An Overview of HIV and AIDS

AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) was first reported in the United States in 1981 and has since become a major worldwide epidemic. AIDS is caused by HIV (human immunodeficiency virus). By killing or damaging cells of the body's immune system, HIV progressively destroys the body's ability to fight infections and certain cancers. People diagnosed with AIDS may get life-threatening diseases called opportunistic infections, which are caused by microbes such as viruses or bacteria that usually do not make healthy people sick.

More than 900,000 cases of AIDS have been reported in the United States since 1981. Approximately 30,000 of those infected live in North Carolina.

The epidemic is growing most rapidly among minority populations and is a leading killer of African-American males ages 25 to 44. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), AIDS affects nearly seven times more African Americans and three times more Hispanics than whites. In 2003, two-thirds of U.S. AIDS cases in both women and children were among African-Americans. Also, many of those living with HIV live at or below the poverty level.

Transmission

HIV is spread via several means, most commonly through unprotected sex with an infected partner. HIV also is spread through contact with infected blood and is frequently spread among injection drug users by the sharing of needles or syringes contaminated with very small quantities of blood from someone infected with the virus.

Women can transmit HIV to their babies during pregnancy or birth. Approximately one-quarter to one-third of all untreated pregnant women infected with HIV will pass the infection to their babies. HIV also can be spread to babies through the breast milk of mothers infected with the virus.

There is no evidence that the virus is spread by contact with saliva and scientists have found no evidence that HIV is spread through sweat, tears, urine, or feces. Also, HIV is not spread through casual contact such as the sharing of food utensils, towels and bedding, swimming pools, telephones, or toilet seats and it is not spread by biting insects such as mosquitoes or bedbugs.

Treatment

When AIDS first surfaced in the United States, there were no medicines to combat the underlying immune deficiency and few treatments existed for the opportunistic diseases that resulted. Researchers, however, have developed drugs to fight both HIV infection and its associated infections and cancers.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a number of drugs for treating HIV infection. With the right treatment, many people with HIV can lead normal, productive lives for many years. Unfortunately, many infected people do not have access to health insurance and therefore, do not have access to the needed drugs. They rely on government programs to provide their medical care and are often put on a waiting list to receive this assistance.

HIV/AIDS Resources

The Access Project

Centers for Disease Control

National Institutes of Health

North Carolina Department of Public Health