HIV Testing Glossary of Terms

1. HIV AIDS Myths and Facts Slideshow Pictures
2. Take the HIV/AIDS Quiz
3. AIDS Retrospective Slideshow Pictures

Acquired: Not inherited, or present at birth (congenital), but developing after birth. For...

Anonymous testing: Testing in which no name is used -- there is total anonymity -- to iden...

Antibody: An immunoglobulin, a specialized immune protein, produced because of the introdu...

Antiretroviral: An agent or process effective against a retrovirus. For example, a drug to...

Antiviral: An agent that kills a virus or that suppresses its ability to replicate and, he...

Asymptomatic: Without symptoms. For example, an asymptomatic infection is an infection wit...

Bisexual: An individual who engages in both heterosexual and homosexual sexual relations. ...

Cancer: An abnormal growth of cells which tend to proliferate in an uncontrolled way and, ...

CDC: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the US agency charged with tracking a...

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: The US agency charged with tracking and invest...

Cure: 1. To heal, to make well, to restore to good health. 2. A time withou...

ELISA: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, a rapid immunochemical test that involves an enz...

Essential: In medicine, of unknown cause, as in essential hypertension (high blood pressur...

FDA: Food and Drug Administration.

Food and Drug Administration: An agency within the US Public Health Service that provides ...

Herpes: A family of viruses. Herpes also refers to infection with one of the human herpesv...

Heterosexual: A person sexually attracted to persons of the opposite sex. Or a person who...

HIV: Acronym for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, the cause of AIDS (acquired immunodefi...

HIV test: A test for the human immunodeficiency virus, the cause of AIDS. HIV tests are de...

Homosexual: A person sexually attracted to persons of the same sex. Homosexuals include m...

Human immunodeficiency virus: HIV, the cause of AIDS. HIV has also been called the human...

Immune: Protected against infection, usually by the presence of antibodies.

Immune system: A complex system that is responsible for distinguishing a person from every...

Immunodeficiency: The inability to form a normal immune response. Immunodeficiency can be ...

Incidence: The frequency with which something, such as a disease or trait, appears in a pa...

Infection: The invasion and multiplication of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, an...

Labor: Childbirth, the process of delivering a baby and the placenta, membranes, and umbil...

Laboratory: A place for doing tests and research procedures, and for preparing chemicals a...

Pediatrics: The field of medicine that is concerned with the health of infants, children, ...

Penile: Of or pertaining to the penis.

Pharmacy: A location where prescription medications are sold. A pharmacy is constantly sup...

Pneumonia: Inflammation of one or both lungs, with dense areas of lung inflammation. Pneum...

Pregnancy: The state of carrying a developing embryo or fetus within the female body. Thi...

Pregnant: The state of carrying a developing fetus within the body.

Prenatal: Occurring or existing before birth.

Public health: The approach to medicine that is concerned with the health of the community...

Replication: A turning back, repetition, duplication, reproduction.

Saliva: a watery secretion in the mouth produced by the salivary glands that aids in the d...

Syndrome: A combination of symptoms and signs that together represent a disease process.

Syphilis: A sexually transmitted disease caused by Treponema pallidum, a microscopic orga...

Therapy: The treatment of disease. Therapy is synonymous with treatment.

Tuberculosis: A highly contagious infection caused by the bacterium called Mycobacterium ...

Urine: Liquid waste produced by the kidneys. Urine is a clear, transparent fluid that norm...

Viral: Of or pertaining to a virus. For example, if a person has a viral rash, the rash wa...

Virus: A microorganism that is smaller than a bacterium that cannot grow or reproduce apar...

Viruses: Small living particles that can infect cells and change how the cells function. I...

Western blot: A technique in molecular biology that is used to separate and identify parti...