What is HIV AIDS?
To understand what HIV is, let’s break it down:
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.
HIV AIDS Virus - Structure.
How HIV Virus Works.
- How quickly do people infected with HIV develop AIDS?
In some people, the T-cell decline and opportunistic infections that signal AIDS develop soon after infection with HIV. But most people do not develop symptoms for 10 to 12 years, and a few remain symptom-free for much longer. As with most diseases, early medical care can help prolong a person’s life.
AIDS stands for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. It is
a disease caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). When a
person becomes infected with HIV, the virus begins attacking the person’s
immune system. Initially, and sometimes for many years, the person may show no
symptoms of being ill. A person can be infected with HIV and not even know it.
It can take up to six months after being infected with HIV for ordinary tests
to show that you are HIV positive. After a person has contracted HIV, even
before they test positive, it’s possible for them to pass on the infection to
others.
If HIV does enough damage to the
person’s immune system, it becomes dangerously weak, and the person becomes
vulnerable to infections that a healthy person’s immune system would fight off.
Without treatment, the person may die as a result.
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.
How
Do You Get HIV or AIDS?
How
Do You Get HIV?
HIV is found in specific human body
fluids. If any of those fluids enter your body, you can become infected with
HIV.
Which
Body Fluids Contain HIV?
HIV lives and reproduces in blood
and other body fluids. We know that the following fluids can contain high
levels of HIV:
- Blood
- Semen (cum)
- Pre-seminal fluid (pre-cum)
- Breast milk
- Vaginal fluids
- Rectal (anal) mucous
Other body fluids and waste
products—like feces, nasal fluid, saliva, sweat, tears, urine, or vomit—don’t
contain enough HIV to infect you, unless they have blood mixed in them
and you have significant and direct contact with them.
Healthcare workers may be exposed to some other body fluids with high
concentrations of HIV, including:
- Amniotic fluid
- Cerebrospinal fluid
- Synovial fluid
How quickly do people
infected with HIV develop AIDS?
In some people, the T-cell decline and opportunistic infections that signal AIDS develop soon after infection with HIV. But most people do not develop symptoms for 10 to 12 years, and a few remain symptom-free for much longer. As with most diseases, early medical care can help prolong a person’s life.
How
Is HIV Transmitted Through Body Fluids?
HIV is transmitted through body
fluids in very specific ways:
During pregnancy, childbirth, or
breastfeeding: Babies have constant contact with
their mother’s body fluids-including amniotic fluid and blood-throughout
pregnancy and childbirth. After birth, infants can get HIV from drinking
infected breast milk.
As a result of injection drug use: Injecting drugs puts you in contact with blood-your own
and others, if you share needles and “works”. Needles or drugs that are
contaminated with HIV-infected blood can deliver the virus directly into your
body.
As a result of occupational
exposure: Healthcare workers have the
greatest risk for this type of HIV transmission. If you work in a healthcare
setting, you can come into contact with infected blood or other fluids through
needle sticks or cuts. A few healthcare workers have been infected when body
fluids splashed into their eyes, mouth, or into an open sore or cut.
As a result of a blood transfusion
with infected blood or an organ transplant from an infected donor: Screening requirements make both of these forms of HIV
transmission very rare in the United States.
During sexual contact: You need to know that it’s much easier to get HIV (or to
give it to someone else), if you have a sexually transmitted disease (STD).
How
Do You Get AIDS?
AIDS is the late stage of HIV infection, when a person’s
immune system is severely damaged and has difficulty fighting diseases and
certain cancers. Before the development of certain medications, people with HIV
could progress to AIDS in just a few years. Currently, people can live much
longer – even decades – with HIV before they develop AIDS. This is because of
“highly active” combinations of medications that were introduced in the mid
1990s.
HIV Signs and Symptoms:
HIV-Positive
without Symptoms
Many people who are HIV-positive do
not have symptoms of HIV infection. Often people only begin to feel sick
when they progress toward AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome).
Sometimes people living with HIV go through periods of being sick and then feel
fine.
While the virus itself can sometimes
cause people to feel sick, most of the severe symptoms and illnesses of HIV
disease come from the opportunistic infections that attack a damaged immune
system. It is important to remember that some symptoms of HIV infection are
similar to symptoms of many other common illnesses, such as the flu, or
respiratory or gastrointestinal infections.
Early
Stages of HIV: Signs and Symptoms
As early as 2-4 weeks after
exposure to HIV (but up to 3 months later), people can experience an
acute illness, often described as “the worst flu ever.” This is called acute
retroviral syndrome (ARS), or primary HIV infection, and it’s
the body’s natural response to HIV infection. During primary HIV infection,
there are higher levels of virus circulating in the blood, which means that
people can more easily transmit the virus to others.
Symptoms can include:
- Fever
- Chills
- Rash
- Night sweats
- Muscle aches
- Sore throat
- Fatigue
- Swollen lymph nodes
- Ulcers in the mouth
It is important to remember,
however, that not everyone gets ARS when they become infected with HIV.
Chronic
Phase or Latency: Signs and Symptoms
After the initial infection and seroconversion,
the virus becomes less active in the body, although it is still present. During
this period, many people do not have any symptoms of HIV infection. This
period is called the “chronic” e or “latency” phase. This period
can last up to 10 years—sometimes longer.
AIDS:
Signs and Symptoms
When HIV infection progresses to
AIDS, many people begin to suffer from fatigue, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting,
fever, chills, night sweats, and even wasting syndrome at late
stages. Many of the signs and symptoms of AIDS come from opportunistic
infections which occur in patients with a damaged immune system.
The Global HIV/AIDS Crisis Today
- 33.4 million are currently living with HIV/AIDS.
- More than 25 million people have died of AIDS worldwide since the first cases were reported in 1981.
- In 2008, 2 million people died due to HIV/AIDS, and another 2.7 million were newly infected.
- While cases have been reported in all regions of the world, almost all those living with HIV (97%) reside in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
- According to the World Health Organization (WHO), most people living with HIV or at risk for HIV do not have access to prevention, care, and treatment, and there is still no cure.
- The HIV epidemic not only affects the health of individuals, it impacts households, communities, and the development and economic growth of nations. Many of the countries hardest hit by HIV also suffer from other infectious diseases, food insecurity, and other serious problems.
- Despite these challenges, there have been successes and promising signs. New global efforts have been mounted to address the epidemic, particularly in the last decade. Prevention has helped to reduce HIV prevalence rates in a small but growing number of countries and new HIV infections are believed to be on the decline. In addition, the number of people with HIV receiving treatment in resource poor countries has increased 10-fold since 2002, reaching an estimated 4 million by 2008.
References
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