If You Are Diagnosed HIV+
To find out that you are HIV + can let loose a bunch of emotions. These can include shock, fear, guilt, shame, anger—and the list goes on. Testing positive can certainly be devastating news however the staff at Alliance for Living can help you cope with your diagnosis.
HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, is the virus that causes AIDS. HIV attacks the immune system by destroying CD4 positive (CD4+) T cells, a type of white blood cell that is vital to fighting off infection. The destruction of these cells leaves people infected with HIV vulnerable to other infections, diseases, and other complications.
AIDS is the final stage of HIV infection. A person infected with HIV is diagnosed with AIDS when he or she has one or more opportunistic infections, such as pneumonia or tuberculosis, and has a dangerously low number of CD4+ T cells (less than 200 cells per cubic millimeter of blood).
(Adapted from the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease)