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 HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Some viruses, such as the ones that cause the common cold or the flu, stay in the body only for a few days. Other viruses, such as HIV, never go away. When a person becomes infected with HIV, that person becomes "HIV positive" and will always be “HIV positive”. Over time, HIV infects and kills white blood cells called CD4 lymphocytes (or "T cells") and can leave the body unable to fight off certain kinds of infections and cancers.  AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome and is caused by HIV. The names HIV and AIDS can be confusing because both terms describe the same disease. Think of AIDS as advanced HIV disease. A person with AIDS has an immune system so weakened by HIV that the person usually becomes sick from one of several opportunistic infections or cancers

 Fever  Headache  Tiredness  Nausea  Diarrhea  Some of these symptoms can be mistaken as flu symptoms or sexually transmitted diseases symptoms, the only way to know is to get TESTED!!!

 rapid weight loss  Dry cough  Recurring fever  Swollen lymph glands in the armpits, groin, or neck  Diarrhea that lasts for more than a week  White spots or unusual blemishes on the tongue

 HIV/AIDS is transmitted through: › Unprotected sex with a person who is infected › Contact with an infected person’s blood › From mother to child › Use of infected blood products › Sharing needles with a person that is already infected.

 GET TESTED!!! (Some STDs can eventually lead to HIV/AIDS if they are not treated or cured)  Use Condoms.  Using clean needles  DO NOT share needles.

 There is no cure of HIV/AIDS but there is an antiretroviral drug treatment that will prevent you from getting ill for multiple years.  The treatment consists of drugs that have to be taken every day for the rest of a person’s life.