It is impossible to get HIV infection or develop AIDS from experimental vaccines. They are not made from live HIV, killed HIV, weakened HIV, or HIV-infected cells. The investigational vaccine in this trial cannot cause HIV infection.

NO! There are many vaccines now in clinical study, however at this time, none have been tested on humans and it may be years before a viable vaccine is possible.

A person can have TB infection for years without any signs of disease. But if that person's immune system gets weak, the infection can quickly turn into TB disease. Also, if a person who has a weak immune system spends time with someone with infectious TB, he or she may become infected with TB bacteria and quickly develop TB disease. Because HIV infection weakens the immune system, people with TB infection and HIV infection are at very high risk of developing TB disease.

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HIV (human immunodeficiency virus, the AIDS virus) helps TB germs make you sick by attacking the germ fighters in your body. If you are infected with HIV and with TB germs, you have a very big chance of getting TB disease. The TB germs are much more likely to attack your lungs and other parts of the body. You can be cured, but it takes longer to cure someone with TB disease who also has HIV infection. If you think you might have HIV infection, talk to your doctor about getting an HIV test.

There is no need for anyone at school to know the HIV status of a student or employee. What everyone does need to understand is that the blood of any student or employee could potentially be infected with a bloodborne pathogen such as HIV or Hepatitis B, and that under normal conditions in regular educational programs, use of "Universal Precautions" is sufficient to protect against transmission of bloodborne diseases.

No. The only way to protect yourself from HIV/AIDS is to avoid risky behaviors. There is no medication that prevents HIV infection or can take away HIV when it is in someone's body.

There are several teams of scientists working on vaccines in different parts of the world. The results of some of the studies, including the South African Antiretroviral Vaccine Initiative (SAARVI) are very promising but it will be several years before a vaccine is likely to be available.

The investigational vaccine carries a few man-made HIV proteins into the cells. These proteins may induce a cellular immune response to HIV, which could produce an army of killer T cells that recognize and kill HIV-1 infected cells. The idea is to train the immune system to kill cells that show signs of HIV infection, thus potentially reducing the damage that HIV can do to the body's immune system. Hopefully, this would prepare the immune system should a person later become infected with HIV.

It is best to insert your pessary each morning and remove it for cleaning each night. Some women schedule an appointment at our office four to six times a years for an exam and pessary cleaning. Even with continuous wearing, however, vaginal infections from wearing a pessary are rare. Click here for diagrams of various Pessaries we use.

Yes. A pregnant woman can pass HIV/AIDS to her baby before or during birth. Also a mother can pass HIV/AIDS on to her baby through breast-feeding. About one out of four babies get HIV/AIDS from their mothers. The drug zidovudine (also known as AZT) is given to pregnant women with HIV/AIDS to lower their chances of passing the infection to their babies. Doctors say that all pregnant women should be tested for HIV/AIDS.

According to the CDC, prior to 1996, scientists estimated that about half the people with HIV would develop AIDS within 10 years after becoming infected. This time varied greatly from person to person and depended on many factors, including a person's health status and their health-related behaviors. Since 1996, the introduction of powerful anti-retroviral therapies has dramatically changed the progression time between HIV infection and the development of AIDS.