⚠ Data for the years 2021 & 2022 are preliminary. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, data for the year 2020 should be interpreted with caution.
COVID-19 disruptions in HIV diagnosis, care and reporting of deaths during 2020 have also made incidence, prevalence, and knowledge of status estimates derived from a CD4-based model, unreliable. Therefore, a 2020 edition of the HIV Surveillance Supplemental Report “Estimated HIV Incidence and Prevalence in the U.S.”, which provides data on estimated incidence, prevalence, and knowledge of status in the U.S., was not published by CDC.

AIDS | AHEAD

Glossary

Learn more about the terminology used in the Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America initiative.

Click on a term to view its definition.

AIDS

“AIDS” stands for Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. It is the most severe phase of HIV infection. People with HIV classified as stage 3 AIDS have such badly damaged immune systems that they get an increasing number of severe illnesses, called opportunistic illnesses. Without treatment, people with HIV classified as stage 3 (AIDS) typically survive about 3 years. Common symptoms of stage 3 (AIDS) include chills, fever, sweats, swollen lymph glands, weakness, and weight loss. People are classified as stage 3 (AIDS) when their CD4 cell count drops below 200 cells/mm or if they develop certain opportunistic illnesses. People with HIV classified as stage 3 (AIDS) can have a high viral load and be very infectious (also see: HIV).