Around 25,000 people in the UK are HIV positive. The number who die of Aids has fallen in recent months due to the impact of a combination of drugs, but the drugs do not work for all patients. Also, HIV statistics relate only to those who have been tested for the virus. It is estimated that many more people are infected but do not know they are. Experts say the stigma which is still attached to the disease is one reason people are not being tested.
Aids stands for acquired immune deficiency syndrome.
As the virus attacks the immune system, an infected person will be open to a large number of illnesses. This means there are a wide variety of symptoms. HIV usually leads to Aids, which is diagnosed when a person has developed one of several opportunistic diseases associated with the virus as well as underlying immune problems. HIV is relatively difficult to transmit as it does not live for long outside the body. It is carried in the semen, vaginal fluids, breast milk and blood.