HIV & AIDS Jargon Crash Course (General Terminology)
So you know that HIV is the virus that causes AIDS… but what next? There are a lot of terms out there that you need to be familiar with in order to really understand the disease. This short glossary provides definitions for some of the most important and most commonly used terms. This article (Part I) deals more with general HIV terms. Part II will discuss words frequently used in HIV testing. Part III will focus on medication names and treatment vocabulary. Stay tuned for Part II…
Acute infection: This is when there is a rapid onset of symptoms of infection. Some people show “acute primary infection” soon after exposure to HIV. They may develop flu-like symptoms; however, some do not.
AIDS: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is the syndrome/disease that is caused by HIV. An AIDS diagnosis is given when a person experiences one or more opportunistic infections, or when an HIV-positive person has a CD4 count of less than 200.
Antibody: The body has many ways of fighting infection in the body. Antibodies are proteins found in the blood that fight off infection and invading organisms. Antibodies are also called immunoglobulins. Although an infected person naturally creates their own antibodies against the HIV virus, it is usually not enough for the body to overcome the virus.
Antigen: An antigen is any foreign substance that the body mounts an immune response against. The body creates antibodies in order to fight specific antigens. (Don’t get confused! In this case, HIV “antigen” is just broken up pieces of the whole HIV virus. The body interprets foreign substances in this way, in the form of broken pieces. So, HIV virus and HIV antigen are essentially the same thing.)
Asymptomatic: A person is said to be asymptomatic if they show no clinical symptoms of infection (“a-“ means without, and “-symptomatic” refers to symptoms.) Most individuals who are infected with HIV are asymptomatic; they are usually not even aware that they are infected because they show no symptoms.
CD4 T-cell: These cells are critical in sending signals to other cells of the body when there is the threat of infection by an invading pathogen (such as bacteria or viruses). They are the primary cells that HIV targets. A normal CD4 T-cell count is between 500 to 1500, but a person with untreated HIV or AIDS infection over time may expect to have much lower numbers.
Chronic infection: A chronic infection or condition is one that is persistent and long-term. HIV is an example of a chronic infection because it requires on-going treatment for an indefinite period of time in order to maintain general health.
HIV-1: Human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) is one of the two strains of HIV that causes AIDS. This strain is particularly prevalent in the United States and Europe.
HIV-2: Human immunodeficiency virus-2 (HIV-2) is the other HIV strain. Although this strain also causes AIDS, it is generally weaker at causing infection than HIV-1. It is most common in West Africa, but is often found in other countries such as Angola, Mozambique, Portugal, Brazil, France, Germany, and India.
Immune system: The system that the body has developed to fight infection and to kill invading pathogens (such as bacteria and viruses).
Immunocompromised (or immunosuppressed): This is when someone’s immune system does not properly function and cannot adequately fight off infection by itself. This is a state in which the body is more susceptible to infection from invaders.
Latency: HIV virus has the ability to hang out in cells for an indefinite period of time without killing them. This period in which the virus has entered the body but is not active is called latency. These viruses are referred to as “latent viruses.”
Long-term non-progression: This refers to some individuals who have been infected with HIV for ten or more years but do not develop AIDS. This can be due to a good response to treatment which has the ability to suppress the replication of HIV virus in the body. There are also other individuals whose bodies have managed to mount an effective immune response against HIV, either due to having certain genetic mutations that hinder the replication of the virus or to having been infected with a weaker strain of HIV.
Opportunistic infection (OI): The body is very good at keeping certain organisms (such as viruses and bacteria) at bay. They may exist in the body but they do not cause infection. However, when a person’s is immunocompromised, these pathogens take “opportunity” of the situation by suddenly causing infection and even disease.
Serostatus: This indicates the results from an antibody test. If you are seropositive for HIV, then you are infected with HIV. If you are seronegative for HIV, then you are not infected with HIV.
Vaccine: This is a substance that can prevent infection or can create resistance to an infection. There is currently no vaccine for HIV.
Viral load: This is the amount of virus particles circulating in the blood at a given point in time. A viral load test that shows a low viral load means that a given treatment is working effectively or that the HIV is not actively replicating.
Viremia: The virus that is present in the bloodstream
Window period: It can take the body some time (several weeks) to develop antibodies against HIV. The period of time, after an HIV exposure but before the body has developed HIV antibodies, is called the “window period.” If a person took an HIV test in the window period, the results may be incorrect since it might show that the person is HIV negative, when in reality, the person is positive but has not yet created HIV antibodies that would show up on an HIV test.
Acute infection: This is when there is a rapid onset of symptoms of infection. Some people show “acute primary infection” soon after exposure to HIV. They may develop flu-like symptoms; however, some do not.
AIDS: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is the syndrome/disease that is caused by HIV. An AIDS diagnosis is given when a person experiences one or more opportunistic infections, or when an HIV-positive person has a CD4 count of less than 200.
Antibody: The body has many ways of fighting infection in the body. Antibodies are proteins found in the blood that fight off infection and invading organisms. Antibodies are also called immunoglobulins. Although an infected person naturally creates their own antibodies against the HIV virus, it is usually not enough for the body to overcome the virus.
Antigen: An antigen is any foreign substance that the body mounts an immune response against. The body creates antibodies in order to fight specific antigens. (Don’t get confused! In this case, HIV “antigen” is just broken up pieces of the whole HIV virus. The body interprets foreign substances in this way, in the form of broken pieces. So, HIV virus and HIV antigen are essentially the same thing.)
Asymptomatic: A person is said to be asymptomatic if they show no clinical symptoms of infection (“a-“ means without, and “-symptomatic” refers to symptoms.) Most individuals who are infected with HIV are asymptomatic; they are usually not even aware that they are infected because they show no symptoms.
CD4 T-cell: These cells are critical in sending signals to other cells of the body when there is the threat of infection by an invading pathogen (such as bacteria or viruses). They are the primary cells that HIV targets. A normal CD4 T-cell count is between 500 to 1500, but a person with untreated HIV or AIDS infection over time may expect to have much lower numbers.
Chronic infection: A chronic infection or condition is one that is persistent and long-term. HIV is an example of a chronic infection because it requires on-going treatment for an indefinite period of time in order to maintain general health.
HIV-1: Human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) is one of the two strains of HIV that causes AIDS. This strain is particularly prevalent in the United States and Europe.
HIV-2: Human immunodeficiency virus-2 (HIV-2) is the other HIV strain. Although this strain also causes AIDS, it is generally weaker at causing infection than HIV-1. It is most common in West Africa, but is often found in other countries such as Angola, Mozambique, Portugal, Brazil, France, Germany, and India.
Immune system: The system that the body has developed to fight infection and to kill invading pathogens (such as bacteria and viruses).
Immunocompromised (or immunosuppressed): This is when someone’s immune system does not properly function and cannot adequately fight off infection by itself. This is a state in which the body is more susceptible to infection from invaders.
Latency: HIV virus has the ability to hang out in cells for an indefinite period of time without killing them. This period in which the virus has entered the body but is not active is called latency. These viruses are referred to as “latent viruses.”
Long-term non-progression: This refers to some individuals who have been infected with HIV for ten or more years but do not develop AIDS. This can be due to a good response to treatment which has the ability to suppress the replication of HIV virus in the body. There are also other individuals whose bodies have managed to mount an effective immune response against HIV, either due to having certain genetic mutations that hinder the replication of the virus or to having been infected with a weaker strain of HIV.
Opportunistic infection (OI): The body is very good at keeping certain organisms (such as viruses and bacteria) at bay. They may exist in the body but they do not cause infection. However, when a person’s is immunocompromised, these pathogens take “opportunity” of the situation by suddenly causing infection and even disease.
Serostatus: This indicates the results from an antibody test. If you are seropositive for HIV, then you are infected with HIV. If you are seronegative for HIV, then you are not infected with HIV.
Vaccine: This is a substance that can prevent infection or can create resistance to an infection. There is currently no vaccine for HIV.
Viral load: This is the amount of virus particles circulating in the blood at a given point in time. A viral load test that shows a low viral load means that a given treatment is working effectively or that the HIV is not actively replicating.
Viremia: The virus that is present in the bloodstream
Window period: It can take the body some time (several weeks) to develop antibodies against HIV. The period of time, after an HIV exposure but before the body has developed HIV antibodies, is called the “window period.” If a person took an HIV test in the window period, the results may be incorrect since it might show that the person is HIV negative, when in reality, the person is positive but has not yet created HIV antibodies that would show up on an HIV test.
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