HIV stands for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. HIV attacks the human immune system which is your body's natural defence system; which makes us vulnerable to catching other diseases.HIV gradually attacks and disables the very system designed to destroy it.

HIV works by infecting the CD4 cells in your body. These cells play an important role in regulating your body's defence mechanisms, but once they are infected, they are no longer able to perform these functions. HIV also has unique features that make the body's other defence systems actually target and attack healthy CD4 cells. The HI Virus mutates regularly, and can even transform itself within an infected person. This has made finding a vaccine cure incredibly difficult.

As the immune system gets weaker and weaker, the body becomes more prone to infections and illness, as it lacks the resources to fight them.

AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, and refers to the final stages of HIV infection, when the body's CD4 (immune system helper cells) count drops below a certain level. This is also referred to as 'full-blown AIDS'.

Because the immune system is severely impaired, the individual is no longer able to resist infections. These may be diseases that people with normal immune systems would be able to overcome, in time. On many occassions, patients with AIDS develop conditions like Karposi's Sarcoma (a rare skin cancer), drug-resistant pneumonia, Tuberculosis (TB) and meningitis. A person does not die of AIDS itself, but rather succumbs to an infection.

Despite the widespread paranoia about the disease, HIV is relatively difficult to contract, compared to other viruses. In order for a person to become infected, the virus has to enter the bloodstream. There are three modes of transmission: sexual intercourse, blood-to-blood, and mother to child.

Sexual Intercourse

This is the most common mode of transmission, and accounts for 75% of new infections globally. Worldwide, three quarters of these involve heterosexual intercourse (between a man and a woman). In Africa, heterosexual transmission accounts for 99% of this figure.

The spread of HIV through sexual intercourse is influenced by the presence of STDs (Sexually Transmitted Diseases), which make individuals more vulnerable to infection, and the individual's sexual behaviour (i.e. how many sexual partners they have). Women are biologically and statistically more at risk of being infected than men.

Blood to Blood

This type of transmission occurs when HIV-contaminated blood comes into direct contact with the blood of an uninfected person. This is mainly achieved through sharing drug-injecting equipment (needles), which remain a problem in many parts of Africa and through contaminated blood products used in transfusions. Most countries have imposed strict blood and blood-donor screening processes to avoid the use of contaminated blood products.

Mother to Child

An HIV positive mother can transmit the virus to a child in two ways: either at birth, when the infant comes into contact with the mother's blood in the uterus, or during infancy, through breastfeeding. More than half of these infections occur at birth, and there are estimates that mother to child transmission could account for between 15% and 20% of all new cases in Africa.

You CANNOT get HIV from …

Casual contact.. playing sports, working together, shaking hands, travelling with, hugging a friend, kissing someone on the hand or cheek, sleeping in the same room, breathing the same air, sharing your eating and drinking utensils, using the same towels, using the same shower or toilets, using the same washing water or swimming in the same pool; you cannot get infected through spitting, sneezing or coughing, tears, mosquito and other insect bites…

HIV has several stages of infection, and may last for over a decade before the individual becomes noticeably ill.

The first stage is known as primary or acute HIV infection, and occurs during the first few weeks following infection. During this time, 90% of people will show non-specific symptoms such as a fever, headaches and enlarged lymph nodes. The symptoms are a result of the body's initial attempts to get rid of the virus, as it would with any other infection like a cold or the flu. Although the immune system will manage to develop some control in the initial stages, once an individual has been infected the virus will eventually overcome the immune system.

The second stage of infection is known as seroconversion, and marks the period during which the body starts to develop antibodies to HIV. Although these ultimately prove insufficient, the body's immune system uses these antibodies to keep the HIV under control for a number of years. This stage lasts between six and 12 weeks, during which time HIV antibodies are not detectable. Persons who get tested during this time will have a negative result, even though they are infected. This is often referred to as the window period, and is the most dangerous time: infectivity is at its highest during the first few months, and an infected person can easily infect someone else without knowing it.

The third stage, known as the asymptomatic stage, is the longest. An infected person generally remains clinically healthy, but the virus gradually makes its way through the body. As the virus spreads, more CD4 cells become disabled or destroyed, and the CD4 cell count begins to drop. In a healthy, HIV negative, person there are between 700 and 1300 CD4 cells per 100ml of blood. Once the CD4 count drops below 300, the infected person will begin to battle to fight infections. Things that a healthy immune system would destroy in days can last for weeks, sometimes months.

When the CD4 count drops below 200, the individual is said to have AIDS. This is the final stage of the disease, ultimately resulting in death.

Several treatments may help HIV-infected people to have longer, healthier lives. Although the treatments cannot eradicate the virus, there are two 'types' of medicines used to treat HIV/AIDS. There are opportunistic infections drugs, that are used to prevent or treat the illnesses that occur because of HIV, and there are antiretroviral drugs that fight HIV directly.

These drugs are also currently being used to prevent or reduce the transmission of HIV from mother to child.

An HIV test looks for the presence of HIV antibodies in the blood. These may only be detected several weeks after initial infection, hence the 'window period', during which a person may be infected with HIV but still test negative for the virus.

These centres also provide important psychological and counselling services before and after the test.

Take advantage of the services available around Botswana where you can get tested and supplied with the results the same day.

There are several conveniently located VOLUNTARY (AIDS) TESTING CENTRES around the country, where you can get tested. It is FREE and anonymity is guaranteed. So what are you waiting, make a new start - TODAY!