What is the difference between AIDS and HIV?
HIV is a virus that has a really slow progression. It attacks and kills the bodies healthy immune system cells so that it can no longer fight off infections. During the infection there are many stages but the very last stage is called AIDS. It is determined by a T cell count of less then 200. They take T cell counts pretty regularly to track how the virus is progressing. It will also be considered AIDS if the person has more then 2 ( I think ) infections within a year that a healthy person would be able to fight off..like the flu or pneumonia, Because the immune system is so destroyed, any kind of infection is really serious and deadly. Before the last stage of AIDS, there are about 3 other stages, so it usually lasts about 10-15 years like someone mentioned before.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that can lead to Acquired ImmunoDeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). About 9 out of every 10 persons with HIV will progress to AIDS after 10-15 years.
AIDS is the more advanced form of HIV and you generally have HIV a long time (sometimes many years) before you get AIDS, which is the last stage of HIV before death.
Basically, HIV is the virus that leads to AIDS. You can have the virus HIV without having AIDS for years and years.
oh ok thankx
