Can I get a vaccine to prevent HIV infection or AIDS?

Dear Mary
Can I get a vaccine to prevent HIV infection or AIDS? By Chris

Dear Chris
No. There is no vaccine to prevent HIV infection. Researchers are working to
develop a vaccine. Vaccines in development are being tested to fi nd out if they
work.

How long can people live with HIV or AIDS?

Dear Mary
How long can people live with HIV or AIDS? By J.J

Dear J.J
Medicines that fight HIV have helped many people with HIV and AIDS live years
and even decades longer than was possible in the past, before effective treatment
was available. HIV treatments are not a cure, and they do not work equally well for
everyone, but they have extended the lives of many people with HIV and AIDS.
Without treatment, some people live for just a few years after getting HIV. Others
live much longer. Researchers are studying a small number of people with HIV
who have not become ill for more than ten years, even without any HIV treatment.
However, these people are still infected with HIV and can pass the virus to others.

Who is at risk for getting HIV?

Dear Mary
Who is at risk for getting HIV? By Patty, Buru buru

Dear Patty
A person of any age, sex, race, ethnic group, religion, economic background, or
sexual orientation can get HIV.

Those who are most at risk are:
• people who have “unprotected sex” with someone
who has HIV. Unprotected sex means vaginal, anal,
or oral sex without using a condom.
• people who share needles, syringes, or other
equipment to inject drugs, steroids, or even vitamins
or medicine with someone who has HIV.
• Babies can potentially become infected during their
mothers’ pregnancy, during delivery, or after birth
in the immediate post-partum period. They can also
become infected through breastfeeding.
• Health care and maintenance workers who may be exposed to blood and/or
body fl uids at work sometimes get infected through on-the-job exposures like
needle-stick injuries.

Before 1985, some people were infected through blood transfusions or the use
of blood products. Health institutions have began screening all blood
products for HIV, so the risk of getting HIV from a blood transfusion today is
now very low.
You can only get HIV if infected blood, semen, vaginal fl uids, or breast milk gets
into your body.

Dear Mary What is the difference between HIVand AIDS

HIV (Human Immunodefi ciency Virus) is a virus. You may hear that someone is
HIV infected, has HIV infection, or has HIV disease. These are all terms that mean the
person has HIV in his or her body and can pass the virus to other people.

HIV attacks the body’s immune system. The immune system protects the body
from infections and disease, but has no clear way to protect it from HIV. Without
treatment, most people infected with HIV become less able to fi ght off the germs
that we are exposed to every day. Many of these germs do not usually make a
healthy person sick, but they can cause life-threatening infections and cancers in
a person whose immune system has been weakened by HIV. HIV treatments can
slow this process and allow people with HIV to live longer, healthier lives .

People infected with HIV may have no symptoms for ten or more years. They may
not know they are infected. An HIV test is the only way to fi nd out if you have HIV.
AIDS (Acquired Immune Defi ciency Syndrome) is a late stage of HIV diseas. A person
with HIV infection has AIDS when he or she:
• has a CD4 cell count (a way to measure the strength of the immune system)
that falls below 200. A normal CD4 cell count is 500 or higher.
OR
• develops any of the specific, serious conditions – also called AIDS-defining
illnesses – that are linked with HIV infection.