HIV/AIDS are different but interconnected conditions. HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus and is a condition that attacks the immune system resulting in severe illness. When the illness becomes severe enough, and your immune system is too weak, the HIV progresses into AIDS, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.
Once your condition progresses to become AIDS, there’s no known cure, and your condition is usually terminal. Essentially, your immune system is too weak to fight diseases and infections, and you eventually contract something you can’t get rid of. However, while HIV/AIDS doesn’t have a cure, there are treatments that can keep HIV from progressing into AIDS.
Not long ago, HIV/AIDS was essentially a death sentence. While treatment is now available to keep HIV from progressing into AIDS, it’s important to notice the signs and symptoms as early as possible. If you don’t, HIV will attack your immune system and destroy you from the inside out by impeding your ability to fight off diseases. Here are some of the early symptoms of HIV. These symptoms will manifest within 2 to 4 weeks of infection.
However, sometimes you won’t have any symptoms when you contract HIV. This means that it’s important to be proactive if you have one of the risk factors in the following section and get tested for HIV whether you’re displaying symptoms or not.
If HIV progresses into AIDS, you’ll experience a worse version of the symptoms above, along with the following.
AIDS results when HIV progresses too far without treatment, resulting in a severely weakened immune system. HIV is a virus that was traditionally only thought to spread via sex, but there are additional causes and risk factors to consider.
Having unprotected anal, oral, or vaginal sex with someone HIV-positive is the most common way to contract HIV.
The passing of HIV through “dirty” needles is another common way it’s passed. Dirty needles can stem from reusing or sharing needles for drugs or tattoo needles.
HIV can also be passed from one person to another via a blood transfusion. This happens when someone who is positive for HIV but doesn’t realize it donates blood that is then given to another person. While this rarely happens anymore because of scrutinous blood testing, it’s still possible.
It’s also possible to have HIV from the moment you’re born. This happens if a pregnant mother positive for HIV has their baby without previously receiving treatment for HIV.
HIV is a highly contagious virus that spreads through contact with an infected person’s blood, semen, or vaginal fluids. Once the infected fluid enters your body, you also have HIV.
Doctors can diagnose HIV/AIDS by using one of the following tests.
This is a blood test used to check for certain antibodies and antigens in your blood. The antigen/antibody test is the most common way to diagnose HIV/AIDS.
Other antibody tests take longer and aren’t as accurate as the antigen/antibody test. However, the concept is the same, but it involves a saliva sample rather than a blood sample.
This is the most accurate and quick way to test for HIV/AIDS, but it is also the most expensive. Doctors will use the nucleic acid test if initial testing is inconclusive or you’re already showing symptoms of HIV.
It’s important to be proactive with HIV testing. If you have one of the risk factors listed above or suspect that you may have HIV, you should get tested immediately. The sooner you get tested and diagnosed with HIV, the sooner you can begin treatment to prevent AIDS.
While HIV/AIDS is a chronic condition that can prove fatal, treatments can keep HIV from progressing into AIDS and destroying your body. Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) is the only treatment available for HIV, but it’s highly effective and successful, especially when you start treatments early.
Luckily, South Africa has the world’s largest treatment program for HIV, and ART has been a free treatment available to the public since 2004. Therefore, if you are positive for HIV, you must seek ART treatment immediately from a local treatment centre. If you start treatment early enough, you can keep HIV from progressing to AIDS.