HIV

abbreviation (Health and Fitness) Short for human immunodeficiency virus, a name for either one of two retroviruses (properly called HIV-1 and HIV-2) which cause a breakdown of the body's immune system, leading in some cases to the development of Aids. Etymology: The initial letters of Human Inmmunodeficiency Virus. History and Usage: HIV became the official name for the Aids retroviruses in 1986, after an international committee had looked into the proliferation of names resulting from research in different parts of the world (previously, the same retroviruses had been known variously as ARV: Aids-related virus, HTLV-III (or HTLV-3): human T-cell lymphotropic or lymphocyte virus 3, and LAV-1 and LAV-2: lymphadenopathy-associated virus 1 and 2). The US Center for Disease Control used HIV attributively in three of the six stages that it identified: the base state, HIV antibody seronegativity, involves no sign in the blood of exposure to HIV; HIV antibody seropositivity identifies the presence of antibodies; and HIV asymptomaticity refers to infection with the virus which has not produced any signs of illness. (For the full list of stages, see Aids.) Colloquially, HIV is sometimes called the HIV virus, effectively repeating the word virus (but showing that many people are not aware of the expansion of the abbreviation), and HIV-positive is used as an alternative for antibody-positive (similarly HIV-negative). In the late eighties, confusion over the terminology of Aids (and in particular frequent reference to people who actually had only a positive report of HIV infection as 'having Aids') led to the development of the term HIV disease for the earlier stages. Most people with HIV infection feel entirely well and may remain so for years...Some may feel ill...at the time they 'seroconvert' (i.e. become HIV antibody positive). Allegra Taylor Acquainted with the Night (1989), p. 82 People with haemophilia who are HIV-negative should be able to get life insurance (though it may cost more). Which? Sept. 1989, p. 454 Channel 4's recent Dispatches programme, which repeated the arguments of (among others) molecular biologist Peter Duesberg to suggest that the HIV virus can't cause Aids, has caused outrage and concern among Aids specialists in Britain. Guardian 29 June 1990, p. 38