HIV
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HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus, and is a chronic disease that gradually weakens the immune system by disabling and killing "T-helper cells", which normally signal other constituents of the immune system to perform their respective roles. When HIV reduces the number of T-helper cells below a certain threshold, an infected person is vunerable to opportunistic infections and cancers that typify Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, or AIDS. [1] It is transmitted primarily through sexual contact with an infected person, sharing of needles or syringes, and, less frequently, through transfusion of infected blood or blood clotting factors.[2].
HIV is a retrovirus, and integrates its genetic information into the host cell's genome.