AIDS

**Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome** or **Acquired immune deficiency syndrome** (**AIDS**) is a disease caused by a virus called HIV.
* *Acquired* means that people are not born with the disease. They get it after being infected with the HIV virus
* *Immune* or *Immuno-* talks about the immune system. The immune system is the part of the body that fights off disease
* *Deficiency* means not to be enough. An *immuno-deficiency* is a problem where the immune system is damaged and cannot fight off diseases to keep the body healthy
* *Syndrome* is a collection of symptoms, or problems in the body. Because the immune system is damaged, and cannot fight off disease, people with AIDS get a collection of symptoms which is referred to as the "Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome"

## How many people have AIDS? 
 got HIV in 2016, according to this map.]]
As of 2018, it is estimated that there are 39.7 million people worldwide infected with HIV. The HIV pandemic is most severe in Sub-Saharan Africa. Over 60% of all people with HIV live in the region.

Many people with HIV do not know they have it. Because of this, the exact number of people with HIV is unknown.

## Where HIV started 
Scientists believe the first human who got HIV was a person in Africa in the early 1900s. It infected only a small amount of people (disease not recognised), until it then turned into an epidemic reported to have started in New York (USA) in 1981. It then very quickly started spreading to other countries. This happened when **S**imian **I**mmunodeficiency **V**irus (SIV) went from apes or chimpanzees to humans. This virus probably crossed to humans when a hunter came into contact with monkey blood while cutting up monkeys to eat. Research in October 2014 shows that the virus started in Kinshasa during the 1920s.

## HIV and AIDS 
Not everyone who has HIV has AIDS. When people first get HIV, they can be healthy for years. A person is diagnosed as having AIDS when he or she gets specific types of illnesses or gets sick in certain ways due to their HIV. Once a person's HIV progresses to (or turns into) AIDS, the person will continue to have AIDS for the rest of their life. While there are many treatments for HIV/AIDS, at this point there is no cure.

If someone has HIV they are called *HIV-positive*.

Someone has AIDS if they have HIV and either:
* Blood tests that show very low numbers of white blood cells – special cells that fight infections
* AIDS defining illnesses (illness is another word for disease.)

### AIDS-defining illnesses 
If a person gets an "AIDS-defining illness," this is usually a sign that the person has AIDS. Healthy people do not get these illnesses, because a healthy immune system is strong enough to fight off these diseases. Because of this, getting an AIDS-defining illness is a sign that a person's immune system is seriously damaged. In a person with HIV, getting an AIDS-defining illness signals that the HIV has damaged the immune system badly enough that the person now has AIDS.

Some AIDS defining illnesses are:
* Kaposi's sarcoma – a type of cancer that usually affects the skin (often causing red or purple lesions, or wounds, on the skin). Sometimes KS only affects the skin; sometimes it also affects other systems in the body
* CMV retinitis – a virus that infects the back of the eye
* Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (acronym PCP) – a type of pneumonia, an infectious disease of the lung. PCP is the most common infection in AIDS patients
* Toxoplasmosis – a parasitic disease (a disease caused by a parasite), which can cause problems in the brain as well as other systems in the body
* Invasive cervical cancer – cancer of the bottom part of a woman's uterus. Invasive means the cancer has spread

### How is HIV spread? 
HIV can be spread by some body fluids that have HIV in them:
* Blood
* Semen
* Fluids from a woman's vagina
* Fluids from the rectum
* Breast milk
* From infected mother to child during pregnancy (Transplacental).
This means a person can get HIV by: They do not want people to have condoms because they do not think people should have sex unless they are married. They also think that married people should not use condoms, because they believe that if people have sex, they should be prepared to accept a possible pregnancy.

Scientists who study (look at and learn about) people who use condoms, see that if teenagers (children 13–19) learn about condoms (and other birth control) they have *less* unsafe sex. Scientists see that learning about these things does not make teenagers start having sex earlier. The teenagers also have *safer* sex. Safer sex means doing things (like wearing condoms) to try not to get pregnant or get sexually transmitted diseases (STDs or STIs) like HIV, gonorrhea, and syphilis. Using a condom works ***very*** well for keeping people from getting pregnant or getting STDs if people know how to use a condom the right way. 

Scientists have also learned that if a city has a needle exchange program it will have fewer people who use illegal drugs. *Needle exchange programs* are where people can come in and trade dirty needles for clean needles. This means that *if* they use drugs they will be more safe. But needle exchange programs do more than give people clean needles. They teach people about drugs. If people want to stop using drugs, they help them.

### HIV vaccine 
The best way to stop HIV is thought to be a vaccine. There is no vaccine for HIV yet. Many scientists are looking for an HIV vaccine. Even one that protected some people from HIV would save millions of people's lives.

## Wrong ideas 
Some people think that HIV is not the cause of AIDS. They dispute the connection between HIV and AIDS, the existence of HIV itself, or the validity of HIV testing and treatment methods. These claims, known as "AIDS denialism", are rejected by the scientific community. However, they have had a significant impact, particularly in South Africa. There the government's official embrace of AIDS denialism (1999–2005) was responsible for its weak response to that country's AIDS epidemic. It has been blamed for hundreds of thousands of avoidable deaths and HIV infections.

Some conspiracy theories have been put about. Operation INFEKTION was a worldwide Soviet active measures operation to spread the claim that the United States had created HIV/AIDS. Surveys show that a significant number of people believed – and continue to believe – in such claims.

HIV and AIDS have severely hurt the LGBT community, especially gay men. Because of this there is a negative association with HIV/AIDS and being gay or queer. Some people even claim that only gays get HIV, or that God created AIDS to punish people for homosexuality.

## Notes 
*  "Survey shows intervention crucial to halt HIV in youth." AIDS Policy Law. 2005 Mar 11;20(5):4.
*  "Sexual possibility situations and sexual behaviors among  adolescents: the moderating role of protective factors." J Adolesc Health. 2004 Dec;35(6):528.e11-20.
*  "Update: syringe exchange programs--United States, 2002." Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2005 Jul 15;54(27):673-6. MMWR is published by the Centers for Disease Control.

## References 
## Other websites 
* World Health Organizations 3 by 5 Initiative
* Médecins Sans Frontières: Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines 
* WHO HIV/AIDS Programme
* AIDS Education Global Information System
* From the US National Institutes of Health 
* New England Journal of Medicine Article "Patents versus Patients? Antiretroviral Therapy in India" 
* AIDSPortal knowledge network
* Piedmont Care
* AIDS portal