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GENEZINGMEDICIJNENPREVENTIEALGEMEEN

Women with undetectable amounts of HIV in their blood cannot pass on the virus to their unborn children

What is HIV? 

HIV is a virus that was discovered in 1983, after young gay men in America had developed rare diseases and died.

The collection of illnesses that the HIV virus caused was called AIDS, and anyone could be affected by it. It soon became clear that Africa, in particular, had been hit hard by AIDS, but also that the virus had now spread all over the world. It appeared that HIV was not only passed on during sex, but also through blood and breast milk.
 
Since 1996, there has been treatment that can suppress HIV. The treatment consists of antiretroviral drugs. People with HIV have to take these pills every day. There is also antiretroviral treatment which involves injections every two months. And other treatment is being developed which would suppress the virus for six months.
 
If a person living with HIV does not take anti-HIV drugs, their immune system gets weakened and they can easily become infected with other infections and diseases that could be fatal.
 

How does HIV work? 

What is HIV? And how does the virus lead to AIDS?

Anti-HIV drugs

In 1996, scientists discovered that combining different drugs was the best treatment for HIV. This is called ‘combination therapy’.

HIV reservoirs

Some CD4 cells that become infected with HIV remain ‘dormant’. These inactive CD4 cells are known as the HIV reservoir.

CD8 cells and antibodies

CD8 cells and antibodies work hard to eliminate HIV from the body.

Different types of HIV

Most people living with HIV have HIV-1. Of the approximately 40 million people living with HIV, approximately 1 to 2 million have HIV-2.

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