Difference HIV/AIDS

Hi i was wondering whats the difference between HIV and AIDS? if any? are they transmitted the same and do they have the same risks? Also i've been reading this board and it seems like HIV is pretty hard to catch, but if thats so why does it seem so many people have it?

thanks for your help

[WorriedT]

Hi clash16. When you say "so many" people have HIV, it actually depends where you look (ie. which country) and what you compare it to.

For example, if you look at another virus, CMV, which can be transmitted sexually or through saliva and via breast milk, we're talking about 30-100% of the population have it, again depending on which country and which age group you look at. This means worldwide, it probably has infected 2-3 billion people. Luckily, CMV doesn't do anything to you except when you get immune compromised.

With respect to HIV, a lot of different factors affect the ability of the virus to infect. These include the viral load of the virus in a HIV+ person, whether there are open sores, etc in the person that it may be trying to infect. On top of this, you get cultural effects and beliefs that lead to high risk behaviour as you can in some African countries eg. preference for unprotected sex. In certain African countries, you can also get malnutrition and other environmental factors that increase the likelihood of HIV transmission. In Western countries, the proportion of HIV+ people is often in the region of 0.1%. This is not very high (CMV prevalence is 300+ times higher!).

[dobber21]

HIV = Human Immunodeficiency Virus
AIDS = Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome.

HIV is the virus that causes AIDS.

An AIDS diagnosis occurs when a HIV infected persons CD4 cells drop below 250, or they are diagnosed with one of the AIDS defining illnesses, like PCP or Kaposi's Sarcoma.

You can't be infected with AIDS. HIV transmission occurs first, and, if untreated, will develop into AIDS

[clash16]

hey,
thanks! that helps me out alot
i actually found the answer to my second question in the prevention forum!

I'm one of those paranoid people who, although i've had a really low risk encounter, i freak out.  i thought maybe even though the HIV risk was low- the risk of getting AIDS was higher. But apparently i had it backwards.

Thanks again for the help!