AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. AIDS is the result of damage to the immune system. A damaged immune system is unable to protect the body against certain specific `opportunistic' infections and tumors. These are called opportunistic because they are caused by organisms which are normally controlled by the immune system but which `take the opportunity' to cause disease if the immune system has been damaged. Unlike most other diseases, different people with AIDS …
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…look at a variety of symptoms and tests. There is no single test for AIDS. Doctors would be looking for one of the opportunistic infections or cancers in the presence of underlying immune deficiency. They might, for instance, do tests to try to seek a positive diagnosis of pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, an AIDS-defining illness. These tests are normally only available if you've already been diagnosed as HIV antibody positive, or sometimes if you're seriously ill.