinfo) Also in Spanish

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Streptococcus pneumoniae colonization in pneumococcal vaccine-naïve human immunodeficiency virus-exposed infected and...
• Article: Incidence of hepatitis B virus infection among human immunodeficiency virus-infected treatment...
• Article: Age, absolute CD4 count, and CD4 percentage in relation to HPV...
• HIV/AIDS -- see more articles
• HIV/AIDS prevention -- see more articles
• HIV/AIDS vaccines -- see more articles

Reference Desk

• AIDSinfo Glossary (AIDSinfo) Also in Spanish
• HIV Life Cycle (AIDSinfo) Also in Spanish

Find an Expert

• AIDSinfo (Department of Health and Human Services) Also in Spanish
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Also in Spanish
• HIV.gov (AIDS.gov)
• National Institutes of Health, Office of AIDS Research
• NIAID Division of AIDS (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)
• State HIV/AIDS Hotlines & Online Resources (Greater Than AIDS)

Children

• HIV and AIDS (Nemours Foundation)

Teenagers

• HIV and AIDS (Nemours Foundation)
• How Do People Get AIDS? (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Men

• HIV among Gay and Bisexual Men (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Women

• HIV/AIDS in Women: MedlinePlus Health Topic (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish

Older Adults

• HIV Among People Aged 50 and Over (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• HIV, AIDS, and Older People (National Institute on Aging) Also in Spanish

Patient Handouts

• AIDS (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Asymptomatic HIV infection (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Bloodborne pathogens (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Condom Fact Sheet in Brief (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - PDF Also in Spanish
• Screening and diagnosis for HIV (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• T-cell count (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish