AIDS is caused by the HIV virus which weakens the immune system and leaves the body vulnerable to opportunistic infections. There are currently 37 million people living with HIV globally with 1.8 million new cases per year. HIV is most commonly transmitted sexually or through sharing needles. While there is no cure for AIDS, antiretroviral treatment can control the virus and allow patients to lead long and normal lives.

2. WHAT IS AIDS?
• AIDS is an acronym that stands
for Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndrome .
• It is the set of clinical manifestations in
the body derived from the loss of
defenses, secondary to infection by the
human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

3. PREVALENCE AND INCIDENCE
• The 2017 UNAIDS data tells us about 37
million people with HIV in the world, with 1.8
million new cases each year (5,700 every day)
and 1 million deaths from AIDS
• Although HIV is a disease that "is
masculinized, since 85% of the new diagnosed
cases occur in men, women also suffer from
this disease

4. CAUSES
The cause is HIV infection, a virus that is
transmitted through blood, sexually and through
breast milk.
The most frequent routes of infection are:
• By sexual intercourse (vaginal, oral or anal ) with an HIV-infected
person.
• By sharing needles , injection equipment or drug use.
• By the so-called vertical transmission (from mother to child).
• Being a recipient of a blood transfusion or a blood product

5. SYMPTOMS
• Once the disease develops, the symptoms are
related to infections or tumors that occur as a
consequence of the loss of function of the immune
system.
• Between 50 and 90 % of people who have been
infected with the AIDS virus experience symptoms
similar to a cold or a mild flu (tiredness, fever, loss of
appetite) that subsides within a few days.
• They may also experience diarrhea , night sweats, or
enlarged lymph nodes.

6. PREVENTION
• To reduce the risk of HIV infection, it is necessary to avoid risky sexual
relations and use barrier contraceptive methods , such as condoms , as well
as not sharing needles or materials for injecting drug use .
• Regarding prevention. The main thing is to diagnose all infected people to treat
them and, in this way, they do not infect other people

7. • There are two types of HIV, they explain from
Gesida: HIV-1 , the majority worldwide and which
is what we usually refer to, and another type, HIV -
2 , which is described mostly in West Africa.
• In general, HIV-2 infection takes longer to evolve
into a symptomatic picture of HIV/AIDS than HIV-1
infection.

8. • The diagnosis is made through a simple blood test
that any doctor can request.
• This test does not look for the presence of HIV, but
for antibodies that have been produced to fight the
virus.
• In the few cases where there could be any doubt ,
additional tests are performed to confirm the
diagnosis, such as the Western blot.
• You can also do a saliva test (currently pharmacies
and NGOs have a self-test or self-diagnosis test).

9. TREATMENTS
Treatment is a combination of three drugs taken once
or twice a day continuously
• Nucleoside analogue reverse transcriptase
inhibitors (Itian).
• Nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (Itinn).
• Protease inhibitors (PIs).
• Integrase inhibitors, which are becoming
established as very well tolerated and effective
drugs for the treatment of infection.
The families of drugs that are administered are the following:

10. OPPORTUNISTIC DISEASES
These pathologies encompass a group of diseases that , as their name
indicates, "opportunely" take advantage of the situation of low defenses of HIV-
positive patients to enter the body. These diseases are:
• Pneumocystis carinii
pneumonia
• Tuberculosis
• east infection
• Cytomegalovirus
• Herpes
• Mycobacterium avium (MAC)
infections
• Toxoplasmosis
• Kaposi's sarcoma

11. LIVING WITH AIDS
• However, the patients with HIV/AIDS can live with their disease for a long
time and lead a completely normal life and continue working, as long as
they follow the guidelines recommended by their doctor, eat properly, sleep
regularly and avoid a sedentary lifestyle.
• The possibility of transmission, the chronic nature of this disease and the
complex treatment can affect the patient and cause frustration, anger or
depressio