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	HIV and AIDS
	The Difference Between HIV and AIDS
	For many people the difference between HIV and AIDS is confusing: HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus, the virus that causes AIDS. Currently, two types of HIV have been identified HIV1 and HIV2. Almost all infections in the United States are caused by HIV1; for the most part HIV2 is confined to West Africa. AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) is the end result of HIV infection. AIDS manifests itself in a wide variety of ways, including rare infections and cancers. While the manifestations of AIDS may vary, their underlying cause is always the immune destruction caused by the human immunodeficiency virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have developed a systematic way of differentiating HIV infection from AIDS with a list of 26 different diseases commonly seen in patients with severe immunodeficiency associated with HIV infection. When present in an HIV-infected individual, these diseases are considered to be sufficient to make a diagnosis of AIDS. Because a small number of people with severe immunodeficiency remain asymptomatic, the CDC definition of AIDS victims also includes all HIV-infected individuals whose blood tests show a T helper count of less than 200, whether disease symptoms are present or not. The AIDS case definition is mainly used for epidemiological analysis (to keep track of the number and characteristics of AIDS cases) and sometimes to determine benefits eligibility. An AIDS-defining diagnosis does not necessarily mean that a patient's disease status or prognosis has changed drastically. Some AIDS diagnoses, such as Kaposi's sarcoma, can occur when the patient's T helper count is still quite high and the immune system is relatively functional. In fact, patients like this often live longer than non-AIDS patients (patients infected with HIV who have not yet developed an AIDS-defining illness) with lower T helper counts. AIDS-related complex (ARC) or pre-AIDS conditions refer to symptomatic disease that does not meet the case definition of AIDS. These nonspecific terms describe an HIV-infected individual with clinical symptoms suggestive (but not diagnostic) of AIDS. Symptoms include: Involuntary weight loss Fever Night sweats Weakness Diarrhea Swollen lymph nodes Easy bruising.