What is HIV and AIDS?
AIDS Stands for:
           Acquired (a condition that develops over time)
           Immuno (the body's defensive system that fights against infection and disease)
           Deficiency (weak or lacking normal strength)
           Syndrome (the characteristics that a condition displays)
In short, over a period of time, the body's immune system breaks down, and the person is unable to fight off infections and other diseases.  AIDS is caused by HIV infection.

HIV Stands for:
           Human (infects human beings)
           Immunodeficiency (immune system is lacking what it needs to keep the body healthy)
           Virus (minute organism)
HIV is a virus that enters a person's bloodstream.  This virus is very tiny and very difficult to see, even with a powerful microscope.  At first, and usually for a very long time afterward, there are no signs or symptoms that indicate that the person has been infected.  Make no mistake about it, the person is infected and infectious.

What is the Difference?
A lot of people think that HIV and AIDS is the same thing; but they're not.  An HIV diagnosis means that the person is infected with the HIV virus.  They can be infected for a very long time before they begin to have health problems.  In the later stages, when the immune system has fallen to a very low level, or the person has been diagnosed with certain diseases, the diagnosis changes to AIDS. 

How do you get HIV and AIDS?
The infected person passes the HIV virus to another person by body fluids.  These fluids must find a way  into the bloodstream of the second person by what is called "a port of entry" (a break in the skin through cuts and scrapes, bleeding gums or across a mucosal lining).

Blood, semen, vaginal fluids, and breast milk all have a high concentration of the virus and are the fluids that a person is exposed through.  Pregnant women who are HIV+ can pass the virus to their baby during the pregnancy, during the delivery, or by breast feeding.  
Other fluids that surround the organs of the body contain a high concentration of the virus, but chances of coming into contact with them are extremely rare.  Fluids like urine, tears, and saliva are not dangerous in and of themselves, but sometimes can contain a small amount of blood.

Who is at risk for being infected?
ANYONE can become infected with HIV.  It's not "WHO" you are but "WHAT" you do that puts you at risk.  Remember, it takes the body fluid from and infected person getting into your bloodstream.  Some of the obvious ways this could happen are:
           Having unprotected sexual activity (oral, anal, and vaginal).  Multiple partners furthers your risk.
           Needle sharing (both recreational and prescribed drugs)
           Occupational exposures (on the job accidents)
 Other possibilities are:
           Body piercings/tattoos with instruments that haven't been sterilized in an autoclave.
           Sharing smoking paraphernalia (the pipe gets hot, burns your lips and burns the lip of those you 
           are sharing it with).  Blood from blisters can be passed from one person to another.
           Gang rituals involving someone bleeding (there's a chance that you could come into contact with 
           their blood).       

How can you tell if you're infected?
There is NO way anyone can tell by just looking, that a person is infected.  There is one, and only one way to tell if you are infected with the HIV virus, and that's to get tested.  A person who is not tested can be infected for a very long time, as long as ten years before they start to feel the first inkling that something is not right.

Getting tested for HIV is a very personal decision.  Many people who have not put themselves at high-risk have chosen to be tested, and the majority of people who choose to get tested, do not test positive for the antibodies, (a protein produced by the body's immune system fighting).  Those who are practicing high-risk behaviors are the ones most likely to be infected, and are often scared, and avoid getting tested.