Glossary

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS): AIDS is the most advanced stage of HIV infection. If an HIV infection receives a diagnosis of at least one of a set of opportunistic illnesses or has laboratory values indicating advanced disease, the disease is classified as HIV Stage 3 (AIDS). AIDS can decrease the immune system’s ability to fight off diseases like tuberculosis, other bacterial, fungal and viral infections, and some cancers.

Antiretroviral treatment (ART): The regular use of a combination of HIV medicines (called an HIV regimen) to reduce viral load to undetectable levels. While ART cannot cure HIV, the medicine can lower the amount of virus in your body (viral load) when taken as prescribed by a health care provider. Prompt HIV treatment can help all people with HIV live long, healthy lives and reduce the risk of HIV transmission.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): The CDC is a Federal agency within the US Department of Health and Human Services that administers HIV surveillance and prevention programs. The CDC is responsible for monitoring and reporting of infectious diseases; CDC administers HIV surveillance grants and publishes epidemiological reports such as the HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report.

Clusters: It refers to a group of people with recent or ongoing HIV infections who are linked through transmission. This connection can be identified through similar HIV viral strains (molecular analysis) or by increased diagnoses in a specific geographic area or population group over a short period (time-space analysis).

New HIV Diagnosis: The number of people newly diagnosed with HIV in a given year.

Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE): The EHE is a federal initiative launched in December 2019 with the goal to reduce the number of new HIV infections in the United States by 90 percent by 2030.

Epidemic (HIV epidemic): The occurrence of more cases of disease than expected in a given area or among a specific group of people over a particular period of time. Despite advancements in treatment and prevention, the HIV epidemic remains a major public health concern due to continued transmission. (CDC)

Getting to Zero Mecklenburg (G2Z; G2ZMeckCo): G2ZMeckCo. is a community-based organization that addresses HIV needs and care, provides community input, and assist Mecklenburg County Public Health in planning for responses to the HIV epidemic. G2Z-Meck is supported and facilitated by MCPH.

HIV Care Continuum (HIV Continuum of Care [CoC]): The HIV care continuum is a public health model that outlines the steps or stages that people with HIV go through from diagnosis to achieving and maintaining viral suppression through care and treatment with HIV medicine called antiretroviral therapy (ART). (HIV.gov)

HRSA (Health Resources and Services Administration): HRSA is an agency in the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) that is responsible for funding and overseeing the Ryan White Program and aspects of the EHE interventions.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV):  HIV is a virus that attacks the body's immune system. HIV is the human retrovirus that causes HIV infection and AIDS. HIV attacks immune cells that help the body fight infection, making a person more vulnerable to other infections and cancers.

Late-stage HIV Diagnosis: A late-stage HIV diagnoses is defined as having AIDS at the time of initial HIV disease diagnosis or being diagnosed with AIDS within 6 months of initial diagnosis.

Linkage to (HIV) Care (LtC): Linkage to care is the first step in engaging in HIV care following diagnosis. LtC is defined as having a visit or CD4/VL lab with an HIV health care provider within a set time frame of being diagnosed with HIV.

Outbreaks: The occurrence of multiple new HIV infections that exceed expected numbers based on prior experience. It is sometimes used synonymously with “cluster of cases.”

Person/People Living with HIV (PLWH or PWH): Individuals who are living with an HIV infection.

Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP): The use of antiretroviral medication to prevent HIV. PrEP involves taking a specific combination of HIV medicines daily to reduce the risk of infection if exposed to HIV.

PrEP Coverage: PrEP coverage is an estimation of the amount of PrEP medication that is being used by people who have need for HIV PrEP.

PrEP Medications: There are currently three medications approved by the FDA for PrEP. Truvada® (or its generic equivalent emtricitabine & tenofovir disoproxil fumarate; also called FTC/FTD) and Descovy® (emtricitabine & tenofovir alafenamide; also called FTC/TAF) pills are administered orally. Apretude® (CAB or cabotegravir) is administered by injection.

Prevalence: Prevalence is total number of persons living with a specific disease or condition (e.g., PLWH) at a given point in time.

Priority Population: Priority populations are groups of people who are disproportionately affected by health or social issues. They may require interventions and resources to be directed especially to their needs.

Race/Ethnicity: As applied in CHAMPS, the two self-reported categories of race and Hispanic ethnicity are combined. For this combination, all people who report being of Hispanic ethnicity are categorized as Hispanic. Non-Hispanic individuals are categorized as non-Hispanic Black/African American, non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Asian, etc.

Rates: Rates are reported, annually, as a ratio of the number of people per 100,000 population.

Receipt of HIV (Medical) Care: It is defined as persons diagnosed with HIV who had at least 1 care marker (CD4 or viral load test) in a given year.

Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (or Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act): The Federal legislation created the Ryan White CARE act to address the health care and service needs of people living with HIV and their families in the United States. The Act funds medical and support services for PWH who are uninsured or underinsured and have income below 300% of the Federal Poverty Line, regardless of a person's ability to pay.

Sex (Sex at Birth): The biological status assigned to an individual at birth. The classification of a person as male or female based on physical characteristics.

Stigma: Stigma is a set of negative and often unfair beliefs that a society or group of people have about something. In the setting of HIV, stigma often interferes with or disrupts access to HIV diagnosis, care or prevention.

Support Services: Support services encompass a wide range of medical and non-medical resources needed to achieve positive health outcomes for PWH. These include services such as support groups, medical transportation, emergency financial assistance, medication assistance, case management, counseling, peer support, and access to housing and transportation, all aimed at improving their health and well-being of the PWH.

Undetectable=Untransmittable (U=U): U=U is an important strategy used to prevent transmission of HIV. A person with a suppressed viral load (Undetectable) is unable to transmit HIV to sexual partners (Untransmittable).

Viral Load (or HIV RNA): The amount of HIV in the blood. Viral load (VL) is reported as the number of copies of HIV RNA per milliliter of blood.

Viral Suppression: Viral suppression refers to having less than 200 copies of HIV RNA per milliliter of blood. This indicates that the amount of virus in a person's blood is so low it cannot be easily detected.