Blackwell Reference Online

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AIDS is an acronym for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. AIDS is generally, although not universally, thought to be associated with the presence of HIV, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. All persons with HIV cannot appropriately be said to have AIDS. The United States Center for Disease Control's (CDC's) technical descriptor of AIDS has to do with either the presence of an opportunistic infection associated with HIV, and/or a diminution of the body's CD4 (T‐lymphocyte or T‐cell) count to below 200 per cubic millimeter of blood. Evidence suggests that HIV is spread through transmission of bodily fluids typically associated with intimate sexual contact and/or intravenous drug use, though cases of in utero mother‐to‐child transmission are on the rise. HIV is fragile once outside the body, and is therefore not transmittable through casual contact. AIDS is treatable but not curable. With proper treatment, it is not unusual for individuals to live ten years or even longer from time of initial diagnosis with HIV to eventual death. The CDC currently estimates that globally more than 16 million people have died of AIDS and more than 16,000 people become newly infected each day. Geographic impacts have been disparate. Developing countries are currently being hardest hit, particularly those in Sub‐Saharan Africa where over 23 million adults and children are living with HIV/AIDS and more ... log in or subscribe to read full text