Human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, is the
virus that causes AIDS. HIV/AIDS weakens a person's ability to fight
infections. It is contracted through unprotected sex or needle sharing. An HIV
test confirms diagnosis. Medications may suppress the virus and delay the onset
of AIDS. There were approximately 36.7 million people living
with HIV at the end of 2015.
The Symptoms of HIV/AIDS
The First Stage:
HIV infection
comes in three stages. The first stage is called acute infection or
seroconversion, and it typically happens within 2 to 6 weeks after exposure or
becoming infected. This is when the body's immune system puts up a fight
against HIV. The symptoms of acute infection look similar to those of
other viral illnesses and are often compared to those of the flu. The symptoms may
last a week or two and then completely go away as the virus goes into a
non-symptomatic stage.
The initial symptoms of
acute HIV infection may include:
- Headache
- Diarrhoea
- Nausea and vomiting
- Fatigue
- Aching muscles
- Sore throat
- Red rash that doesn't
itch, usually on the torso.
- Fever
The Second Stage:
The Period without Symptoms of HIV
After the first seroconversion period, the immune system loses the battle with HIV and symptoms go away. HIV infection goes into its second stage, which can be a long period without symptoms, called the asymptomatic (or latent ) period. This is when people may not know they are infected and can pass HIV on to others. This period can last 10 or more years.
During this period without symptoms, HIV is slowly killing the CD4 T-cells and destroying the immune system. Blood tests during this time can reveal the number of these CD4 T-cells. Normally, a person has a CD4 T-cell count between 450 and 1,400 cells per microliter. This number changes constantly, depending on a person's state of health. For an HIV-infected person, the number of CD4 T-cells steadily drops, making them vulnerable to other infections -- and in danger of developing AIDS.
The Third Stage:
- HIV Infection and AIDS
- AIDS (acquired immune deficiency
syndrome) is the advanced stage of HIV infection. When the CD4 T-cell number
drops below 200, people are diagnosed with AIDS. Someone infected with HIV can
also be diagnosed with AIDS if they have an “AIDS defining illness” such as
Kaposi’s sarcoma (a form of skin cancer) or pneumonia (a
lung disease).
- Fortunately, combination medications used
to treat HIV -- a ''cocktail'' – can help rebuild the immune system. These
drugs can be expensive and pose challenges with side effects, but it is
critical to not stop taking them without talking to your doctor. It
is also important not to take part of the medications without taking the
others. People with low CD4 T-cells may also receive drugs to prevent infections.
These preventative medications should be taken until the CD4 count has
improved.
Some people don't know they were infected with HIV, and only discover their HIV infection after experiencing some of these HIV-related symptoms:
- Being tired all of the time
- Swollen lymph nodes in the
neck region
- Fever lasting for more than 10
days
- Night sweats
- Unexplained weight loss
- Purplish spots on the skin that
don't go away
- Shortness of breath
- Severe, long-lasting diarrhoea
- Yeast infections in the mouth,
throat, or vagina
- Easy bruising or unexplained
bleeding
Cure for HIV:
Perhaps the most important development has been the case of the Berlin Patient (Timothy Ray Brown), the first person to be cured of HIV, which was first reported in 2008. The case provided a proof of principle that a cure was possible. Up until that point, AIDS research was largely a process of discovery. Now, knowing the key scientific questions that need to be answered, we’re moving into a new phase of problem-solving research that is more of a technological challenge. One of the technique used to increase the life span of HIV patients is Antiretroviral therapy (ART).
Antiretroviral therapy (ART):
Antiretroviral therapy
(ART) is the combination of several antiretroviral medicines used to slow the
rate at which HIV makes copies of itself (multiplies) in the body. A
combination of three or more antiretroviral medicines is more effective than
using just one medicine (monotherapy) to treat HIV.
The use of three or
more antiretroviral medicines-sometimes referred to as an anti-HIV "cocktail"-is
currently the standard treatment for HIV infection. So far, this treatment
offers the best chance of preventing HIV from multiplying, which
allows your immune system to stay healthy. The goal of antiretroviral
therapy is to reduce the amount of virus in your body (viral load) to a level
that can no longer be detected with current blood tests.
Antiretroviral
medicines that are often used to treat HIV include:
- Nucleoside/nucleotide reverse
transcriptase inhibitors, also called nucleoside analogs, such as abacavir,emtricitabine
, and tenofovir. These medicines are often combined for best
results.
- Nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase
inhibitors (NNRTIs), such as efavirenz, etravirine, and nevirapine.
- Protease inhibitors (PIs), such as atazanavir,darunavir ,
and ritonavir.
- Entry inhibitors, such as enfuvirtide and maraviroc.
- Integrase inhibitors, such as
dolutegravir and raltegravir.
Some medicines are
available combined together in one pill. This reduces the number of pills to be
taken each day.
The U.S. National
Institutes of Health recommends using one of the following programs for people
who begin treatment for HIV
- Efavirenz + tenofovir +
emtricitabine
- Ritonavir-boosted atazanavir +
tenofovir + emtricitabine
- Ritonavir-boosted darunavir +
tenofovir + emtricitabine
- Raltegravir + tenofovir +
emtricitabine
Other drug combinations
are approved and may be used in some cases.
Also, studies have
shown that if you are not infected with HIV, taking antiretroviral medicines
can protect you against HIV. But to keep your risk low, you still need to use
safer sex practices.
