Anyone who wants to understand the connection between HIV and AIDS must first know that they are not the same medical condition. HIV refers to the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. A person who has contracted HIV can then be susceptible to getting AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome. HIV can lead to AIDS, but they are two different conditions.

An individual can be exposed to HIV only through direct sexual contact with another individual already infected with this virus or by having their blood or mucous membranes exposed to another's bodily fluid already infected with HIV, such as during anal or vaginal sexual intercourse, during oral sex, blood transfusions or sharing hypodermic needles contaminated with the HIV virus.

Once a person is infected with HIV, the ability of their blood to fight off infection becomes increasingly compromised. Initial flu-like symptoms may be present and it may be several months or even years before HIV transitions into its final stage which is known as AIDS. If left untreated, HIV can encourage the development of other diseases affecting the cardiovascular system, the kidneys and the liver, resulting in a variety of cancers.

AIDS develops when HIV has so severely compromised the individual's immune system that the body can no longer handle protecting itself against a variety of cancers and other diseases. AIDS is considered the last stage manifestation of the HIV virus. The earlier an individual is diagnosed as having HIV, the better his chances of being able to fend off the final stage of AIDS by taking the necessary measures to begin a regimen of medication and dietary changes to help support the body's natural immune defenses. Although antiretroviral treatment can slow down the progression of HIV and avert it's turning into the more deadly AIDS, there is to date no cure or vaccine to prevent either HIV or AIDS.

Employing safe sexual practices which prevent direct contact with bodily fluids of another individual who may already be HIV or AIDS infected is one of the only sure methods of preventing contracting either HIV or AIDS, as is using clean needles and accepting only blood transfusions in which the blood has been stringently screened for the appearance of HIV or AIDS.

Since the first case of AIDS was reported in 1981 by the U.S. Center for Disease Control, continuing education about HIV and AIDS as well as behavior modification have proven to be among the most effective preventatives against contracting HIV or having it progress into AIDS, which without treatment is certain to cause death.