HIV is the human immunodeficiency virus. It is the virus that can lead to acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS. HIV destroys your blood cells, called CD4+ T cells, which help the body defend itself against diseases.

HIV is the virus that causes the disease AIDS. Although HIV causes AIDS, you can be infected with HIV for many years before AIDS develops.

When HIV enters the body, it infects specific cells in the immune system. These cells are called CD4 cells or helper T cells. They are important parts of your immune system and help your body fight infection and disease. When your CD4 cells are not working well, you are more likely to get sick.

The Centers for Disease Control estimates that more than 1.2 million people are living with HIV in the United States. One in seven of those people living with HIV is unaware of his or her infection. More than 13,000 people with AIDS still die each year in the U.S.

While the total number of people living with HIV in the U.S. has increased in recent years, the annual number of new HIV cases has remained stable. Although the infection rate for HIV in the United States has remained stable, an estimated 56,300 Americans become infected with HIV every year.

Shelby, Tipton, Fayette, DeSoto, Tunica, Marshall, Tate and Crittenden counties comprise 11 percent of the populations of Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas, but have 20 percent of the people living with HIV. In those counties, at the end of 2008, there were approximately 6,673 people living with HIV; of those, 78.7 percent were black/African-American, 19.1 percent were white, 1.5 percent were Hispanic/Latino and .7 percent were other/not identified.

Getting tested is the only way to know if you have HIV/AIDS. The following may be warning signs, though:

• Weight loss
• Frequent fevers and sweats
• Lack of energy
• Swollen lymph glands in the armpits, groin or neck
• Persistent skin rashes
• Severe herpes infections that cause mouth, genital or anal sores
• Short-term memory loss

These symptoms may be related to an illness other than HIV. Talk to a doctor if you have questions.

Ways HIV is spread:

• Having unprotected sex (anal, oral or vaginal sex without a condom) with someone who has HIV.
• Sharing a needle to inject drugs or sharing drug “works” with someone who has HIV.
• At the time of birth, having a mother who was infected with HIV.
• Blood transfusions ceased to be a risk factor after universal testing of all blood for HIV began in 1985.

HIV is NOT spread in the following ways:

• Working with or being around someone who has HIV
• Being stung or bitten by an insect
• Sitting on toilet seats
• Doing everyday things like sharing a meal
• Handling pets and other animals
• Donating blood
• Coming into contact with saliva, tears, sweat, feces or urine

A woman who knows about her HIV infection early in pregnancy and is treated appropriately has about a 2 percent chance of delivering a baby with HIV. Without treatment, this risk is about 25 percent in the United States.

People with HIV can still feel completely healthy. The only way to be sure whether someone is HIV-infected is to get tested. Free tests can be administered by a doctor, community testing site or local health department. Call (877) HIV-KNOW or (877) 448-5669 to ask questions about getting tested in the Memphis area. To find a testing location near you, visit www.hivtest.org.

No. HIV test results reveal only the tested person’s HIV status. A negative test result does not indicate whether your partner has HIV. HIV is not necessarily transmitted every time during sexual intercourse. Therefore, taking an HIV test should not be seen as a method to find out if a partner is infected. Asking partners if they have been tested for HIV and what risk behaviors they have engaged in is the best option. Couples should consider getting tested together to know whether a partner is at risk.

You can refer to Friends for Life (FFL) for peer mentors.

Why not share this website with them? Reading the personal stories of other Memphis-area residents living with HIV might help them feel more comfortable seeking help. Even if they do not tell their friends or family members, you can encourage them to seek treatment through a health care provider in their area. They can speak anonymously to a Memphis-area resident who is also living with HIV by calling (877) HIV-KNOW or (877) 448-5669.

No. Many researchers continue to work to find a vaccine that will prevent HIV infection and treatments that may one day cure HIV. However, there are medications that can help you live with the disease and dramatically prolong your life. It is important that you get tested for HIV and know that you are infected early in order for medical care and treatment to have the greatest effect.