How HIV Causes AIDS

HIV destroys CD4 positive (CD4+) T cells, which are white blood cells crucial to maintaining the function of the human immune system.


As the virus attacks those cells, the person infected with HIV is less equipped to fight off infection and disease ultimately resulting in the development of AIDS.

Most people who are infected with HIV can carry the virus for years before sufficient damage to the immune system results in the development of AIDS.


However, there is a strong connection between high levels of HIV in the blood and the decline in CD4+ T cells and the development of AIDS.


Antiretroviral medicines can reduce the amount of virus in the body, preserve CD4+ T cells and dramatically slow the destruction of the immune system.