What is human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and is it different from acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)?
HIV is different from AIDS, although the two are related. It is a retrovirus (RNA virus) that infects two types of white blood cells called helper lymphocytes and macrophages. Helper lymphocytes are a type of white blood cell that helps protect the body from diseases; a process called cell-mediated immunity. Macrophages are cells of the central nervous system (and of the placenta). Once infected with HIV, the patient suffers a progressive decline of the immune system eventually permitting an infection that would usually not affect a healthy individual.
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