What is HIV/Aids? Is HIV/AIDS a common infection? What are the symptoms of HIV/AIDS ? How is HIV transmitted? HIV/AIDS and pregnancy HIV/AIDS in the newborn How is HIV/AIDS diagnosed? Is there a treatment for HIV/AIDS ? How can people infected with HIV lower the risk of spreading the virus? How can I prevent infection by HIV/AIDS? If you have been exposed or potentially exposed to HIV... What to do? — Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) What does the future hold? When can we expect a vaccine against HIV/AIDS? Links and References

In industrialized countries such as ours, HIV is no longer the great devastator that it was in its first 15 years of havoc. For the majority of individuals infected with HIV, the infection and progression towards AIDS has become a chronic illness that requires longterm careful clinical follow-up, similar in many ways to other chronic illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, atherosclerosis, etc. This statement is not meant in any way to banalize an infection by HIV/AIDS – living with HIV and its associated treatment regimens is in no way easy. The analogy with other chronic illnesses is an attempt to suggest that with proper care, disciplined treatment and a great deal of motivation most individuals can expect a to live long and live well.

In 1996, important and fundamental research into the biology of HIV succeeded in initiating the development of extremely potent medications that were and are able to impede or block the replication of the HIV virus. Unfortunately these medications are still unable to kill the virus. It is thanks to combinations of several of these medications (typically three medications) or triple therapy that reconstitution of the immune system is possible. In order for these medications to be successful in their ability to permit the immune system to rebuild itself, and this over the long-haul, they must be taken with great discipline. Since the advent of these "highly active antiretroviral therapies" we have observed an 80% decrease in HIV/AIDS related mortality rates!

Your physician can help you to determine the optimal treatment for you.