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Basic HIV/AIDS Info...

What is HIV?

HIV is the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS. A member of a group of viruses called retroviruses, HIV infects human cells and uses the energy and nutrients provided by those cells to grow and reproduce. 950,000 people in the U.S. are infected with HIV.

What is AIDS?

AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) is a disease in which the body's immune system breaks down and is unable to fight off certain infections, known as "opportunistic infections," and other illnesses that take advantage of a weakened immune system.

HIV can be passed through:

A person who is HIV-infected carries the virus in certain body fluids, including blood, semen, vaginal secretions, and breast milk.

1. • Unprotected sexual intercourse (either vaginal or anal) with someone who is HIV infected.
   

2. • Unprotected oral sex with someone who is HIV infected.
   

3. • Sharing needles or syringes with someone who is HIV infected.
   

4. • Infection during pregnancy, childbirth, or breast-feeding (mother-to-infant transmission).

HIV/AIDS info from the CDC...

HIV/AIDS: This term is used to refer to 3 categories of diagnoses collectively: (1) a diagnosis of HIV infection (not AIDS), (2) a diagnosis of HIV infection and a later diagnosis of AIDS, and (3) concurrent diagnoses of HIV infection and AIDS.

Growing Population Living with HIV

Since CDC’s last estimate of HIV prevalence for 2003 (released in 2005), there have been several improvements to the national HIV reporting data set upon which these estimates are based. Importantly, data from ten additional states with reliable HIV reporting data have been added and extensive de-duplication efforts have been implemented at the national level. Based on this improved data set, researchers have also refined the estimate for HIV prevalence at the end of 2003. Results indicate that approximately 994,000 individuals were living with HIV at the end of 2003, and that HIV prevalence increased by approximately 112,000 (or 11%) from 2003 to 2006 (from 994,000 to 1,106,400 total persons). This increase was expected, due to the fact that antiretroviral treatment has greatly extended the life spans of people with HIV, and because more people become infected with HIV than die from the disease each year.

Implications of the New Estimate

The growing number of people living with HIV in the United States points to an increased need for HIV testing, treatment, and prevention services to slow the U.S. epidemic. With more HIV-infected individuals, and with those persons living longer, there is a growing population of HIV-infected men and women who must be reached with testing, medical care, and prevention services. As the number of persons living with HIV grows, so does the cost of providing medical services to this population and the burden on health care systems. In order to reduce these increased costs of care in the future, greater attention needs to be paid to preventing these infections in the first place. Growing HIV prevalence also means increased opportunities for transmission to HIV-negative individuals. Efforts to reduce the number of new infections must therefore be designed to meet the needs of both infected and uninfected populations.

READ MORE > http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/surveillance/resources/factsheets/prevalence.htm