What Complications Can Occur With Hiv
A weakened immune system makes the body vulnerable to deadly opportunistic infections and diseases a sign that AIDS has taken hold.
Kateryna Kon/Alamy
In 2015, AIDS the final stage of an HIV infection caused 6,465 deaths in the United States, according to the most recent statistics available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
Between 1987 and 2015, 507,351 people in the United States diagnosed with AIDS died, the CDC reports.
Symptoms Of Hiv Infection
Most people experience a short flu-like illness 2 to 6 weeks after HIV infection, which lasts for a week or 2.
After these symptoms disappear, HIV may not cause any symptoms for many years, although the virus continues to damage your immune system.
This means many people with HIV do not know they’re infected.
Anyone who thinks they could have HIV should get tested.
Some people are advised to have regular tests as they’re at particularly high risk.
Impact On Gay And Bisexual Men
- While estimates show that gay and bisexual men comprise only about 2% of the U.S. population, male-to-male sexual contact accounts for most new HIV infections and most people living with HIV .58
- Annual new infections among gay and bisexual men declined overall between 2015 and 2019 but remained stable among Black and Latino gay and bisexual men.59
- Blacks gay and bisexual men accounted for the largest number of new diagnoses among this group in 2019, followed by Latino gay and bisexual men .60 Additionally, according to a recent study, Black gay and bisexual men were found to be at a much higher risk of being diagnosed with HIV during their lifetimes compared with Latino and white gay and bisexual men.61 Young Black gay and bisexual men are at particular risk â Black gay and bisexual men ages 20-29 accounted for 51% of new diagnoses among that age group and 13% of all diagnoses.62
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What Is The Prognosis Of Untreated Hiv Infection
The prognosis in patients with untreated HIV infection is poor, with an overall mortality rate of more than 90%. The average time from infection to death is 8-10 years, although individual variability ranges from less than 1 year to long-term nonprogression. Many variables have been implicated in HIV’s rate of progression, including CCR5-delta32 heterozygosity, mental health, concomitant drug or alcohol abuse, superinfection with another HIV strain, nutrition, and age.
Living With Hiv: ‘the First Question I Always Get Asked Is: Are You Going To Die’
The virus was once seen as a death sentence. But life has changed for those diagnosed in the UK and one of the biggest remaining problems is social attitudes
When Claire Horn went for a sexual health check in April 2005, the last thing she expected was to be diagnosed with HIV. She was 22 and studying for a nursing degree in Leeds, and the check was part of the process for having a contraceptive implant placed in her arm. The diagnosis floored her.
I probably smoked and drank far too much over the next year, says Horn, who is now 36. It wasnt a good time. She says she knew a little bit more about HIV than the average person but not enough to allay her fears about its impact on her life. Did I know that the outlook for somebody in the UK with HIV was as positive as it turns out it is? Probably not.
Horn spent the year that followed learning as much as she could about the condition. She decided not to let it get in the way of leading a normal life, and has, for the most part, succeeded.
Today in the UK, when someone is diagnosed with HIV, they will start taking antiretroviral drugs immediately, to stop the virus replicating in the body. These drugs stop HIV from damaging the immune system and reduce the amount of virus in the bloodstream known as a persons viral load. When HIV can no longer be measured , the patient is said to be undetectable they cannot pass on the virus through sex and can have children without passing on the virus.
* Name has been changed
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Hiv Prevention Is Key
Because HIV is transmitted by the exchange of bodily fluids, the best way to prevent infection is to always practice safer sex and avoid using drug paraphernalia like needles. The CDC recommends that everyone between the ages of 13 and 64 get tested at least once for HIV, and as often as every six months if you have multiple sexual partners, have unprotected sex, or use needles to inject drugs. If youre at a very high risk for getting infected for example, if your current sexual partner has HIV taking a medication called pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, may help keep you safe, says the CDC. This preventive treatment lowers your chances of being infected by stopping the virus from getting a foothold in your body. The catch is that you have to take PrEP very consistently exactly as your doctor prescribes it. The CDC says this regimen can lower your risk of getting HIV from sex by 90 percent and cut the risk of transmission among injection drug users by more than 70 percent.
Global Hiv & Aids Statistics Fact Sheet
GLOBAL HIV STATISTICS
- 37.7 million people globally were living with HIV in 2020.
- 1.5 million people became newly infected with HIV in 2020.
- 680 000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses in 2020.
- 27.5 million people were accessing antiretroviral therapy in 2020.
- 79.3 million people have become infected with HIV since the start of the epidemic.
- 36.3 million people have died from AIDS-related illnesses since the start of the epidemic.
People living with HIV
- In 2020, there were 37.7 million people living with HIV.
- 36.0 million adults.
- 1.7 million children .
- 53% of all people living with HIV were women and girls.
People living with HIV accessing antiretroviral therapy
- At the end of December 2020, 27.5 million people were accessing antiretroviral therapy, up from 7.8 million in 2010.
- In 2020, 73% of all people living with HIV were accessing treatment.
- 74% of adults aged 15 years and older living with HIV had access to treatment, as did 54% of children aged 014 years.
- 79% of female adults aged 15 years and older had access to treatment however, just 68% of male adults aged 15 years and older had access.
New HIV infections
AIDS-related deaths
COVID-19 and HIV
Key populations
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Hiv Has A Powerful Opponent
Before 1996, contracting the HIV was basically a death sentence. But then, over the course of the next two decades, a regimen of drugs known as antiretroviral therapy evolved and came into use. This drug regimen helps prevent the virus from replicating and can help keep the infection from causing AIDS, transforming a fatal disease into a manageable one. These drugs have been an amazing scientific advancement, Dr. Santiago says. Most of the people who die nowadays are those who are unaware they have until symptoms become severe. Even people who think they may have been exposed to HIV have options if they act very quickly. The CDC advises you to alert your healthcare provider and start a regimen of ART medicines called post-exposure prophylaxis within 72 hours.
Characteristics Of Patients Who Died From Different Causes
The characteristics of patients who died, based on the 924 completed questionnaires, are shown in . Median age at death was 41 years the last CD4+ cell count was > 200/mm3 in 291 patients and HIV-1 RNA < 500 copies/ml in 285 149 patients had both a CD4 count > 200/mm3 and a HIV-RNA measurement < 500 copies/ml. The median time between last CD4 measurement and death was 1.9 months . Overall 263 patients never reached the AIDS stage. About one-third had HCV co-infection and 12% were HBs antigen positive. Half of the patients were smokers and one-third were exposed to poor socio-economic conditions.
Table 2
Characteristics of human immunodeficiency virus -infected people dying in 2000 in France according to cause of death, analysis based on 924 questionnaires
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Patients dying from AIDS-related causes had lower median CD4+ cell counts than those dying from other causes and higher median HIV-RNA . They were less likely to be intravenous drug users, died more frequently in French overseas areas and more frequently had HIV infection diagnosed within the last 6 months.
Patients dying from cancers were older than those dying from another cause, were more frequently male and smokers, had a higher median CD4+ cell count and a longer known duration of HIV infection.
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Researching An Hiv Cure: The Main Approaches
Although the stem cell approach has had some success in the past, its very dangerous for the patient. It would only be considered a viable option, if the person needed a stem cell transplant to treat another more deadly condition, such as very advanced leukaemia which, unlike HIV, doesnt have as many other safe and effective treatment options available.
While there is promising research being carried out in these areas, there is no viable cure on the horizon.
How Have Deaths From Hiv/aids Changed Over Time
Global deaths from HIV/AIDS halved within a decade
The world has made significant progress against HIV/AIDS. Global deaths from AIDS have halved over the past decade.
In the visualization we see the global number of deaths from HIV/AIDS in recent decades this is shown by age group. In the early 2000s 2004 to 2005 global deaths reached their peak at almost 2 million per year.
Driven mostly by the development and availability of antiretroviral therapy , global deaths have halved since then. In 2017, just under one million died from the disease.
You can explore this change for any country or region using the change country toggle on the interactive chart.
HIV/AIDS once accounted for more than 1-in-3 deaths in some countries, but rates are now falling
Global progress on HIV/AIDS has been driven by large improvements in countries which were most affected by the HIV epidemic.
Today the share of deaths remains high: more than 1-in-4 deaths in some countries are caused by HIV/AIDS. But in the past this share was even higher.In the visualization we see the change in the share of deaths from HIV/AIDS over time. From the 1990s through to the early 2000s, it was the cause of greater than 1-in-3 deaths in several countries. In Zimbabwe, it accounted for more than half of annual deaths in the late 1990s.
We see that over the past decade this share has fallen as antiretoviral treatment has become more widely available.
Children living with HIV
New HIV infections of children
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Aids Or Hiv Life Expectancy Without Medication
How long can you live with HIV or AIDS if you chose not to treat with ART combinations or other prescription drugs? In the absence of such therapy, a patient should expect to see a notable decrease in life expectancy.
In countries where health care and ARTs arent readily accessible, HIV rates are above 20 percent. Shorter HIV life expectancy in these regions, combined with a high incidence of AIDS in younger age groups, boosts their overall mortality rate.
Population studies proved that AIDS patients who did not take HIV medications survived for roughly three years. Once they developed a dangerous opportunistic illness, life expectancy with AIDS decreased to one year or less.
Thats why HIV and AIDS remain a serious threat to public health, and why early detection is absolutely critical to long-term survival.
You Can Have Hiv And Not Know It
When some people are first infected with HIV, they can experience flulike symptoms such as fatigue, fever, headache, sore throat, and muscle and joint pain within the first two to four weeks. But many other people wont experience any symptoms at all during this early stage of infection, the CDC reports, and they can spread the virus without realizing it. The only way to know for sure whether you or your partner is HIV positive is to get tested. Late-stage HIV before it becomes AIDS does cause symptoms, but these can be confused with other ailments.
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What Treatments Are Helping People Live Longer
A collection of antiretroviral therapies has moved HIV into the chronic disease realm and given young people who are newly infected a close-to-normal life expectancy. In fact, more than half of people living with the virus now are over 50 years old, says Michael Virata, MD, director of HIV clinical services at YNHHs Saint Raphael Campus.
Really, the basic goal is to treat people with highly active drugs that combat the virus, so we get them to the point where they have undetectable levels of it, he says.
Patients may be given some combination or cocktail of three drugs, and doctors are moving toward two-drug combinations. We are even moving into a realm of longer-acting agents so that people wont have to take a pill every day, Dr. Virata says.
Some medicines will be delivered through such methods as injections that could protect people for weeks. In the past, there was controversy over when to treat newly diagnosed patients, but current guidelines recommend starting medications quickly. There are centers around the U.S. where, the day they diagnose you, they hand you your first doses of medication, Dr. Virata says.
There have been breakthroughs beyond the medications as well. For example, people with HIV with end-stage kidney disease are now being successfully transplanted, says Dr. Villanueva. And there are studies that show successful kidney and liver transplants from HIV-positive deceased donors.
How Is Aids Diagnosed
When you have HIV, your doctor will monitor your CD4 count by ordering a blood test. A healthy CD4 count ranges from 500 to 1,600 CD4 cells. The lower your CD4 count, the less your body can fight infection. If your CD4 count drops below 200, your doctor may diagnose you with AIDS. Many times, you will also already have an infection or pneumonia due to the low number of CD4 cells.
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Hiv And Aids Diagnosis
HIV tests check your blood or fluid from your mouth for antibodies that your body makes in response to the virus. You can take them at a doctorâs office, a community health center, a hospital, or at home.
When you have HIV, your doctor will keep an eye on how much of the virus is in your system. You might hear them call it your âviral load.â Two things will tell them if your infection has become AIDS:
- Your CD4 count. A person with a healthy immune system has 500 to 1,600 CD4 cells in a cubic millimeter of their blood. A person with AIDS has fewer than 200. This number is called your âCD4 count.â
- AIDS-defining infections. These are also called opportunistic infections. These generally happen in people who have a CD4 count below 200. Viruses, bacteria, or fungi that donât usually make healthy people sick can cause these infections in someone with HIV or AIDS.
How long it takes HIV to become AIDS is different for everyone. If you donât get treatment, it might take 10 to 15 years. With treatment, you may never have AIDS.
Hiv Life Expectancy: How Long Can You Live With Hiv Or Aids
The most frequently asked question for HIV-positive patients is how long can you live with HIV? Fortunately, the answer is far more promising than it was 20 years ago. Join Flo as we discuss how advancements in medical technology have altered the prognosis for those living with HIV or AIDS.
A national database containing statistics from 25 states shows that the average HIV life expectancy has more than doubled between 1996 and 2005. The bump from 10.5 to 22.5 years after diagnosis can be attributed to vast improvements in drug therapy and related approaches. However, experts still say this is only an average, and plenty of other circumstances must be taken into account regarding HIV life expectancy.
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Does Hiv Viral Load Affect Getting Or Transmitting Hiv
Yes. Viral load is the amount of HIV in the blood of someone who has HIV. Taking HIV medicine daily as prescribed can make the viral load very lowso low that a test cant detect it .
People with HIV who take HIV medicine daily as prescribed and get and keep an undetectable viral load have effectively no risk of transmitting HIV to an HIV-negative partner through sex.
HIV medicine is a powerful tool for preventing sexual transmission of HIV. But it works only as long as the HIV-positive partner gets and keeps an undetectable viral load. Not everyone taking HIV medicine has an undetectable viral load. To stay undetectable, people with HIV must take HIV medicine every day as prescribed and visit their healthcare provider regularly to get a viral load test. Learn more.