HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) weakens the body's immune system (germ-fighting system). There is no cure, but most people can control the virus with medicines and live a healthy life.

Help Your Child Stay Healthy

• Make sure your child takes all medicines exactly as directed.
• Encourage your child to exercise, get enough sleep, and eat well.
• If your child's immune system is weak, ask your health care provider if your child needs to:
  • avoid some types of foods (such as raw or undercooked eggs, seafood, poultry, or meat; or unpasteurized juice and dairy)
  • avoid certain pets (such as reptiles, which can spread infections)
• Ask the health care provider which vaccines (shots) your child and other household members should get.
• Teach all family members to wash their hands well and often with soap and water. They should scrub for at least 20 seconds, rinse, and dry well. If soap and water are not available, use a hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.
• Help your child go for all follow-up medical visits and blood tests.

Prevent the Spread of HIV

• Your child should: 
  • Take all HIV medicines as prescribed.
  • Never share any kind of needle.
  • Keep all cuts or sores covered.
  • Know that there is a small risk of infecting someone with HIV by sharing razors, toothbrushes, tweezers, or pierced jewelry.
• Older kids and teens should understand that HIV can be spread through sex. If they decide to have sex, they need to: 
  • Use a latex condom every time and for every kind of sex (vaginal, oral, or anal).
  • Tell all current partners that they have HIV so the partner can get tested too.
  • Tell any new partners about their HIV before having sex.

Your child:

• has trouble taking any of the prescribed medicines
• gets new symptoms, such as: 
  • fever, chills, or night sweats
  • weight loss
  • fatigue (feeling tired more often)
  • thrush (a white coating on the tongue and inside the cheeks)
  • a bad cough
• has not had chickenpox or the vaccine and is around someone with chickenpox

Your child:

• has chest pain, shortness of breath, or trouble breathing
• is not seeing normally
• develops a severe headache, is confused, has a seizure, or has trouble moving a part of the body

How do people get HIV? HIV can pass from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding. People also get HIV from being stuck with an infected needle.

In teens, HIV spreads mainly through sex (especially anal and vaginal) and sharing needles for injecting drugs or tattooing.

You can't get HIV from hugging or holding hands with someone who has HIV.

How does HIV cause illness? HIV destroys germ-fighting cells in the body called CD4 cells (or T cells). Over time, as HIV kills off more CD4 cells, people with HIV can get infections and other health problems. If the number of CD4 cells gets very low or people have serious infections, HIV becomes AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome). It can take many years for someone with HIV to develop AIDS.

What are the signs of HIV? For the first few years after getting HIV, many people have no signs. Some may have swollen glands or a rash. As the immune system weakens, people with HIV can have fever, stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss, and serious infections.

How is HIV treated? Health care providers prescribe medicines to help keep the number of CD4 germ-fighting cells high and reduce the viral load (how much HIV is in the body). People with HIV need regular blood tests to find out how many CD4 cells they have and how much HIV is in the body.