Introduction

NOTE: This course builds on information presented in EngenderHealth’s online minicourses on Sexuality and Sexual Health and Sexually Transmitted Infections, which provide an important basis for the information in this course. It is recommended that you review these courses before proceeding.

HIV, which stands for human immunodeficiency virus, is the virus that causes AIDS. HIV destroys a certain type of blood cell (known as T-cells or CD4 cells) that help the body fight off infection. 

A person can be infected with HIV for many years before any symptoms occur, and during this time, an infected person can unknowingly pass the infection on to others. HIV can be transmitted through some forms of sexual contact, through mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) during pregnancy, delivery, or breastfeeding, and through contact with infected blood and other body fluids, such as during the use of shared injection needles, the use of contaminated skin-cutting tools, needlestick injuries in health care settings, or transfusions of infected blood.

AIDS is acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, an advanced stage of HIV infection that occurs when the immune system cannot fight off infections that the body is normally able to withstand. At this stage, the infected person becomes more susceptible to a variety of infections, known as opportunistic infections, and other conditions (e.g., cancer). Some examples include chronic cryptosporida diarrhea, cytomegalovirus eye infection, invasive cervical cancer, Kaposi’s sarcoma, lymphoma, mycobacterium avium complex, pneumocystis pneumonia, toxoplasmosis, and tuberculosis.

At present, there is no cure for AIDS, and it is believed that most people with HIV infection will eventually die from an AIDS-related illness. However, with the advancements in HIV/AIDS therapies, including those that fight the virus itself as well as those that prevent or treat opportunistic infections, some people with HIV/AIDS—mostly in developed countries—have dramatically extended and improved lives. Unfortunately, these therapies are rarely available in resource-poor countries, where the majority of those with HIV/AIDS live.

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