Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
AIDS is a universal health care problem with more questions than answers. This article will attempt to explain the basics of this horrible disease calls "AIDS", or Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome.
AIDS is the final stage of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease. AIDS is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The virus attacks the immune system and leaves the body vulnerable to a variety of life-threatening illnesses and cancers. Common bacteria, yeast, parasites, and viruses that ordinarily do not cause serious disease in people with healthy immune systems can cause serious or fatal illnesses in those with AIDS.
The Center of Disease Control (CDC) defines AIDS as beginning when a person with HIV infection has a CD4 cell (Also called a T-cell, which is a type of immune cell) count below 200/mm.
Here they have it:
3. AIDS is also defined by the opportunistic infections and cancers that occur in someone with HIV infection. The statistics are sobering: AIDS is the fifth leading cause of death among persons between ages 25 and 44 in the United States. More than 47 million people worldwide have been infected with HIV since the start of the epidemic.
The symptoms of Aids are the result of the opportunistic infections that do not normally develop in individuals with healthy immune systems. Common symptoms are flu-like and include fevers, sweats, swollen glands, chills, weakness, and weight loss. There may be no symptoms after initial infection, however. Some people with HIV infection remain without symptoms for years between the time of exposure and development of AIDS.
HIV has been found in such body fluids as saliva, tears, nervous system tissue, blood, semen, vaginal fluid, and breast milk. At this time, only blood, semen, vaginal secretions, and breast milk have been proven to transmit infection to others.
Transmission of the virus occurs in the following ways:
Through sexual contact including oral, vaginal, and anal sex
Through blood, including blood transfusions or needle sharing.
From mother to child a pregnant woman can passively transmit the virus to her fetus or a nursing mother can transmit it to her baby.
Although rare, HIV can be transmitted in other ways, including accidental needle injury, artificial insemination with donated semen, and through a donated organ.
HIV can not be spread by casual contact such as hugging and touching, by touching dishes, doorknobs, or toilet seats previously touched by a person infected with the virus, during participation in sports or by mosquitoes. It is not transmitted to a person who donates blood or organs in the United States because hospitals do not re-use syringes and sterilize all devices involved in these procedures. However, HIV can be transmitted to the person receiving blood or organs from an infected donor. This is the reason blood banks and organ donor programs screen donors, blood, and tissue thoroughly.
People who are at highest risk for HIV infection include homosexual or bisexual men who engage in unprotected sex, intravenous drug users who share needles, the sexual partners of those who participate in high risk activities, infants born to mothers with HIV, and people who received blood transfusions or clotting products between 1977 and 1985.
Although there is no cure for AIDS at this time, there are several treatments that can delay the progression of disease for many years and improve the quality of life of those who have developed symptoms.
The main form of treatment is through antiviral therapy, which suppresses the replication of the HIV virus. The newest form involves a combination of several antiretroviral agents called highly active anti retroviral therapy (HAART).
Although HAART shows great promise, it is not a cure for HIV, and people on HAART with suppressed levels of HIV can still transmit the virus to others through sex or sharing of needles. There is good evidence that, if the levels of HIV remain suppressed and the CD4 count remain high (>200), life and quality of life can be significantly prolonged and improved. However, HIV tends to become resistant in patients who do not take their
medications every day. Certain strains of HIV mutate easily and may become resistant to HAART especially quickly.
Other antiviral agents are in investigational stages and many new drugs are in the pipeline. Medications are also used to prevent opportunistic infections and can keep AIDS patients healthier for longer periods of time. Opportunistic infections are treated as they occur.
Reference:
Rice, Jane. (2005). Medical Terminology with Human Anatomy, fifth edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc.
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
By: Kathryn Sias
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