AIDS
AIDS
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AIDS

disease
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Also known as: HIV Stage III, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, slim
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Last Updated: • Article History
HIV/AIDS; retrovirus
HIV/AIDS; retrovirus
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Key People:
Anthony Fauci Peter Piot Luc Montagnier Mathilde Krim Françoise Barré-Sinoussi
Related Topics:
immune system World AIDS Day Kaposi sarcoma notifiable disease AIDS-related complex
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AIDS, byname and acronym of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, transmissible disease of the immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). HIV is a lentivirus (literally meaning “slow virus”; a member of the retrovirus family) that slowly attacks and destroys the immune system, the body’s defense against infection, leaving an individual vulnerable to a variety of other infections and certain malignancies that eventually cause death. AIDS is the final stage of HIV infection, during which time fatal infections and cancers frequently arise. On June 5, 1981, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a report describing a ...(100 of 7006 words)

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