《HIV Infection and AIDS: An Overview》

• 来源专题：艾滋病防治
• 编译者： 李越
• 发布时间：2004-12-22
• 原文来源：http://www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/hivinf.htm

AIDS - acquired immunodeficiency syndrome - was first reported in the United States in 1981 and has since become a major worldwide epidemic. AIDS is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). By killing or damaging cells of the body's immune system, HIV progressively destroys the body's ability to fight infections and certain cancers. People diagnosed with AIDS may get life-threatening diseases called opportunistic infections, which are caused by microbes such as viruses or bacteria that usually do not make healthy people sick.