The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) attacks the immune system, which is the body's defence against disease. You can live with HIV for years without any symptoms, although the virus is constantly multiplying (copying itself). This means that many people with HIV look and feel well, and may not even know they have HIV. A person infected with HIV is referred to as 'HIV positive'. When a person's immune system becomes severely damaged by HIV, they develop Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). They are then vulnerable to other infections and illnesses that their body could normally fight off (i.e. opportunistic infections) including infections of the lungs and other major organs, inflammation of the brain, a severe form of the herpes virus, thrush infections and particular types of cancer.
how is HIV/AIDS transmitted?
In order for HIV to be transmitted from one person to another three things have to happen. There must be:
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a point of exit from the infected person's bloodstream;
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a point of entry into the un-infected person's bloodstream; and
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a sufficient quantity of the virus.
Bites from mosquitos and other insects do not transmit HIV/AIDS.
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