Treating HIV

People infected with HIV often continue to look and feel healthy without medication for a long period. However, the virus is still active in the body during this time, replicating itself. Therefore, no matter how healthy an HIV-positive person feels, they can still infect others through unprotected sex or sharing injection drug needles.

HIV and the Immune System
HIV weakens the immune system by infecting and damaging CD4+ cells, white blood cells that fight infection. By regularly using immune monitoring tests, such as CD4+ cell count and viral load tests, your doctor can give you a clear picture of your disease progression, and help you make informed decisions about managing your HIV.

HIV Disease, Opportunistic Infections, and AIDS
Continual weakening of the immune system can lead to other infections sometimes called opportunistic infections, such as Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia, cytomegalovirus, tuberculosis, toxoplasmosis, and candidiasis.

Being HIV-positive does not mean a person has AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). AIDS is the most serious stage of HIV infection. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), AIDS is when an HIV-positive person has a CD4+ cell count of less than 200 cells/mm³ or a history of "AIDS-defining illness" (such as one of the opportunistic infections mentioned above). The Department of Health and Human Services guidelines recommend starting treatment when the T-cell count is 350 cells/mm³ or less. But there is no firm rule, so you and your healthcare provider will need to decide the right time to start your HIV treatment.

Once you start any HIV treatment, you will need to stay on it. Successful HIV treatment involves starting treatment when you and your healthcare provider decide the time is right and choosing a course of treatment that fits your lifestyle.

* "Undetectable" is defined as a viral load that is too low to be picked up by a particular test. Typically, it is a viral load of less than 400 or 50 copies/mL (depending on test used).