Glossary

codon – the word for the junction on genetic material (DNA or RNA) occupied by three nucleotides (or bases) to form an amino acid. In HIV it is most used when refering to drug resistance. There is an amino acid at each codon and the codons are numbered (starting from 1) for each section of the HIV gene. For example the mutation M184V in RT refers to a mutation change at codon 184 in the reverse transcriptase gene.

benign – not harmful.

abdominal – in the area of your belly

even distribution – where most results are in the middle and a roughly similar number of results fall either side. Also called bell-shaped or ‘normal’ distribution.

seroconversion – the immune reaction when you develop antibodies to a new infection. HIV seroconversion usually starts a couple of week after infection. Because this is when viral load is very high (often millions of copies/mL), this is when symptoms occur.

About 70% people have HIV seroconversion symptoms. Some people become very ill and need immediate ART, and other have no symptoms.