How long can you live with HIV?

People living with HIV who begin antiretroviral therapy with a relatively healthy CD4 count can now expect to live just as long, on average, as their HIV-negative counterparts (source). Learn More

What causes HIV?

HIV infection is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus. You can get HIV from contact with infected blood, semen, or vaginal fluids.

Most people get the virus by having unprotected sex with someone who has HIV or sharing drug needles with someone who is infected with HIV. The virus can also be passed to a baby by an HIV positive person not on antiretrovirals during pregnancy, birth, or breastfeeding.

HIV doesn't survive well outside the body. So it can't be spread by casual contact like kissing or sharing drinking glasses with a person who has HIV. Learn More

What happens when a person has HIV?

HIV destroys CD4 T cells — white blood cells that play a large role in helping your body fight disease. The fewer CD4 T cells you have, the weaker your immune system becomes. You can have an HIV infection, with few or no symptoms, for years before it turns into AIDS.

What are the 4 stages of HIV?

Assuming no treatment through ARTAS, a person with an HIV infection would pass through four stages of the illness: infection, asymptomatic, symtompatic, and progression from HIV to AIDS. Learn More