HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) weakens the body's immune system (germ-fighting system). There is no cure, but most people can control the virus with medicines and live a healthy life.

Stay Healthy

• Take all medicines exactly as directed.
• Exercise, get enough sleep, and eat well.
• If your immune system is weak, ask your health care provider if you need to: 
  • avoid some types of foods (such as raw or undercooked eggs, seafood, poultry, and meat; or unpasteurized juice and dairy)
  • avoid certain pets (such as reptiles, which can spread infections)
• Ask the health care provider which vaccines (shots) you and other household members should have.
• Wash your hands well and often and ask family members to do the same. Use soap and water and scrub for at least 20 seconds, rinse, and dry well. If soap and water are not available, use a hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.
• Go for all follow-up medical visits and blood tests.

Prevent the Spread of HIV

• Tell all current sexual partners that you have HIV. Your partners should be tested for HIV.
• Tell any new partners that you have HIV before having sex.
• Use a latex condom every time and for every kind of sex (vaginal, oral, or anal).
• Take all HIV medicines as prescribed.
• Never share any kind of needle.
• Keep all cuts or sores covered.
• Know that there is a small risk of infecting someone with HIV through razors, toothbrushes, tweezers, or pierced jewelry.

• You have trouble taking any of the prescribed medicines.
• You get new symptoms, such as: 
  • fever, chills, or night sweats
  • weight loss
  • fatigue (feeling tired more often)
  • thrush (a white coating on the tongue and inside the cheeks)
  • a bad cough
• You have not had chickenpox or the vaccine and are around someone with chickenpox.

• You have chest pain, shortness of breath, or trouble breathing.
• You are not seeing normally.
• You are confused, develop a severe headache, have a seizure, or have trouble moving a part of the body.

How do people get HIV? Teens mainly get HIV from:

• sex (especially anal and vaginal)
• sharing needles for injecting drugs or tattooing

HIV can also pass from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding. People also get HIV from being stuck with an infected needle.

You can't get HIV from hugging or holding hands with someone who has HIV.

How does HIV cause illness? HIV destroys germ-fighting cells in the body called CD4 cells (also called T cells). Over time, as HIV kills off more CD4 cells, people with HIV can get infections and other health problems. If the number of CD4 cells gets very low or people have serious infections, HIV becomes AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome). It can take many years for someone with HIV to develop AIDS.

What are the signs of HIV? For the first few years after getting HIV, many people have no signs. Some may have swollen glands or a rash. As the immune system weakens, people with HIV can have fever, stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss, and serious infections.

How is HIV treated? Health care providers prescribe medicines that help keep the number of CD4 germ-fighting cells high and reduce the viral load (how much HIV is in the body). People with HIV need regular blood tests to find out how many CD4 cells they have and how much HIV is in the body.