The relationship between the human immunodeficiency virus and the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. There's more to worms than meets the eye. A highlight of the recent parasitology conference, A Parasite Odyssey 2001, was the workshop that investigated the possible link between HIV / AIDS, tuberculosis and co-infection with intestinal worms or helminths. New survey finds sense of urgency and personal risk highest among minorities and young people; limited signs of 'AIDS fatigue'. News release.

In countries throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, communities are being destroyed. In places like Swaziland, where nearly 40% of the adult population is HIV positive, decades of development are being reversed as society's most productive members die. Other countries in the region that are consistently facing problems of drought, political instability, and heavy debt burdens are being made even more vulnerable by HIV/AIDS.

HIV (Human Immunodeficiency ["im-you-no-de-fish-en-see"] Virus -- is the virus that causes AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). HIV attacks and kills the cells in our bodies that keep us from getting diseases. This makes people with HIV get illnesses that healthy people do not get. When a person with HIV gets very sick from pneumonia, some kinds of cancer, and other life-threatening diseases, they are said to have AIDS. AIDS is a fatal disease. Here is more information on HIV/AIDS.

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) has provided funds from One Great Hour of Sharing and designated funds: for the provision of shelter, water, sanitation and basic sleeping and kitchen materials to internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in IDP camps in southern and western Darfur; to provide supplementary food (50 percent ration) to children under the age of five and education for school-aged children in the population; A special team of health advisers is providing medicine and nutriti.

Call the California HIV/AIDS Hotline at 800/367-AIDS (English/Spanish). TDD: 888/225-AIDS. For more information about the hotline, click here.

Globally, 45 percent of adults living with HIV/AIDS are women. By region, this percentage varies considerably, from 57% in Sub-Saharan Africa, to 28% in East Asia and the Pacific. In 2004, 17.6 million women were living with HIV/AIDS worldwide.

of 2003, approximately 15 million children have lost one or both parents due to HIV/AIDS. By 2010, this number is expected to increase to 25 million. Learn more about USAID's efforts to improve the lives of children affected by HIV/AIDS.

HIV destroys a certain kind of blood cell (CD4+ T cells) which is crucial to the normal function of the human immune system. In fact, loss of these cells in people with HIV is an extremely powerful predictor of the development of AIDS. Studies of thousands of people have revealed that most people infected with HIV carry the virus for years before enough damage is done to the immune system for AIDS to develop.

I - Immuno-deficiency: because the effect of the virus is to create a deficiency, a failure to work properly, within the body's immune system. V - Virus: because this organism is a virus, which means one of its characteristics is that it is incapable of reproducing by itself. It reproduces by taking over the machinery of the human cell.

Although there have been many advances in HIV treatments and therapies in recent years that have dramatically improved the quality of life and life expectancy of persons with HIV/AIDS in the US and other developed countries, there is, as of yet, no cure.

HIV/AIDS is treated with two groups of medicines. One group of medicines is used to slow the spread of the virus. The other group of medicines is used to fight illnesses that are caused by a weakened immune system. These medicines cannot cure HIV/AIDS, but they do help people live a healthier life for a longer period of time than if they did not take any medicine. Finding and treating HIV/AIDS early is the best way to take care of yourself.

HIV/AIDS cannot be cured. That is why it is so important to keep from getting it in the first place. Here are ways to keep from getting HIV/AIDS. ask your sex partner(s) if he or she has HIV/AIDS or other STDs, has had sex with someone who had HIV/AIDS or other STDs, or has sores, rashes, or discharge in the genital area. Do not share razors or anything that might touch blood, semen, or vaginal fluids of an infected person.

HIV is a very delicate virus and does not last long outside of the body. Nor is it spread through casual contact. Generally, the virus is transmitted when sufficient quantities of blood are introduced into the body of another. The structure of a tattoo needle does not lend itself to HIV transmission. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) there has never been a case of HIV transmission from tattooing in the United States.