| How is it passed on? |
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HIV can be passed on through sex, blood to blood contact, and from mother to child during birth or breast feeding.
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| Symptoms |
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Sometimes flu-like symptoms when someone is first infected but people can live for years without showing any symptoms, HIV attacks the immune system so eventually someone with HIV will be unable to fight off simple infections.
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| What are the long term effects? |
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People who have HIV will usually suffer from bad health. They will also have to take care not to pass the infection on to a sexual partner.
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| Can you get rid of it? |
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There is no cure for HIV but people can take medication to slow down how fast the immune system is destroyed. This medication suits some people very well and they can live for years and years. Other people react badly to the medication and their health may get worse quite quickly.
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