j----_. - New York Civil Liberties Union

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Questions and Answers About AIDS
l.' What is AIDS?
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a disease complex
characterized by a collapse of the body I s natural irrrnunityagainst disease.
Because of this failure of the irrrnunesystem, patients with AIDS are
vulnerable to unusual infections or cancers that usually pose no threat to a
person whose immune system is working normally.
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2. What caus" AIDS?
Investigators have discovered a virus that is linked with AIOS~ An
internatfonal èónnit1ee of scientists recently designated the virus as human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV); it p·reviously had been called human.
T-lymphotrop,1c virus, typéIII (HTLV-III), lymphadenopathy associated virus
(LAV), or AIDS-related virús (ARV). Infection with this virus does not always
lead to AIDS, and researchers are investigating whether other co-f~ctors may
be necessary to. trigger the di sease. Most HIV infected persons have no
symptoms; others develop illness varying in severity from mild to extremely
serious.
AIDS Risk Groups
3. Who i, ,trisk for AIDS?
Approxitnately95 percent of AIDS cases in New York state have occurred
among the following groups of people:
59% - homosexual or bisexual l'('Ien, 5% of whom have used intravenous (IV)
drugs;
31% - .1.Ind feule IV drug users;
2% - feal. slxual partners af .men with AIDS or at risk for AIDS;
21 - children who acquired AIDS at birth from infäeted mothers;
11- persons with hemophilia or others who received transfusions
of infected blood or blood products (testing of blood supplies
for HIV antibodies was initiated in mid-1985 to reduce this risk) .
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