Access Aids

What is HIV?

      H - Human
      I - Immuno-deficiency
      V - Virus

HIV is the virus medical researchers believe causes AIDS. Since the vast majority of researchers believe that HIV is the sole cause of AIDS, we often refer to HIV as "the AIDS virus." Like other viruses, HIV attacks cells in the body. But what makes HIV different is that the immune system can never fully get rid of HIV because the virus attacks the immune system itself. 

What is AIDS? The term AIDS applies to the most advanced stages of HIV infection.

      A - Acquired
      I -  Immune
      D - Deficiency
      S - Syndrome

AIDS severely weakens the body's ability to fight infections and certain cancers. That is, people diagnosed with AIDS may have opportunistic infections, which are caused by viruses or bacteria that usually do not make healthy people sick.