You and your family will literally never be the same again. There's still a stigma attached to this. HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, is transmitted by sexual contact, from needles and from mother to child during birth or in breast milk. Blood donations before March 1985 were also not tested for the virus. Because of the stigma attached to the virus, Karraker said living with HIV can be isolating.
Support groups can bring together families living with the same pressures.
Karraker said many newly diagnosed families are surprised to learn they aren't alone. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in its 1999 year-end report that there were 1,122 people living with AIDS in Fresno County. Just learning that you aren't alone is a big step toward learning to live with HIV, Karraker said. Learning to live with HIV Flammang said case managers are assigned to HIV patients at University Medical Center. Among other things, case managers work with doctors and the AIDS patient to manage the many medications a patient must take.