Also called: AIDS-related opportunistic infections · OIs
Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About HIV and Infections
Having HIV/AIDS weakens your body's immune system. It destroys the white blood cells that fight infection. This puts you at risk for opportunistic infections (OIs). OIs are serious infections that take advantage of your weak immune system. These infections are less common and less severe in healthy people.
There are many types of OIs:
- Bacterial infections, including tuberculosis and a serious related disease, Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC)
- Viral infections, such as cytomegalovirus (CMV) and hepatitis C
- Fungal infections, like yeast infections, cryptococcal meningitis, pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) and histoplasmosis
- Parasitic infections, such as crypto (cryptosporidiosis) and toxo (toxoplasmosis)
Having HIV/AIDS can make infections harder to treat. People with HIV/AIDS are also more likely to have complications from common illnesses such as the flu.
You can help prevent infections by taking your HIV/AIDS medicines. Other things that can help include practicing safe sex, washing your hands well and often, and cooking your food thoroughly.
It sits within Infections and Immune System.
The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on HIV and Infections
5,901 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- Long-term Follow-up of Long-acting Cabotegravir (CAB LA) for PrEP (Pre-exposure Prophylaxis) in Participants at Risk of Acquiring HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus)ViiV Healthcare
- Study to Evaluate the Efficacy, Safety, and Tolerability of Long-acting Intramuscular Cabotegravir and Rilpivirine for Maintenance of Virologic Suppression Following Switch From an Integrase Inhibitor in HIV-1 Infected Therapy Naive ParticipantsViiV Healthcare
- A Study to Evaluate the Use of Resmetirom in Participants With MASLD and HIVNaga P. Chalasani
- Natural History Study of Kaposi SarcomaNational Cancer Institute (NCI)
- PERSON-CENTERED APPROACHES TO VIREMIA: CONNECTION, RAPPORT, AND ENGAGEMENT STUDYCentre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia
- Sustaining Innovative Tools to Expand Youth-Friendly HIV Self-TestingWashington University School of Medicine
Research already completed
- ThiPhiSA: New Pathways to Prevention From Community TB Screening in South AfricaUniversity of Washington
- SYV: A Mental Health Intervention to Improve HIV Outcomes in Tanzanian YouthDuke University
- Healthy Lifestyles: A Home Based Physical Activity Intervention in Persons Living With HIVGeorgetown University
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Start Here
- Stages of HIV InfectionNational Institutes of Health, Office of AIDS Research
Treatments and Therapies
- HIV Medicines: MedlinePlus Health TopicNational Library of Medicine
Prevention and Risk Factors
- Food Safety for Older Adults and People with Cancer, Diabetes, HIV/AIDS, Organ Transplants, and Autoimmune DiseasesFood and Drug Administration
- HIV and VaccinationNational Institutes of Health, Office of AIDS Research
Related Issues
- HIV/AIDS & Oral HealthNational Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research
- Neurological Complications of HIVNational Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: AIDS-Related Opportunistic InfectionsNational Institutes of Health
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for HIV and Infections, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.