HIV/AIDS Health Center

Table of Contents

  1. Symptoms
  2. Diagnosis
  3. Treatments
  4. Causes
  5. Living With
  6. Prognosis

HIV is classified as a sexually transmitted disease, but it can also have other causes. Some patients contract the disease through sharing needles with an infected person or through blood transfusions. Blood for transfusions is screened for HIV, however, so the risk of getting the virus in this way is low.

Some babies contract HIV from their mothers during pregnancy, delivery or breastfeeding. Passing HIV on to a child is not a foregone conclusion — the risk decreases significantly if the mother is receiving HIV treatment.

About 3.34 million children around the world have HIV, and most got it through their mothers during pregnancy, delivery or breastfeeding, according to AIDS.gov.

AIDS is always caused by the advancement of the HIV infection.

Reviewed by: 
Review Date: 
June 20, 2012
Last Updated:
July 21, 2014
Source:
dailyrx.com