10 Facts You Have to Know About HIV/AIDS

. Chapters 0:00 Introduction 0:26 Affects Immune System 0:48 Transmits via bodily fluids 1:08 Anyone can get it 1:25 You may not know you have it 1:48 It is manageable 2:15 Two HIV strains 2:34 It is preventable 2:54 Supports opportunistic infections 3:32 Still a major problem The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of Lentivirus (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS),[1][2] a condition in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive.[3] Without treatment, average survival time after infection with HIV is estimated to be 9 to 11 years, depending on the HIV subtype.[4] In most cases, HIV is a sexually transmitted infection and occurs by contact with or transfer of blood, pre-ejaculate, semen, and vaginal fluids. Research has shown (for both same-sex and opposite-sex couples) that HIV is untransmittable through condomless sexual intercourse if the HIV-positive partner has a consistently undetectable viral load.[5][6] Non-sexual transmission can occur from an infected mother to her infant during pregnancy, during childbirth by exposure to her blood or vaginal fluid, and through breast milk.[7][8][9][10] Within these bodily fluids, HIV is present as both free virus particles and virus within infected immune cells. HIV infects vital cells in the human immune system, such as helper T cells (specifically CD4 T cells), macrophages, and dendritic cells.[11] HIV infection leads to low levels of CD4 T cells through a number of mechanisms, including pyroptosis of abortively infected T cells,[12] apoptosis of uninfected bystander cells,[13] direct viral killing of infected cells, and killing of infected CD4 T cells by CD8 cytotoxic lymphocytes that recognize infected cells.[14] When CD4 T cell numbers decline below a critical level, cell-mediated immunity is lost, and the body becomes progressively more susceptible to opportunistic infections, leading to the development of AIDS.