With Charlie Sheen talking about his HIV infection in public and coming clean about his past, there suddenly seems to be an increased buzz about AIDS and HIV on social media. Amidst all the tweets, opinions, dark jokes, warnings and panic inducing alarms, it's easy to lose track of genuine scientific facts. One of the risks of having 'half knowledge' is you blur the lines between HIV and AIDS. Here are a few well-established facts that help you know the difference between the two.

5. AIDS diagnosis is a little more complicated.

A person gets AIDS when the HIV has reduced the immunity to a certain level. A test that takes a count of the immune cells, called CD4 cells, can detect whether the person has AIDS or not.

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6. HIV does not always have specific symptoms.

About 2-4 weeks after infection, HIV can cause flu-like symptoms in a person, but as flu is pretty common, it's pretty deceptive. The immune system usually brings the symptom under control, which can cause the HIV to enter a latency period. You can possibly have HIV for years without realizing you have it. But when you have AIDS, you usually suffer from rapid weight loss, recurring fever and night sweats, soreness of mouth and/or genitals, diarrhea that last for more than a week, etc.

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