for Veterans and the Public Frequently Asked Questions Q: How
long can people infected with HIV expect to live? In the early
days of the epidemic, the answer would have been simple--and
hard to take. After becoming infected with HIV, people could
expect to get AIDS within about 10 years, and then live only 1
to 2 years more. But things have changed dramatically since
then. We have good HIV treatments, and people who are able to
start them before their immune system declines significantly and
take them as prescribed tend to do very well. We have good tests
to monitor how well treatment is working against the virus, and
to help choose a new treatment if an old one stops working. With
proper medical care, people with HIV can expect to live much
longer now than they could 20 years ago. We still can't tell
exactly how long because many of the medications and tests have
been around only for 15 years or less, and people are living
longer than that. But, more and more, people with HIV are dying
of other things, such