WHAT IS HIV / AIDS

Posted By: Pankaj Patel

AIDS stands for acquired immune deficiency syndrome and is the final stage of the infection caused by the virus called HIV or Human Immunodeficiency Virus. The virus causes severe damage to the immune system.

WHAT IS HIV ?

H – Human – This particular virus can only infect human beings.
I – Immunodeficiency – HIV weakens your immune system by destroying important cells that fight disease and infection. A "deficient" immune system can't protect you.
V – Virus – A virus can only reproduce itself by taking over a cell in the body of its host.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus is a lot like other viruses, including those that cause the "flu" or the common cold. But there is an important difference – over time, your immune system can clear most viruses out of your body. That isn't the case with HIV – the human immune system can't seem to get rid of it. Scientists are still trying to figure out why.

We know that HIV can hide for long periods of time in the cells of your body and that it attacks a key part of your immune system – your T-cells or CD4 cells. Your body has to have these cells to fight infections and disease, but HIV invades them, uses them to make more copies of itself, and then destroys them. Over time, HIV can destroy so many of your CD4 cells that your body can't fight infections and diseases anymore. When that happens, HIV infection can lead to AIDS.

WHAT IS AIDS?

A – Acquired – AIDS is not something you inherit from your parents. You acquire AIDS after birth.
I – Immuno – Your body's immune system includes all the organs and cells that work to fight off infection or disease.
D – Deficiency – You get AIDS when your immune system is "deficient," or isn't working the way it should.
S – Syndrome – A syndrome is a collection of symptoms and signs of disease. AIDS is a syndrome, rather than a single disease, because it is a complex illness with a wide range of complications and symptoms.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome is the final stage of HIV infection. People at this stage of HIV disease have badly damaged immune systems, which put them at risk for opportunistic infections (OIs). You will be diagnosed with AIDS if you have one or more specific OIs, certain cancers, or a very low number of CD4 cells. If you have AIDS, you will need medical intervention and treatment to prevent death.

WHERE DID HIV COME FROM?

Scientists believe HIV came from a particular kind of chimpanzee in Western Africa. Humans probably came in contact with HIV when they hunted and ate infected animals. Recent studies indicate that HIV may have jumped from monkeys to humans as far back as the late 1800s.

CAUSES OF AIDS

AIDS is caused by HIV infection. The virus attacks the immune system leaving the individual susceptible to life-threatening infections and cancers. Common bacteria, yeast, parasites, and viruses that usually do not cause serious disease in people with healthy immune systems can turn deadly for AIDS patients.

HOW IS HIV TRANSMITTED?

HIV is found in all the body fluids including saliva, nervous system tissue and spinal fluid, blood, semen, pre-seminal fluid, which is the liquid that comes out before ejaculation, vaginal secretions, tears and breast milk. Only blood, semen, and breast milk have been shown to transmit infection to others.

The virus is transmitted by sexual contact including unprotected oral, vaginal, and anal sex and via transfusion of contaminated blood that contains HIV. Another mode of transmission is sharing needles or injections with HIV infected individuals. A pregnant woman can transmit the virus to her unborn baby through their shared blood circulation, or a nursing mother can transmit it to her baby in her breast milk. HIV infection does not spread by casual contact, mosquitoes, touching or hugging.

WHO IS AT RISK?

Those at highest risk include injection drug users who share needles, babies born to mothers with HIV (especially if the mother had not received anti- HIV therapy during pregnancy), those engaging in unprotected vaginal or anal sex with HIV positive individuals, and those who received blood transfusions or clotting products between 1977 and 1985 (before screening for HIV became standard practice).

SYMPTOMS OF HIV / AIDS

The symptoms of HIV and AIDS vary, depending on the phase of infection.

Primary infection
The majority of people infected by HIV develop a flu-like illness within a month or two after the virus enters the body. This illness, known as primary or acute HIV infection, may last for a few weeks. Possible symptoms include:

• Fever
• Muscle soreness
• Rash
• Headache
• Sore throat
• Mouth or genital ulcers
• Swollen lymph glands, mainly on the neck
• Joint pain
• Night sweats
• Diarrhea

Although the symptoms of primary HIV infection may be mild enough to go unnoticed, the amount of virus in the blood stream (viral load) is particularly high at this time. As a result, HIV infection spreads more efficiently during primary infection than during the next stage of infection.

Clinical latent infection
In some people, persistent swelling of lymph nodes occurs during clinical latent HIV. Otherwise, there are no specific signs and symptoms. HIV remains in the body, however, as free virus and in infected white blood cells. Clinical latent infection typically lasts eight to 10 years. A few people stay in this stage even longer, but others progress to more-severe disease much sooner.

Early symptomatic HIV infection
As the virus continues to multiply and destroy immune cells, you may develop mild infections or chronic symptoms such as:

• Fever
• Fatigue
• Swollen lymph nodes — often one of the first signs of HIV infection
• Diarrhea
• Weight loss
• Cough and shortness of breath
• Progression to AIDS

If you receive no treatment for your HIV infection, the disease typically progresses to AIDS in about 10 years. By the time AIDS develops, your immune system has been severely damaged, making you susceptible to opportunistic infections — diseases that wouldn't trouble a person with a healthy immune system. The signs and symptoms of some of these infections may include:

• Soaking night sweats
• Shaking chills or fever higher than 100 F (38 C) for several weeks
• Cough and shortness of breath
• Chronic diarrhea
• Persistent white spots or unusual lesions on your tongue or in your mouth
• Headaches
• Persistent, unexplained fatigue
• Blurred and distorted vision
• Weight loss
• Skin rashes or bumps

When to see a doctor
If you think you may have been infected with HIV or are at risk of contracting the virus, see a health care provider as soon as possible.

TREATMENT OF HIV / AIDS

There is no cure for AIDS once it develops. There are agents available that can help keep symptoms at bay and improve the quality and length of life for those who have already developed symptoms.

Drugs against HIV include antiretroviral therapy. These prevent the replication of the HIV virus in the body. A combination of several antiretroviral drugs, called highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), has been very effective in reducing the number of HIV particles in the bloodstream. Preventing the virus from replicating can improve T-cell counts or CD4 cell counts and help the immune system recover from the HIV infection. Medicines are also prescribed to prevent opportunistic infections if the CD4 counts are low.

PREVENTION OF HIV / AIDS

Safe sex measures with use of condoms, shunning use of illicit drugs or shared needles or syringes, avoidance of contact with blood and fluids by wearing protective clothing, masks, and goggles etc. helps prevent transmission. HIV-positive women who wish to become pregnant may need therapy while they are pregnant to prevent transmission to their babies. The Public Health Service recommends that HIV-infected women in the United States avoid breastfeeding to prevent transmitting HIV to their infants through breast milk.