It is a virus that attacks the immune system, which is why it's called immunodeficiency virus, and so it causes the immune system to become weak, and when it becomes weak, people become unwell.

它是一種攻擊免疫系統的病毒，所以它叫免疫缺陷病毒，所以它導致免疫系統變弱，免疫系統變弱了，人就會不舒服。

When a person first catches HIV, very often, they may not have any symptoms at all.

當一個人第一次感染艾滋病毒時，很多時候，他們可能根本沒有任何症狀。

And many people can live for many years after catching HIV with no symptoms, but some people develop symptoms very soon after they catch HIV, which are basically the symptoms of a severe viral infection.

而且很多人在感染艾滋病病毒後，可以活很多年，沒有任何症狀，但是有些人在感染艾滋病病毒後，很快就出現了症狀，這基本上就是嚴重病毒感染的症狀。

So they may develop flu-like symptoms—cough, fever, sweats, enlarged lymph nodes, and they may feel very unwell.

所以他們可能會出現類似流感的症狀--咳嗽、發燒、出汗、淋巴結腫大，他們可能會感覺很不舒服。

When a person first catches the HIV virus, as I said before, they may not develop any symptoms at all.

當一個人剛感染上HIV病毒時，正如我之前所說，他們可能根本不會出現任何症狀。

But after they've had HIV infection for a while, sometimes for several years, as the immune system becomes weaker, the body stops being able to fight off simple infections that live normally in the environment.

但當他們感染HIV一段時間後，有時甚至幾年，隨著免疫系統的減弱，身體就不再能抵抗環境中正常生活的簡單感染。

And when people become unwell with these infections that live commonly in the environment, but that people with normal immune systems are able to fight off themselves, that is said to be called AIDS.

而當人們患上這些常見於環境中的感染，但免疫系統正常的人卻能自我抵抗的時候，就被稱為艾滋病。

And AIDS basically refers to a group of illnesses that people with normal immune systems rarely get, and these illnesses may affect all the systems in their body.

而艾滋病基本上是指免疫系統正常的人很少得的一組疾病，這些疾病可能會影響到身體的所有系統。

They may affect the brain, they may affect the skin, they may affect the lungs, and they may affect other internal organs.

它們可能會影響大腦，可能會影響皮膚，可能會影響肺部，也可能會影響其他內臟。

And when people have these infections, they are usually extremely unwell, and without treatment, most of them will die.

而當人們得了這些感染後，通常身體都會極度不適，如果不進行治療，大多會死亡。

HIV is treated now very effectively with medicines called antiretrovirals.

現在，使用稱為抗逆轉錄病毒的藥物治療艾滋病毒非常有效。

Antiretrovirals attack the virus and stop it from affecting people's immune systems.

抗逆轉錄病毒藥物攻擊病毒，阻止它影響人們的免疫系統。

And so now, with effective treatment, people don't develop what used to be called AIDS, so people's immune systems do not deteriorate, and people do not become unwell.

所以現在經過有效的治療，人們不會出現以前所說的艾滋病，所以人們的免疫系統不會惡化，人們也不會出現身體不適。

But most importantly, people on effective treatment for HIV can't transmit the virus to other people.

但最重要的是，接受有效治療的HIV患者不能將病毒傳染給其他人。

So they are uninfectious.

所以它們是沒有傳染性的。

And that's probably one of the most important things that people should know about HIV.

而這可能是人們應該知道的關於HIV的最重要的事情之一。

So a person on effective treatment is basically very similar to somebody who doesn't have HIV at all in that they can't transmit the virus to other people.

所以，一個接受有效治療的人，基本上和根本沒有感染HIV的人非常相似，他們不能把病毒傳染給其他人。

They can't transmit it to their sexual partners, but neither can women who are pregnant transmit it to their babies, which is something that used to happen when treatment was not available.

他們不能把它傳染給性伴侶，但懷孕的婦女也不能把它傳染給嬰兒，這在以前沒有治療方法的時候是常有的事。

We now know also that the life expectancy of a person who has HIV and who is on effective treatment will be the same and sometimes even longer than the life expectancy of somebody without HIV, so treatment has been very successful in this area.

我們現在也知道，艾滋病毒感染者接受有效治療後，其預期壽命與沒有艾滋病毒的人相同，有時甚至更長，所以在這方面的治療非常成功。