How does HIV cause AIDS?

HIV destroys a certain kind of blood cell (CD4+ T cells) which is crucial to the normal function of the human immune system. In fact, loss of these cells in people with HIV is an extremely powerful predictor of the development of AIDS. Studies of thousands of people have revealed that most people infected with HIV carry the virus for years before enough damage is done to the immune system for AIDS to develop. However, sensitive tests have shown a strong connection between the amount of HIV in the blood and the decline in CD4+ T cells and the development of AIDS. Reducing the amount of virus in the body with anti-retroviral therapies can dramatically slow the destruction of a person’s immune system.

For more information:

• visit the NIH National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases Fact sheet “The HIV-AIDS Connection” at http://www.niaid.nih.gov/newsroom/focuson/hiv00/default.htm.
• see “What is AIDS?”
• see “What is HIV?”

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