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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 an infected person. It may also spread by sharing drug needles or through contact with the blood of an infected person. 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.
Latest News
- Fighting HIV on Multiple Fronts Might Lead to Vaccine (09/20/2017, HealthDay)
- Drug Helped Protect Gay Teen Males from HIV (09/05/2017, HealthDay)
- Drug Combination Reduces Risk of HIV Infection Among Teen Males (09/05/2017, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)
- HIV Treatment Protects Uninfected Partner from The Virus (07/26/2017, HealthDay)
- More News on HIV/AIDS
Symptoms
- HIV/AIDS - Signs & Symptoms (Healthy Roads Media)
- Signs and Symptoms (AIDS.gov)
Diagnosis and Tests
- Get Tested for HIV (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion)
- HIV Antibody Test (American Association for Clinical Chemistry)
- HIV Testing (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish
- HIV/AIDS - Testing (Healthy Roads Media)
- Information Regarding the OraQuick In-Home HIV Test (Food and Drug Administration)
- Screening for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) (U.S. Preventive Services Task Force) - PDF
- Testing for HIV (Food and Drug Administration)
Prevention and Risk Factors
- CDC Vital Signs: HIV and Injection Drug Use (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish
- HIV Prevention (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish
- HIV Transmission (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish
- HIV Transmission Risk (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- HIV/AIDS - Prevention (Healthy Roads Media)
- HIV/AIDS - Reducing Your Sexual Risk (Healthy Roads Media)
- How Is HIV Transmitted? (AIDS.gov)
- Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (AIDS.gov)
- Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) (AIDSinfo)
- Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) (AIDS.gov)
- PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) 101 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish
- 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
- CD4 and CD8 (American Association for Clinical Chemistry)
- HIV Genotypic Resistance Testing (American Association for Clinical Chemistry)
- HIV Resistance Testing (New Mexico AIDS Education and Training Center)
- HIV Viral Load (American Association for Clinical Chemistry)
- Live Well (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish
Related Issues
- AIDS Myths and Misunderstandings (New Mexico AIDS Education and Training Center)
- Alcohol and Drug Use and HIV Risk (AIDS.gov)
- CDC Vital Signs: New Hope for Stopping HIV (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- 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)
- HIV Risk among Adult Sex Workers in the United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- HIV/AIDS and Alcohol (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism)
- How you get HIV/AIDS (Healthy Roads Media) - PDF
- Vaccinations for Adults with HIV Infection (Immunization Action Coalition) - PDF
Images
- Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Primary Infection (Logical Images)
Videos and Tutorials
- Drugs + HIV, Learn the Link (National Institute on Drug Abuse) Also in Spanish
- HIV/AIDS - CD4 Count (Healthy Roads Media)
- HIV/AIDS - Substance Abuse (Healthy Roads Media)
- HIV/AIDS - Treatment
- HIV/AIDS - Viral Load (Healthy Roads Media)
- HIV/AIDS - What is it? (Healthy Roads Media)
- How you get HIV/AIDS (Healthy Roads Media)
- Need to Know: The Importance of HIV Testing (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Statistics and Research
- Aging with HIV: Responding to an Emerging Challenge (National Institute on Aging)
- Basic HIV/AIDS Statistics (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish
- Black Americans and HIV/AIDS (Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)
- CDC Vital Signs: HIV Among Youth in the US (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- Drug and Alcohol Use -- A Significant Risk Factor for HIV (National Institute on Drug Abuse)
- Expanded HIV Screening Projected to Decrease Spread of the Virus (National Institute on Drug Abuse)
- 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 in the United States and Dependent Areas (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- HIV among Transgender People (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- HIV and Young Men Who Have Sex with Men (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - PDF
- HIV in Correctional Settings (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- HIV Incidence (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- HIV Infection Accelerates Hepatitis C-Related Liver Fibrosis (National Institute on Drug Abuse)
- HIV Testing in the United States (Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)
- HIV Vaccines (AIDS.gov)
- HIV/AIDS (World Health Organization)
- HIV/AIDS among African Americans (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- HIV/AIDS among American Indians and Alaska Natives (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the United States (Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)
- HIV/AIDS in the United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- HIV/AIDS Statistics Overview (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- NCHHSTP Atlas (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- Research Report: HIV/AIDS (National Institute on Drug Abuse)
- State Profiles: HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- Treat Jail Detainees' Drug Abuse to Lower HIV Transmission (National Institute on Drug Abuse)
- 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: Intestinal Damage and Inflammatory Biomarkers in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-Exposed...
- Article: The EVVA Cohort Study: Anal and Cervical Type-Specific Human Papillomavirus...
- Article: Prevalence of Anal Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and Performance of Cepheid...
- 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
- AIDS.gov
- AIDSinfo (Department of Health and Human Services) Also in Spanish
- AIDSource (National Library of Medicine)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Also in Spanish
- NIAID Division of AIDS (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)
Children
- HIV and AIDS (Nemours Foundation)
Teenagers
- Drugs + HIV, Learn the Link (National Institute on Drug Abuse) Also in Spanish
- 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) Also in Spanish
Women
- HIV/AIDS in Women: MedlinePlus Health Topic (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
Seniors
- 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
- ELISA/Western blot tests for HIV (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- T-cell count (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish