HIV/AIDS

What is it?

Symptoms

Causes

Diagnosis

Treatment

Prevention

What is it?

HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. This is the virus that causes AIDS. HIV is different from most other viruses because it attacks the immune system. The immune system gives our bodies the ability to fight infections. HIV finds and destroys a type of white blood cell (T cells or CD4 cells) that the immune system must have to fight disease.

AIDS stands for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. AIDS is the final stage of HIV infection. It can take years for a person infected with HIV, even without treatment, to reach this stage. Having AIDS means that the virus has weakened the immune system to the point at which the body has a difficult time fighting infections. When someone has one or more of these infections and a low number of T cells, he or she has AIDS.

Symptoms

Many people do not develop symptoms after getting infected with HIV. Some people have a flu-like illness within several days to weeks after exposure to the virus. They complain of fever, headache, tiredness, and enlarged lymph glands in the neck. These symptoms usually disappear on their own within a few weeks.

• Following initial infection, you may have no symptoms. The progression of disease varies widely among individuals. This state may last from a few months to more than 10 years.
  
  
  • During this period, the virus continues to multiply actively and infects and kills the cells of the immune system. The immune system allows us to fight against the bacteria, viruses, and other infectious causes.
    
  • The virus destroys the cells that are the primary infection fighters, called CD4+ or T4 cells.
  
  
• Once the immune system weakens, a person infected with HIV can develop the following symptoms:
  
  
  • Lack of energy
    
  • Weight loss
    
  • Frequent fevers and sweats
  • Persistent or frequent yeast infections
    
  • Persistent skin rashes or flaky skin
    
  • Short-term memory loss
    
  • Mouth, genital, or anal sores from herpes infections.
  
  
• AIDS is the most advanced stage of HIV infection. The definition of AIDS includes all HIV-infected people who have fewer than 200 CD4+ cells per microliter of blood. The definition also includes 26 conditions that are common in advanced HIV disease but that rarely occur in healthy people. Most of these conditions are infections caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, and other organisms. Opportunistic infections are common in people with AIDS. Nearly every organ system is affected. Some of the common symptoms include the following:
  
  
  • Cough and shortness of breath
    
  • Seizures and lack of coordination
    
  • Difficult or painful swallowing
    
  • Mental symptoms such as confusion and forgetfulness
    
  • Severe and persistent diarrhea
    
  • Fever
    
  • Vision loss
    
  • Nausea, abdominal cramps, and vomiting
    
  • Weight loss and extreme fatigue
    
  • Severe headaches with neck stiffness
    
  • Coma
  
  
• People with AIDS are prone to develop various cancers such as Kaposi sarcoma, cervical cancer, and cancers of the immune system known as lymphomas. Kaposi sarcoma causes round, brown, reddish or purple spots that develop in the skin or in the mouth. After the diagnosis of AIDS is made, the average survival time has been estimated to be 2-3 years.

Causes

Most commonly, HIV infection is spread by having sex with an infected partner. The virus can enter the body through the lining of the vagina, vulva, penis, rectum, or mouth during sex.

• HIV also spreads through contact with infected blood through a transfusion of contaminated blood or blood components.
• HIV frequently spreads among injection drug users who share needles or syringes that are contaminated with blood from an infected person.
• Women can transmit HIV to their babies during pregnancy or birth.
• The virus does not spread through casual contact such as sharing of food, utensils, towels and bedding, swimming pools, telephones, or toilet seats. The virus is also unlikely to be spread by contact with saliva.
• People who already have a sexually transmitted disease, such as syphilis, genital herpes, chlamydial infection, gonorrhea, or bacterial vaginosis, are more likely to acquire HIV infection during sex with an infected partner.

Diagnosis

The diagnosis of HIV infection can be made by detecting the presence of disease-fighting proteins called antibodies in the blood. These HIV antibodies are not generally seen until 1-3 months following infection. If you have been exposed to the HIV virus, early testing is important because it is generally believed that the earlier treatment is started the better your outcome. Furthermore, high-risk behaviors that could spread the virus to others can be avoided.

Two different types of antibody tests, enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) and Western blot, are available. The screening test is the ELISA test, and Western blot is the confirmatory test. Both of these tests can be negative for up to 3 months after the exposure. In this situation, if the suspicion for HIV infection remains high, another, more accurate test can be performed. This test directly looks for the actual HIV particles in the blood.

Treatment

Over the past 10 years, several drugs, anti retroviral treatment, to fight both the HIV infection and its associated infections and cancers have become available. The antiretroviral viral drugs do not cure people of HIV infection or AIDS. They stop viral replication and delay the development of AIDS. Presently, a combination of several drugs called highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is used to treat people with HIV.

Prevention

The only way to prevent infection by the virus is to avoid behaviors that put you at risk, such as sharing needles or having unprotected sex. Many people infected with HIV don't have any symptoms. There is no way to know with certainty whether a sexual partner is infected.

• Either abstain from having sex or use latex condoms, which may offer partial protection, during oral, anal, or vaginal sex. Only condoms made of latex should be used. Only water-based lubricants should be used with latex condoms.
• The risk of HIV transmission from a pregnant woman to her baby is significantly reduced if the mother treated to prevent transmission.

 

Sources: WebMD, eMedicineHealth, CDC