The lifecycle of HIV

The infographic shows the stages of the HIV lifecycle. The HIV lifecycle is made up of four stages. Each of these involve a number of processes which happen in and around a human CD4 cell. 

HIV must enter a CD4 cell to make copies of itself. It uses elements inside the CD4 cell to make copies of itself. These copies are released into the bloodstream and the process begins again. 

The four stages are: 

1. Binding and fusion 

2. Reverse transcription and integration 

3. Transcription and translation 

4. Assembly, budding and maturation