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Background on AIDS and HIV
What is HIV/AIDS and how is it treated? Is AIDS
always fatal?
AIDS is caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). HIV does
not kill people directly. Instead, the virus attacks the body’s
immune system, weakening it to the point where it is unable to
fight infections. While HIV/AIDS sufferers frequently die from
infectious diseases such as pneumonia, meningitis, or a rare
cancer called Kaposi’s Sarcoma, sometimes even the flu
can be fatal.
Doctors test for HIV by screening blood to see if a person has developed
HIV antibodies. Developing antibodies is how the immune system
fights off infection. Each type of antibody is disease-specific.
Therefore, if a person tests positive for the presence of HIV
antibodies, then they must have the HIV virus. (To learn more
about how antibodies are formed, see Cells
Alive!).
On the other hand, since the antibodies can take up to three
months to develop, a negative result does not necessarily rule
out HIV – depending
on when the test was conducted in regards to suspected exposure
to the HIV virus.
A diagnosis of full-blown AIDS is made based on specific medical
criteria – such as the number of infections an individual
suffers, and an especially low white T-cell count.
How is HIV/AIDS Transmitted?
Unlike the highly contagious SARS virus, which doctors called a ‘superspreader,’ HIV
is not transmitted through casual contact. Instead, transmission
occurs through the exchange of bodily fluids such as semen, saliva,
or blood. The HIV virus can enter the body through:
- sexual intercourse. This includes intercourse between both
homosexual and heterosexual couples, and is the the most
common means of transmission;
- blood transfusions using HIV infected blood;
- the sharing of infected needles, syringes or other drug
paraphernalia among drug users; and,
- HIV positive mothers, who pass the virus to the baby, either
during pregnancy or through breast milk.
When AIDS first hit North America, people feared they could catch
it through indirect contact with an infected person – such
as through swimming pools or public toilets. The HIV virus, however,
is not transmitted in this way.
There were also fears that HIV could be transmitted to humans by
infected mosquitoes, like the West Nile Virus. These fears also
proved groundless.
There have been a few cases where an individual became infected
after sharing scissors or other sharp instruments with an HIV-infected
person. There is also one recorded case of an American dentist
transmitting the virus to his patients. These incidences, however,
are extremely uncommon.
What are the Symptoms of HIV/AIDS?
Usually, persons infected with HIV develop flu-like symptoms within
three months of the initial infection. This is an indication
the immune system is developing antibodies to fight the virus.
Once the antibodies have formed, the HIV virus can lie dormant
for up to ten years. During this symptom-free period many persons
remain unaware they have contracted the HIV virus, and may unknowingly
infect sex partners.
Once the HIV virus becomes active, some of the symptoms individuals
may experience include the following:
- increased fatigue;
- weight loss;
- night sweats;
- vision change;
- headaches;
- warts or boils;
- thrush (a mouth fungal infection);
- chronic diarrhea;
- shingles (in patients who have had chicken pox ); or,
- an increasing number and severity of opportunistic infections
(infections that don’t normally cause difficulty
in people with healthy immune systems).
In North America, AIDS patients frequently die of pneumonia or
a rare cancer called Kaposi’s Sarcoma, while tuberculosis
is the more common cause of death in Africa.
Learn More about HIV/AIDS
and opportunistic infections
How is AIDS Treated?
Fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic takes place on three different levels:
- Preventative measures, to prevent the
virus from spreading. These measures include educating the public on the dangers
of high-risk behaviour such as engaging in unprotected
sex, having sex with numerous partners without knowing
their sexual histories, and sharing needles in the drug
community. Practical measures include providing free condoms
in schools and public washrooms, and implementing needle
exchange programs for drug users. In the medical community,
practitioners routinely wear latex gloves when dealing
with bodily fluids to limit potential exposure and possible
infection;
- Improved treatment for HIV/AIDS patients. This
includes developing new drug classes that can slow down
the virus’ attack
on the immune system, and speeding up the approval process
for these drugs within the health care system; and,
- Increased research on the development
of an AIDS Vaccine. Ever since scientists
first isolated the HIV virus in 1983, they have been
attempting to develop a preventive vaccine that will
stimulate an immune system response to HIV before
a person is actually infected with the virus. While not
an absolute cure, a good preventive vaccine could seriously
slow down, or even stop, the HIV virus in the human body.
Creating an AIDS vaccine, however, has proven difficult
for a number of reasons. For one thing, the virus mutates
constantly. Furthermore, scientists developed vaccines
for infectious diseases such as polio by studying recovered
patients to learn about immune system responses. This isn’t
possible with AIDS, since no one has ever fully recovered.
Still, South Africa has begun testing a preventive AIDS
vaccine on teenagers.
Check here to learn more about research
into an AIDS vaccine
Do People Always Die From HIV/AIDS?
When the first AIDS cases were diagnosed in the United States in
the early 1980s, most patients died within two years. Today,
advances in treatment mean that an HIV infection is not always
fatal. The new antiretroviral drugs can slow down the virus’ attack
on the immune system, to the point where some individuals are
living twenty years or even longer. (First diagnosed as HIV positive
in 1989, Canadian AIDS activist Janet Conners has been living
with HIV for 25 years).
Persons diagnosed with full-blown AIDS usually die within five years,
but there are exceptions. The death rate is much higher in countries
where poverty rates are high, and where most people don’t
have access to antiretroviral drug treatment.
Learn more about Antiretroviral
Treatment
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