HIV/AIDS

Description

HIV is the human immuno deficiency virus. It is the virus that can lead to
acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS.
o

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 cant 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
isnt the case with HIV the human immune system cant 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 cant
fight infections and diseases anymore. When that happens, HIV infection can
lead to AIDS.

To understand what AIDS is, lets break it down:

o

A Acquired AIDS is not something you inherit from your parents.

You acquire AIDS after birth.

I Immuno Your bodys 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 isnt 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.

Causes

HIV causes AIDS. Two HIV strains have been identified: HIV-1 and HIV-2. HIV-1
is the prototype virus and is responsible for most cases of AIDS in the United
States. HIV-2 is found chiefly in West Africa, appears to be less easily
transmitted, and has a longer incubation period.

Susceptibility to infection is unclear. The presence of sexually transmitted

infections (STIs) with open lesions, such as herpes and syphilis, may increase
the patients susceptibility to viral entry.

People with cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus infections may also be

more susceptible because of an increased number of target cells. Routes of
transmission are through sexual contact (male to male, male to female,
female to male, and female to female); by blood to blood or transfusion
contact (generally blood products given between 1977 and 1985);
through the use of needles contaminated by an HIV-infected person; by blood
or other HIV-infected fluids coming in contact with open lesions or mucous
membranes; and by mother to child during the in utero period, during
delivery, or by breastfeeding.

The time from the onset of HIV transmission to the development of AIDS
varies from a few months to years. The median incubation period is 10 years.

Pathophysiology
1. Human beings produce antibodies against specific infections.
2. When HIV infection takes place, anti-HIV antibodies are produced but they do
not appear immediately. This is called the window effect.
3. In some cases, antibodies to HIV become detectable 4 to 6 weeks after
infection.
4. When HIV is in circulation, it invades several types of cells the lymphocytes,
macrophages, the Langerhans cells, and neurons within the CNS.
5. HIV attacks the bodys immune system.
6. The organism attaches to a protein molecule called CD4 which is found in the
surface of T4 cells.

7. Once the virus enters the T4, it inserts its genetic materials into the T4 cells
nucleus taking over the cell to replicate itself.
8. Eventually the T4 cell dies after having been used to replicate HIV.
9. The virus mutates rapidly making it more difficult for the bodys immune
system to recognize the invaders.
10.HIV infection progresses through several stages.
11.The clinical course of HIV infection begins when a person becomes infected
with HIV through:
o

sexual contact with infected person

injection of infected blood or blood products

Perinatal or vertical transmission.