Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus, and is the virus that causes AIDS.
HIV is an incurable sexually transmitted virus that attacks and weakens a person's immune system. Your immune system is a complex system that fights off infection and generally keeps you healthy.
Someone infected with HIV is said to be HIV-positive.
What is AIDS?
AIDS stands for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. AIDS is a syndrome, which is the name given to a collection of symptoms and effects that occur together. AIDS is the collections of symptoms, signs, and characteristics that occur once a person's immune system has been substantially weakened by HIV infection.
AIDS can be diagnosed in two ways: A person with HIV may be diagnosed
with AIDS if he or she contracts a disease that is listed as an "AIDS-defining"
disease. People with healthy immune systems are usually able to easily
fight off these AIDS-defining diseases, but for a person with a weakened
immune system because of HIV, they are very serious and can be life
threatening.
The other way AIDS is diagnosed is if testing shows that part of an
HIV-positive person's immune system is determined to have weakened
to a very low level, making them vulnerable to a wide range of infections,
diseases, and cancers. Infections that cause disease in people with
a weakened immune system are often called "opportunistic infections".
How long does it take for HIV to cause AIDS?
On average, it takes more than 10 years for HIV to progress to AIDS.
The time it takes is different for everyone, and depends on many things, including the health and lifestyle of the person, the strength of his or her immune system, and other factors (like their age, and immunity levels to other diseases). Another factor affecting how long HIV takes to cause AIDS is the growing effectiveness of the antiretroviral drugs that slow the spread of HIV in the body. As these drugs improve, people who are treated for HIV are taking a longer time to develop AIDS.
Transmission
HIV is transmitted through contact with infected body fluids like vaginal secretions, semen, pre-semen, breast milk, and blood.
It can be passed through anal, vaginal, or oral sex. However, oral sex is considered a very low-risk activity for spreading HIV, and the risk of spreading it through anal or vaginal sex is much higher.
HIV can also be transmitted through shared needles, transmitted from an infected mother to a baby during birth, or to a baby through infected breast milk.
You can also become HIV-positive if infected blood gets inside your body. In Canada, this generally only applies to sharing needles for illegal drug use. There is also a potential risk in using unsterilized needles for tattooing, acupuncture, or body piercings, though this is likely a very low-risk activity. In some countries there may also be risks of contracting HIV through untested blood transfusions or organ transplants.
HIV is more easily transmitted if the partner has another sexually transmitted infection, such as herpes, chlamydia, or gonorrhea.
Prevention
The best way for sexually active people to protect themselves against HIV transmission is by using condoms every single time you have sex. If you are at higher risk of HIV because of high-risk sexual behavior or intravenous drug use, you may want to consider being tested for STIs. Remember, other STIs such as chlamydia and gonorrhea are curable and may have no symptoms, and having them can increase your risk of contracting HIV. For this reason, getting tested and/or treated for other STIs can also help reduce your risk of contracting HIV.
Though the risk of spreading HIV through oral sex is very low, condom and dental dams can offer protection during oral sex, and will also protect against other STIs.
Protection is also important is you are having sex while in foreign countries. In other parts of the world (including the Caribbean) HIV infection is much more common than in Canada. Do your homework before you travel, and always use protection.
Symptoms
It often takes many years before a person infected with HIV displays any symptoms of infection. During this time they may spread the virus to many people. This is one of the reasons why HIV is a very difficult illness to control - many people don't know they're infected until it has already been spread.
Some of the more common symptoms of HIV infection - like constant weight loss, fatigue, night sweats, loss of appetite, constant diarrhea, and recurring yeast infections - are easily confused with other illnesses, so the only way to be sure you have an HIV infection is to receive proper testing from a healthcare professional.
Because HIV symptoms are often non-specific, HIV infection may not be suspected unless:
- symptoms fail to go away with time
- other possible causes have been disqualified
- the person is at higher risk of HIV infection because of past sexual behavior or injection drug use (often going back many years)
- the person is diagnosed with an "opportunistic illness", which is an illness that points to a weakened immune system
Testing
There is generally a three-month window period for HIV testing. This is the approximate time between when a person is infected with HIV and the time when an HIV test will detect the virus in his/her body. For many people, testing may be accurate after several weeks of infection, but in rare cases it takes up to six months.
If you are considering being tested for HIV, you should know that the test might not detect in infection from the past three months. Three months after infection, the test will confirm 97% of HIV cases. After six months, it will confirm 99% of all cases.
Treatment
Though there is no cure for HIV, treatment has progressed dramatically. People who are infected with HIV are living longer without opportunistic infection or other serious diseases.
Long-term Impact
HIV is an incurable, fatal disease. However, HIV/AIDS treatment is rapidly improving, and people treated for HIV now live longer, healthier lives than before.
AIDS itself doesn't cause death, but it weakens the immune system so that a person's body cannot defend itself against other illnesses. There are many causes of death for people with AIDS, including opportunistic infections, cancers, pneumonia, hepatitis, and lung, cardiovascular, and kidney conditions.
What do I tell my partner?
There is no easy way to tell your partner you have HIV. If you are diagnosed with HIV while in an ongoing sexual relationship, you need to tell your partner and they need to be tested for HIV (don't forget the three month testing window). Remember, early diagnosis can make a huge difference in managing an HIV-infection, and modern drug treatments can slow the progression to AIDS.
Speak to your healthcare provider about counseling or other support services that may be available to you, and may help prepare you to tell your partner.
HIV is a reportable illness and you will be required to inform your healthcare provider of your history of past sexual partners. Because a person can have HIV for a long time before experiencing symptoms, sexual partners dating back many years may need to be tested.