Today is World AIDS Day. Let's make a difference today and get tested! Know your status...
|Red Velvet Cupcakes|
When a person is infected with HIV, the virus enters the body and lives and multiplies primarily in the white blood cells. These are immune cells that normally protect us from disease. The hallmark of HIV infection is the progressive loss of a specific type of immune cell called T-helper, or CD4, cells. As the virus grows, it damages or kills these and other cells, weakening the immune system and leaving the person vulnerable to various opportunistic infections and other illnesses ranging from pneumonia to cancer. A person can receive a clinical diagnosis of AIDS, as defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), if he or she has tested positive for HIV and meets one or both of these conditions:
- The presence of one or more AIDS-related infections or illnesses;
- A CD4 count that has reached or fallen below 200 cells per cubic millimeter of blood. Also called the T-cell count, the CD4 count ranges from 450 to 1200 in healthy individuals.
|Sprinkles Cupcakery joining the FIGHT against AIDS|
In some people, the T-cell decline and opportunistic infections that signal AIDS develop soon after infection with HIV. But most people do not develop symptoms for 10 to 12 years, and a few remain symptom-free for much longer. As with most diseases, early medical care can help prolong a person’s life.
|Vanilla Cupcakes for the Cause|
Many of the 1.1 million people now living with HIV in the U.S. became infected when they were teenagers. The CDC’s 2007 statistics show that about 48 percent of American high school students had been sexually active. Young people aged 13–29 accounted for 34 percent of HIV infections in 2006. Many young people also use drugs and alcohol, which can increase the likelihood that they will engage in high-risk sexual behavior.