Sexual Health: HIV and AIDS

Who Should Be Tested?

Currently, it is recommended that people who engage in risky behaviors such as unprotected sex or needle-sharing -- and all pregnant women be tested for HIV infection.

Does HIV Have Symptoms?

Some people get flu-like symptoms a month or two after they have been infected. These symptoms often go away within a week to a month. A person can have HIV for many years before feeling ill.

As the disease progresses, both women and men may experience yeast infections on the tongue (thrush), and women may develop severe vaginal yeast infections or pelvic inflammatory disease.

What Are the Symptoms of AIDS?

Signs that HIV is turning into AIDS include:

• A fever that won't go away.
• Sweating while you sleep.
• Feeling tired all the time. (not from stress or lack of sleep)
• Feeling sick all the time.
• Losing weight.
• Swollen glands. (neck, groin or underarms)

What Infections Do People With AIDS Get?

People with AIDS are extremely vulnerable to infection, called AIDS defining illnesses, and often exhibit the following conditions:

• Kaposi's sarcoma, a skin tumor that looks like dark purple blotches.
• Mental changes and headaches due to fungal infections or tumors in the brain and spinal cord.
• Shortness of breath and difficulty breathing due to infections of the lungs.
• Dementia.
• Severe malnutrition.
• Chronic diarrhea.

How Is AIDS Diagnosed?

If a person with HIV infection has a CD4 count that drops below 200 -- or if certain infections appear (AIDS defining illnesses) -- that person is considered to have AIDS.

How Is HIV Treated?

We've come along way from the days when diagnosis with HIV equaled a death sentence. Today, there are a variety of treatments that, when used in combination can significantly slow down and in some cases stop altogether, the progression of HIV infection.

After HIV infection is confirmed, your doctor will start you on a drug regimen consisting of several drugs; combinations of different types of anti-HIV drugs sometimes are called HAART, for highly-active anti-retroviral therapy (HIV is a kind of virus called a retrovirus).

Unfortunately, taking HAART therapy isn't easy. These drugs must be taken at exactly the right time, every single day. Also, a range of side effects may occur, including: diarrhea, nausea, or abnormal distribution of body fat. And, the virus often mutates, or changes, making the treatments ineffective.

If your disease has progressed to AIDS, your treatment may also include drugs to combat and prevent certain infections.

How Do I Know If the HIV Treatments Are Working?

Your doctor can monitor how well your treatment is working by measuring the amount of HIV in your blood (also called the viral load.) The goal is to get the viral load so low with HAART treatment as to be undetectable.