Introduction HIV is a virus that attacks the immune system, which is our body’s natural defense against illness. HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. AIDS (or acquired immune deficiency syndrome) is the last stage in a progression of diseases resulting from HIV. The diseases include several unusual and severe infections, cancers and debilitating illnesses, resulting in severe weight loss, and diseases affecting the brain. There is no cure for HIV infections or AIDS.
The causes of HIV/AIDS
You can get HIV from contact with infected blood, semen, or vaginal fluids. Most people get the virus by having unprotected sex with someone who has HIV. The human immunodeficiency virus is a retrovirus that causes HIV infection and over time
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HIV-2 can be detected using the same test as HIV-1. There are 8 known HIV-2 groups, Groups A through H. Only groups A and B are pandemic. Group A is mainly found in West Africa but it has been seen the Europe, Asia, and the United States whereas Group B is limited to West Africa.
What are symptoms of HIV/AIDS?
Some people may experience a flu-like illness within 2-4 weeks after HIV infection. Some people may not feel sick during this stage. Flu-like symptoms can include fever, chills, rash, night sweats, muscle aches, sore throat, sleepiness, swollen lymph nodes, and mouth ulcers. Although each case is different, symptoms between men and women vary. Women with HIV tend to have problems related to reproductive health, including changes to their menstrual cycle or absence of periods. Bacterial and yeast infections may be more common in women who are HIV-positive. Risk of STDs, such as gonorrhea, chlamydia, and HPV, are increased in women who are infected. Also, women are more susceptible towards pelvic inflammatory diseases. Men infected with HIV go through three stages-acute illness, asymptomatic period, advanced infection. Acute illness lasts until the body has created antibodies against HIV. After the initial symptoms disappear, HIV may not cause any other symptoms for months or years. During this time, the virus reproduces and begins to weaken your immune system. You won’t feel or look sick, but the virus is still active, and you can easily transmit it to
HIV has flu-like symptoms. The symptoms include fever, chills, rash, night sweats, sore throat, etc. If a person doesn’t take a medicine called ART (antiretroviral treatment) their immune system will weaken and then they will develop AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). The symptoms of AIDS are rapid weight loss, extreme and unexplained tiredness, pneumonia, memory loss, depression, etc. Symptoms of HIV can start between a few months and more than ten years. HIV can only be spread through certain bodily fluids. Most of the time it is spread sexually. It can spread by blood, semen, pre-seminal fluid, rectal fluids, vaginal fluids, and breast milk. In the United States HIV is usually spread through anal or vaginal sex without taking medicine to prevent HIV or using a condom. HIV is also spread by sharing needles or syringes. HIV can live in a used needle for up to forty-two days. HIV does not survive long outside the body. It also cannot reproduce once it is outside its host. HIV also cannot be spread by tears, sweat, or saliva as long as it is not mixed with blood. HIV is a biosafety level three agent which meant it
When infected by HIV in the early stages the immune system tries fight against the virus which is the cause of the symptoms sufferers start to experience. Once these symptoms begin to leave your body generally suffers do not experience any other symptoms afterwards. However due to the damage done to the immune system after years of suffering from the disease it is likely to experience weight loss, hot sweats, skin issues and serious illnesses. It is vital that when testing for HIV the 5 C’s are followed which have been placed by the world health organisation which are as
Some people live with it for years before being diagnosed and some experience symptoms within a few weeks. Symptoms are different for everyone but can include the usual flu-like symptoms which are “fever, headaches, tiredness, and enlarged lymph glands,” (HIV Facts, n.d.). These are some of the symptoms I had.
There are two kinds of HIV, HIV 1 and HIV 2. HIV 1 is the most common in the world and HIV 2 is typically found only in West Africa. HIV 1 is responsible for stain M in its gene and is mostly responsible for the spread of the virus making it an epidemic. Today, there is an estimated of 32 million people with HIV. HIV is treated with a combination of three different drugs called antiretroviral. This helps to keep the amount of HIV in your body low and from getting sick alot.
Primary HIV infection is the first stage and only lasts for a few weeks. Flu-like illnesses may be present during this stage. The second stage is known as clinically asymptomatic stage and typically lasts for an average of ten years. Although major symptoms might not exist during this stage, the HIV-positive person may experience swollen glands. Symptomatic HIV infection is the third stage. As the immune system continues to fail, symptoms surface and become miniscule at first then later leading to more prevalent symptoms. This third stage is generally caused by illnesses, involving cancers and infections, which the immune system would normally fight off but is not able to because the immune system is too weak. Finally, AIDS, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, develops and is the final stage of HIV. A person is diagnosed with AIDS when they show the symptom called an opportunistic infection. This is when infections take advantage of the weakened immune system. HIV leads into life threatening AIDS and causes the infected individual to feel escalating amounts of pain such as neurotic pain, tremendous headaches, gastrointestinal pain, chest pain, and even emotional pain such as depression. This pain can be intense enough to cease the individual from living a productively normal life. HIV and AIDS can strike anyone at any point in their life and should be taken seriously.
AIDS, which stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, has a set of symptoms that has caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, or HIV. This type of virus is considered to be when a person’s immune system is too weak to defend advanced HIV infections and how it develops certain symptoms and illnesses that will destroy the immune system. Most of the infections are harmless for healthy people, but the ones that have AIDS can die from the same diseases. “There is no cure for HIV and AIDS yet. However, treatment can control
HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus, If left untreated, HIV attacks the the body’s nervous system and also cells that try to stop diseases or std’s, after a while HIV will kill to many of those cells to the point where there won't be enough to fight off any diseases and will start to break down the immune system. Most commonly from unprotected sex and sharng needles with the infected. HIV is transmitted from blood, sperm, vaginal fluids, and breast milk. HIV cannot be transmitted from saliva, HIV can also be transmitted from damaged tissue, open cuts, kissing or touching, mosquitoes, or blood transfusions. Aids is the more advanced stage of HIV. The symptoms are similar for both sexes-> chills, fatigue, fever, genital sores, mouth sores, muscle aches, rashes, sore throat, and
HIV is a disease with multiple stages of severity. Persons who acquire this disease may unknowingly be a carrier for years without realizing it. At early onset of acute HIV infection (Stage 1), a few weeks after exposure, viral replication is rapid and there may be mild, generalized flulike symptoms such as low fever, fatigue, arthralgia, and sore throat (VanMeter, 2014). Following this brief illness, if any, of stage I the person would then go into Stage 2 or clinical latency. This period can also be referred to as asymptomatic HIV infection due to the low levels of HIV reproductions. For some, this period can last many years to a full decade or beyond, but without treatment many will go through this phase quickly. Those that test
As the disease becomes more severe and the virus persistently destroys the immune system, this is known as early HIV infection. With the virus becoming more intense symptoms may vary from fatigue, once again swollen lymph nodes, diarrhea, weight loss, fever, oral yeast infection, and even shingles. With no treatment of the HIV infection, this virus will become AIDS within ten years. With AIDS present the immune system has been extremely damaged and weakened, like those common illnesses such as the flu would be extremely more dangerous because the immune system is so broken down. The sign and symptoms of this final phase of HIV is soaking night sweats, persistent fever, bad diarrhea, rash or bumps, odd white spots or uncomfortable ulcers on the tongue or even around the mouth, weight loss, and random persistent fatigue.
Within the first few weeks of contracting HIV, 70 percent of people will experience flu-like symptoms—fever, headache, upset stomach, and muscle soreness are among the most common initial signs of an HIV infection. A positive diagnosis is possible at this stage, but many will not associate their symptoms with an HIV infection, unaware they have contracted the
HIV and AIDS are sometimes used interchangeably, although there is a significant difference, and some HIV positive individuals will never develop Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Testing HIV positive means there are antibodies present in the system. HIV is classified into two phases: symptomatic and asymptomatic. Individuals show signs of a compromised immune system during the symptomatic phase, although with treatment advances, many are living asymptomatically. The progress of the illness can often be evaluated by looking at one’s CD4 and viral load
HIV stands for (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). If not treated properly, it can be turned into a disease called AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome). HIV affects the body's immune system, primarily targeting the T cells. In result of this, the human body is more vulnerable to get more infections
Symptoms vary depending on what stage the person is in. There’s three stages. The early stage, the clinical latency stage, and AIDS. Not all
HIV is the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS. A member of a group of viruses called retroviruses, HIV infects human cells and uses the energy and nutrients provided by those cells to grow and reproduce. AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) is a disease in which the body's immune system breaks down and is unable to fight off certain infections, known as "opportunistic infections," and other illnesses that take advantage of a weakened immune system. When a person is infected with HIV, the virus enters the body and lives and multiplies primarily in the white blood cells. These are the immune cells that normally protect us from disease.
HIV is a virus that is spread almost all over the world. Although in some places health care isn’t as developed and therefore it spreads more in those regions. Sub-Saharan Africa holds more than 70%, 25 million, of all HIV positive people in the world. Second highest is Eastern Europe together with Central Asia with 1.3 million. It is spread over most of the world, including Asia and the Pacific, the Caribbean, Central and South America, North Africa and the Middle East and Western and Central Europe (“The Regional Picture”).