The HIV - AIDS Connection

HIV and AIDS Are Related But Are Not the Same Thing

In the media and even in some medical circles, the terms HIV and AIDS are used interchangeably. While they are not the same thing, HIV and AIDS are related to one another. Let's explore the HIV - AIDS Connection.

A Worldwide Pandemic

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was first recognized in 1981 and has since become a major worldwide pandemic (an epidemic over a very wide area).

The AIDS Pandemic in Pictures

Abundant scientific evidence has proven that AIDS is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Discovered in 1983, HIV weakens and destroys the immune system, most notably CD4 cells. As the immune system weakens, the body becomes more at risk for those illnesses and infections said to be AIDS defining. In that way, HIV and AIDS is connected.

A Picture of HIV

The Typical Course of HIV to AIDS

What Are the AIDS Defining Illnesses?

Overwhelming Proof That HIV Causes AIDS?

Before HIV infection became widespread in the human population, AIDS defining infections were rare, and almost exclusively in individuals with immune suppression, such as chemotherapy and certain types of cancers. However, a marked increase in the number of cases of AIDS defining illnesses was first recognized in the early 1980s in otherwise healthy homosexual men. Adding to the oddity, these men had no recognized cause for immune suppression. An infectious cause of AIDS was suggested by geographic clustering of cases, links among cases by sexual contact, mother-to-infant transmission, and transmission by blood transfusion. Later, isolation of HIV from patients with AIDS strongly suggested that this virus was the cause of AIDS.

Since the early 1980s, HIV and AIDS have been repeatedly linked in time, place and population group; the appearance of HIV in the blood supply has preceded or coincided with the occurrence of AIDS cases in every country and region where AIDS has been noted. Individuals of all ages and risk groups have all developed AIDS with only one common denominator - infection with HIV. These groups include:

• men who have sex with men, infants born to HIV-infected mothers, heterosexual women and men
• hemophiliacs
• recipients of blood and blood products
• people occupationally exposed to HIV-tainted blood
• male and female injection drug users.

More Evidence

HIV destroys CD4 cells, which are crucial to the normal function of the human immune system. In fact, depletion of CD4 cells in HIV-infected individuals is an extremely powerful predictor of the development of AIDS. Studies of thousands of individuals have revealed that most HIV-infected people carry the virus for years before enough damage is done to the immune system for AIDS to develop; however, with time, a near-perfect correlation has been found between infection with HIV and the subsequent development of AIDS. Recently developed, sensitive tests have shown a strong correlation between the amount of HIV in the blood and the subsequent decline in CD4 cell numbers and development of AIDS. Furthermore, reducing the amount of virus in the body with HIV medications can slow this immune destruction.

Understand the Immune System