Discuss the causes, symptoms and preventive measures of AIDS.
Answers
Answer:
What is HIV?
The human immunodeficiency virus or HIV, as it’s more commonly referred to, is a virus that attacks the body’s immune system, weakening its ability to fight disease-causing germs. It is transmitted through infected blood, semen or vaginal secretions. The mother can also infect her child during childbirth and breastfeeding.
If HIV infection is left untreated, you can develop acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), which is the final stage of HIV infection. It is a fatal condition in which the body’s immunity is severely impaired. Although there is no cure for HIV infection, early diagnosis and treatment can slow its progression.
There are three stages of HIV infection:
Primary or acute infection: The virus multiplies rapidly and attacks the immune system, specifically the CD4 white blood cells. You are likely to present with flu-like HIV symptoms. You have a high risk of transmitting HIV infection to others. This phase may last for a few months.
Clinical latency: The virus continues to reproduce but at a slower pace. You are unlikely to show HIV symptoms but you can transmit HIV infection. If you are not receiving treatment, this stage can last from 5 to 10 years.
AIDS:. Without treatment, the virus will reproduce rapidly again and attack the CD4 cells. When your CD4 cells fall below 200 cells/mm3 (500 to 1,600 cells/mm3 is normal), you are likely to develop AIDS. You will be vulnerable to all kinds of infections – known as opportunistic infections – because of your weakened immunity.
HIV symptoms
HIV symptoms usually develop within a month after you get infected with the virus. HIV symptoms may last for a few weeks during the first stage of HIV infection, after which patients may not display any symptoms at all. Common HIV symptoms include the following:
Sore throat
Cough
Breathlessness
Prolonged fever
Headache
Aches and pains
Night sweats
Tiredness
Weight loss
Skin rash
Persistent diarrhoea
Mouth ulcers
Swollen lymph glands on the neck
Blurred vision
HIV prevention
HIV is one of the world’s most serious health challenges. As many as 35 million people, including 3.2 million children (<15 years old), were living with HIV/AIDS at the end of 2013, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Though HIV is highly contagious and incurable, it can be prevented from spreading. HIV prevention is two-pronged and includes protecting yourself from contracting HIV infection and preventing transmission of HIV infection to others.
HIV infection can be transmitted in the following ways:
Sexual intercourse: Unprotected sexual intercourse (vaginal, anal) and oral sex
Blood: Blood transfusion, sharing HIV-contaminated needles, syringes or other piercing instruments (e.g. for tattooing or acupuncture)
Mother to baby: During pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding
You can’t get HIV through regular social contact, hugging, kissing, or shaking hands. Nor is HIV transmitted through air, water, food, toilet seats or insect bites.
How to protect yourself from HIV infection
Avoid casual sex and limit your sex partners.
Always use condoms (male or female) correctly every time you have any kind of sexual activity, including oral sex.
Get regular check-ups for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) which increase your risk of developing HIV.
Use sterile needles/syringes and other piercing instruments, and don’t share these.
Accept only HIV-screened blood if you are getting a blood transfusion.
More frequent testing is recommended for the gay .
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Answer:
AIDS is a disease that can develop in people with HIV. It’s the most advanced stage of HIV. But just because a person has HIV doesn’t mean they’ll develop AIDS.
HIV kills CD4 cells. Healthy adults generally have a CD4 count of 500 to 1,500 per cubic millimeter. A person with HIV whose CD4 count falls below 200 per cubic millimeter will be diagnosed with AIDS.
A person can also be diagnosed with AIDS if they have HIV and develop an opportunistic infection or cancer that’s rare in people who don’t have HIV. An opportunistic infection, such as pneumonia, is one that takes advantage of a unique situation, such as HIV.
Untreated, HIV can progress to AIDS within a decade. There’s no cure for AIDS, and without treatment, life expectancy after diagnosis is about three years. This may be shorter if the person develops a severe opportunistic illness. However, treatment with antiretroviral drugs can prevent AIDS from developing.
If AIDS does develop, it means that the immune system is severely compromised. It’s weakened to the point where it can no longer fight off most diseases and infections. That makes the person vulnerable to a wide range of illnesses, including:
pneumonia
tuberculosis
oral thrush, a fungal infection in the mouth or throat
cytomegalovirus (CMV), a type of herpes virus
cryptococcal meningitis, a fungal infection in the brain
toxoplasmosis, a brain infection caused by a parasite
cryptosporidiosis, an infection caused by an intestinal parasite
cancer, including Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) and lymphoma
The shortened life expectancy linked with untreated AIDS isn’t a direct result of the syndrome itself. Rather, it’s a result of the diseases and complications that arise from having an immune system weakened by AIDS. Learn more about possible complications that can arise from HIV and AIDS.
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