HIV/AIDS

Learn the difference between HIV and AIDS, symptoms and how to prevent it.

Teens participating in the Summer Wellness Programs

Palo Alto Medical Foundation

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)

HIV is a virus that kills your body’s CD4 cells (also called T-helper cells). These cells help your body fight off infection and disease.

HIV can be passed from person to person if someone with HIV has sex with or shares drug needles with another person. It also can be passed from mother to baby when the mother is pregnant, delivers the baby or breastfeeds.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)

AIDS is a disease you can get when HIV destroys your body’s immune system. Normally, your immune system helps you fight off illness. When your immune system fails, you can become sick and can die from an illness as common as the flu.

It’s important to remember that HIV and AIDS are not the same thing. AIDS results from specific damage to the immune system and can be triggered by many different infections or diseases, one of which is HIV.

Symptoms

The only way to know if you’re infected with HIV is to be tested. You can’t rely on symptoms to confirm you’re infected. Many people who are infected with HIV have no symptoms at all for many years.

Warning signs of HIV infection may include:

Rapid weight loss.
Dry cough.
Recurring fever or profuse night sweats.
Profound and unexplained fatigue.
Swollen lymph glands in the armpits, groin or neck.
Diarrhea that lasts for more than a week.
White spots or unusual blemishes on the tongue, in the mouth or in the throat.
Pneumonia.
Red, brown, pink or purplish blotches on or under the skin or inside the mouth, nose or eyelids.
Memory loss, depression and other neurological disorders.

Quick Facts

HIV – the virus that can cause AIDS – is found in blood, semen, vaginal fluids, rectal fluids and breast milk.
HIV is spread most often by having sex without using a condom or by sharing needles.
Your best protection is prevention. Choosing not to have sex and never sharing needles are good ways to protect yourself.
Not having sex (abstinence) is the most effective way to avoid HIV.
Practicing safer sex means always using a new condom with a water-based lubricant.
People can be infected with HIV without knowing it. An HIV test is the only way to know for sure.
Current treatments help people with HIV stay healthier and live longer. There is still no cure.
You can’t get HIV from a handshake, water fountains, bathrooms or eating utensils.

HIV and Oral Sex

It’s possible for either partner to become infected with HIV through performing or receiving oral sex. While no one knows the exact degree of risk, evidence suggests that getting HIV from oral sex is a lower risk than getting HIV from unprotected anal or vaginal sex.

If the person performing oral sex has HIV, blood from their mouth may enter the body of the person receiving oral sex through:

The urethra lining (the opening at the tip of the penis).
The vagina or cervix lining.
The lining of the anus.
Small cuts or open sores.

If the person receiving oral sex has HIV, their blood, semen (cum), pre-seminal fluid (pre-cum) or vaginal fluid may contain the virus. Cells lining the mouth of the person performing oral sex may allow HIV to enter their body.

The risk of HIV transmission increases if the person performing oral sex:

Has cuts or sores around or in their mouth or throat.
Receives ejaculate (semen) in the mouth.

If you choose to perform oral sex and your partner is male:

Use a latex condom on the penis.
If you or your partner is allergic to latex, plastic (polyurethane) condoms can be used.

If you choose to have oral sex and your partner is female:

Use a latex barrier (such as a natural rubber latex sheet, a dental dam or a cut-open condom that makes a square) between your mouth and the vagina. This reduces the risk of blood or vaginal fluids entering your mouth.
Plastic food wrap can also be used as a barrier.

If you choose to perform oral sex with either a male or female partner and that sex includes oral contact with your partner’s anus (analingus or rimming):

Use a latex barrier (such as a natural rubber latex sheet, a dental dam or a cut-open condom that makes a square) between your mouth and the anus.
Plastic food wrap also can be used as a barrier.

Additional Resources

HIV Rap Interactive — Watch a video, answer a quiz to assess your HIV risk, or just learn more about sexual health strategies to protect you and your partner using this collection of interactive, multimedia, science-based HIV information, prevention resources, and personal stories.
Know the Risks — This interactive HIV/AIDS Information and Personal Risk Assessment Center can help you to better understand your risks for HIV and learn more about prevention strategies. The survey and learning activities are also available in Spanish.

Last Reviewed: September 2019