SOME OF US KNOW WHAT IS THE ABOVE TOPIC AND SOME OF ITS SYMTOMS AND PREVENION BUT THE FULL WRITE UP IS PROVIDED BELOW.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
· HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. If left untreated, HIV can lead to the disease AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome).
· Unlike some other viruses, the human body can’t get rid of HIV completely. So once you have HIV, you have it for life.
· HIV attacks the body’s immune system, specifically the CD4 cells (T cells), which help the immune system fight off infections. If left untreated, HIV reduces the number of CD4 cells (T cells) in the body, making the person more likely to get infections or infection-related cancers. Over time, HIV can destroy so many of these cells that the body can’t fight off infections and disease. These opportunistic infections or cancers take advantage of a very weak immune system and signal that the person has AIDS, the last state of HIV infection.
· No effective cure for HIV currently exists, but with proper treatment and medical care, HIV can be controlled. The medicine used to treat HIV is called antiretroviral therapy or ART. If taken the right way, every day, this medicine can dramatically prolong the lives of many people with HIV, keep them healthy, and greatly lower their chance of transmitting the virus to others. Today, a person who is diagnosed with HIV, treated before the disease is far advanced, and stays on treatment can live a nearly as long as someone who does not have HIV.
The only way to know for sure if you have HIV is to get tested.
Testing is relatively simple. You can ask your health care provider for an HIV test. Many medical clinics, substance abuse programs, community health centers, and hospitals offer them too. You can also buy a home testing kit at a pharmacy or online.
· To find an HIV testing location near you, use the HIV Testing & Care Services Locator.
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
· AIDS stands for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. AIDS is the final stage of HIV infection, and not everyone who has HIV advances to this stage.
· AIDS is the stage of infection that occurs when your immune system is badly damaged and you become vulnerable to opportunistic infections. When the number of your CD4 cells falls below 200 cells per cubic millimeter of blood (200 cells/mm3), you are considered to have progressed to AIDS. (The CD4 count of an uninfected adult/adolescent who is generally in good health ranges from 500 cells/mm3 to 1,600 cells/mm3.) You can also be diagnosed with AIDS if you develop one or more opportunistic infections, regardless of your CD4 count.
· Without treatment, people who are diagnosed with AIDS typically survive about 3 years. Once someone has a dangerous opportunistic illness, life expectancy without treatment falls to about 1 year. People with AIDS need medical treatment to prevent death.
Where DID HIV Come From?
· Scientists identified a type of chimpanzee in Central Africa as the source of HIV infection in humans. They believe that the chimpanzee version of the immunodeficiency virus (called simian immunodeficiency virus, or SIV) most likely was transmitted to humans and mutated into HIV when humans hunted these chimpanzees for meat and came into contact with their infected blood. Studies show that HIV may have jumped from apes to humans as far back as the late 1800s. Over decades, the virus slowly spread across Africa and later into other parts of the world. We know that the virus has existed in the United States since at least the mid- to late 1970s.
Causes of HIV/AIDS
HIV is a retrovirus that infects the vital organs of the human immune system. The virus progresses in the absence of antiretroviral therapy. The rate of virus progression varies widely between individuals and depends on many factors (age of the patient, body's ability to defend against HIV, access to health care, existence of coexisting infections, the infected person's genetic inheritance, resistance to certain strains of HIV).
HIV can be transmitted through:
- Sexual transmission. It can happen when there is contact with infected sexual secretions (rectal, genital or oral mucous membranes). This can happen while having unprotected sex, including vaginal, oral and anal sex or sharing sex toys with someone infected with HIV.
- Prenatal transmission. The mother can pass the infection on to her child during childbirth, pregnancy, and also through breastfeeding.
- Blood transmission. The risk of transmitting HIV through blood transfusion is nowadays extremely low in developed countries, thanks to meticulous screening and precautions. Among drug users, sharing and reusing syringes contaminated with HIV-infected blood is extremely hazardous.
Thanks to strict protection procedures the risk of accidental infection for healthcare workers is low.
Individuals who give and receive tattoos and piercings are also at risk and should be very careful.
Common Myths About HIV and AIDS
There are many misconceptions about HIV and AIDS. The virus CANNOT be transmitted from:
à Shaking hands à hugging à casual kissing à sneezing à touching unbroken skin
à Using the same toilet à sharing towels à sharing cutlery
à mouth-to-mouth resuscitation or other forms of "casual contact"
HIV/AIDS: Treatments, Prevention and Management
Treatments for HIV/AIDS
Earlier HIV antiretroviral treatment is crucial - it improves quality of life, extends life expectancy and reduces the risk of transmission, according to the World Health Organization's guidelines issued in June 2013.
When an HIV-positive adult's CD4 cell count is 500 cells/mm3 or lower they should start treatment immediately.
According to Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General "These guidelines represent another leap ahead in a trend of ever-higher goals and ever-greater achievements. With nearly 10 million people now on antiretroviral therapy, we see that such prospects - unthinkable just a few years ago - can now fuel the momentum needed to push the HIV epidemic into irreversible decline."
Currently, there is no vaccine or cure for HIV/AIDS. But treatments have evolved which are much more efficacious - they can improve patients' general health and quality of life considerably.
Emergency HIV pills
If an individual believes they have been exposed to the virus within the last 72 hours (three days), anti-HIV medication, called PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) may stop infection. The treatment should be taken as soon as possible after contact with the virus.
PEP is a very demanding treatment lasting four weeks. It is also associated with unpleasant side effects (diarrhea, malaise, nausea, weakness and fatigue).
After a positive HIV diagnosis, regular blood tests are necessary to monitor the progress of the virus before starting treatment. The therapy is designed to reduce the level of HIV in the blood.
Antiretroviral drugs
HIV is treated with antiretrovirals (ARVs). The treatment fights the HIV infection and slows down the spread of the virus in the body. Generally, patients take a combination of medications called HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapy).
The combination of drugs is adapted to each individual. HIV treatment is usually permanent and lifelong. HIV treatment is based on routine dosage. Pills must be taken on a regular schedule, every time. Common side effects include nausea, fatigue, diarrhea, skin rashes, moodiness, alterations to the adipose (fat) tissue, birth defects.
Antifungal cream Ciclopirox may help eradicate HIV - researchers at the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School reported in the journal PLoS ONE that Ciclopirox, a widely used antifungal cream, as well as Deferiprone, a medication used to remove excess iron from the body, eradicate HIV in cultured cells. They added that when treatment stops, the virus does not return.
Complementary or alternative medicine
Although widely used, alternative/complementary medications, such has herbal ones, have not been proven to be effective or ineffective. According to some limited studies, mineral or vitamin supplements may provide some benefits. Patients are urged to discuss these options with their doctors.
New clue towards an AIDS vaccine
The outer shell of HIV has a vulnerable spot, which enabled two HIV-positive people to make antibodies powerful enough to kill off the majority of HIV types known globally.
A glycan, a form of sugar, in a specific part on the protein coat that covers HIV (location known as "position 332") is a vulnerable spot that allows the body to mount an effective attack using broadly neutralizing antibodies.
The scientists, from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, said their discovery offers new clues about stimulating the body to produce "broadly neutralizing antibodies". They believe these antibodies are key for making an AIDS vaccine, because they destroy most of the HIV types around the world. They published their findings in Nature Medicine (21 October, 2012 issue).
April 2013 - A step closer to an HIV vaccine
A team led by scientists from the Duke Human Vaccine Institute, and the NIH Vaccine Research Center say they have charted a new route that may help develop a vaccine which boosts an individual's ability to destroy HIV. They published their findings in the journal Nature (April 2013 issue).
Barton F. Haynes, M.D., John Mascola, M.D. and team stuied an HIV-infected patient whose immune system attacked the virus, allowing them to describe the co-evolution of the antibodies.
HIV has proven especially difficult in inducing an antibody response, making it very hard to develop a vaccine. As soon as HIV antibodies are produced, the virus changes rapidly to avoid them.
The team used a new form of technology that can detect infection early on and track the body's immune system.
Recent developments in HIV treatment from MNT news
New drugs reawaken latent HIV to eradicate virus
A new study suggests a class of drugs already being tested in clinical trials for the treatment of cancer may also hold the key to complete eradication of HIV.
Alcoholism drug could help cure HIV, study finds
A drug used to treat alcoholism - called disulfiram - could bring us closer to a cure for HIV, according to the results of a new study led by researchers from the University of Melbourne in Australia.
HIV vaccine possibility following study of 'antibodies with loops'
A new study suggests it may be possible to induce a rapid anti-HIV immune response in unexposed people by developing a vaccine that triggers antibodies containing loop-like structures.
HIV antibody therapy looks promising
A new study of the effects of a new antibody treatment suggests it may offer a long-term solution for the control of HIV.
HIV Prevention
To prevent being infected with HIV, healthcare professionals advise precautions related to:
Unprotected sex
Having sex without a condom can put a person at risk of being infected with HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). HIV can be spread by having unprotected sex (vaginal, oral and anal sex). It can also be caught from sharing sex toys with someone infected with HIV.
Drug abuse and needle sharing
Intravenous drug use is an important factor in HIV transmission in developed countries. Sharing needles can expose users to HIV and other viruses, such as hepatitis C.
Strategies such as needle-exchange programs are used to reduce the infections caused by drug abuse.
Body fluid exposure
Exposure to HIV can be controlled by employing precautions to reduce the risk of exposure to contaminated blood. At all times, health care workers should use barriers (gloves, masks, protective eyewear, shields, and gowns). Frequent and thorough washing of the skin immediately after being contaminated with blood or other bodily fluids can reduce the chance of infection.
Pregnancy
Anti-HIV medicines can harm the unborn child. But an effective treatment plan can prevent HIV transmission from mother to baby. Precautions have to be taken to protect the baby´s health. Delivery through caesarean section may be necessary. Breastfeeding may have to give way to bottle-feeding if the mother is infected.
A study by scientists from Columbia University, New York, found that breastfeeding for 6+ months with antiretroviral therapy could help reduce mother-to-child HIV transmission as well as improve chances of infant's survival.
Education
Health education is an important factor in reducing risky behavior.
Managing HIV
Adherence. HIV treatment is effective if the patient is committed and constant in taking the medication on time. Missing even a few doses will jeopardize the treatment. A daily methodical routine has to be programmed to fit the treatment plan around the patient's lifestyle and schedule. "Adherence" is sometimes known as "compliance".
General Health. It is crucial for patients to take medication correctly and take steps to avoid illness. Patients should seek to improve their general health and reduce the risk of falling ill by practicing regular exercise, healthy eating, and not smoking.
Additional precautions. HIV-infected people should be extra cautious to prevent exposure to infection. They should be careful around animals, avoid coming into contact with cat litter, animal feces. Meticulous and regular washing of hands is recommended.
Long-term condition. HIV is a lasting condition, and therefore patients have to be in regular contact with their healthcare team. Treatment plan is reviewed regularly.
Psychological. Common misconceptions about AIDS/ HIV are diminishing. However, the stigma of the condition persists in many parts of the world. People infected with the virus may feel excluded, rejected, discriminated and isolated.
Being diagnosed with HIV can be very distressing, and feelings of anxiety or depression are common. If you feel anxious or have symptoms of depression, seek medical help immediately.
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