jfh@netcom.com (Jack Hamilton) (06/22/91)
HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. HIV is a biological entity which can be isolated and identified. AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, which is the name given to a set of symptoms which often occur together. It's a defined term. It's careless, and misleading, to talk about "the AIDS virus", for two reasons (at least): 1) It is possible to be infected with HIV without developing AIDS. The exact numbers aren't known, but it's becoming clear that some people can remain asymptomatic for years. It's both discouraging and inaccurate to say that someone has "caught the AIDS virus" when they might not ever develop any symptoms. A term which is coming into increasing use in the San Francisco Bay Area is "HIV Disease", which encompasses a variety of symptoms and illnesses not included in the CDC definition of AIDS. It also does not have the connotations that "AIDS" has. 2) HIV is not the only cause of AIDS (although it is the leading one). "HIV" is a more specific term, and therefore preferable for the cases we talk about in this newsgroup (which probably ought to be called sci.med.hiv). -- Jack Hamilton jfh@netcom.com apple!netcom!jfh
jfh@netcom.com (Jack Hamilton) (06/24/91)
In article <1991Jun22.121843.13093@cs.ucla.edu> I wrote: >2) HIV is not the only cause of AIDS (although it is the leading one). > "HIV" is a more specific term, and therefore preferable for the cases > we talk about in this newsgroup (which probably ought to be called > sci.med.hiv). I should have said "HIV is not the only cause of AIDS-like illnesses (although it is the best known one)." There are other diseases which cause immune system disorders. -- Jack Hamilton jfh@netcom.com apple!netcom!jfh