HIV and AIDS are related but different. HIV damages the immune system, and a person can test positive for HIV but not have AIDS. AIDS is the final stage of HIV infection, where the weakened immune system makes the body vulnerable to infections. A doctor’s diagnosis is needed to distinguish between the two.
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are not the same thing. AIDS and HIV are indisputably related, but different. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS, and a person can test positive for HIV in their bloodstream, but not have AIDS. An HIV-positive individual may be diagnosed with AIDS at a later date or not at all.
To understand how the virus and the condition are related, you need to understand how HIV infection works. Basically, the virus damages cells within the body’s immune system. The immune system is responsible for fighting against disease and infection. As HIV does its job, more and more cells are damaged and the immune system gradually loses its ability to ward off disease and infection.
HIV damages cells rather slowly. This is one of the main reasons why it is important to distinguish between AIDS and HIV. A person with the virus can look and feel healthy for years before starting to experience symptoms, and may be completely unaware that they are infected. This is why testing is so important.
AIDS can be described as the final stage of HIV infection. Once the virus has weakened an individual’s immune system beyond a certain point, her body becomes more vulnerable to infection. Infections that often affect AIDS patients include some types of pneumonia and cancer, and patients are also vulnerable to eye infections. Without the protection of the immune system, a person cannot fight off infections and may even die from a fairly common disease.
A key to the distinction between AIDS and HIV is the development of an AIDS-defining illness. An AIDS-defining disease is a very serious and opportunistic disease. While such diseases can occur in individuals who are completely free of the virus, they commonly, and often tragically, afflict those with AIDS. Such diseases include, but are not limited to, Kaposi’s sarcoma, tuberculosis, cytomegalovirus, recurrent pneumonia and wasting syndrome.
A doctor’s diagnosis is needed to distinguish between AIDS and HIV infection. Because a positive HIV test result does not automatically diagnose AIDS, health care professionals use a variety of clinical criteria to diagnose AIDS. Many people use the terms interchangeably, however, leading to confusion among those who don’t know the difference.
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