HIV/ AIDS

HIV/AIDS

What is it? Human immuno-deficiency virus

(HIV/AIDS) How many get it? 40,000 people in US are infected

each year Over 1 million people in the US

are living with HIV Symptoms:

Can take up to 10 years or longer to have symptoms

Unexplained weight loss Flu like symptoms Diarrhea Fatigue Headaches Sever or recurring yeast

infections

How is it spread? Unprotected oral, anal, and

vaginal sex Sharing contaminated needles Mother to baby Treatment: NO CURE! Medicine can slow down process Early treatment makes a big

difference Consequences:

Increased risk for infection of other STDs

HIV is deadliest STDs Become more vulnerable to

certain cancers, infections, and pneumonia

What is AIDS/HIV?

HIV- human immunodeficiency virusA virus that attacks the immune system

AIDS – Acquired immune deficiency syndromeA disease in which the immune system of the

patient is weakened

The Origin of AIDS

In 1999 researches discover origin in subspecies's of chimpanzees

Native to west equatorial AfricaThought to be spread to humans through

the hunting of the chimpanzee and transmitted through infected blood

Coming to America

The earliest presence of AID's in American is thought to be in the 1970’s

Doctor reports from Los Angels and New York show a rare deadly form of cancer rising in males that were involved with other males

In 1982, doctors labeled this new disease AIDSDuring the 80’s as many as 150,000 people a

year were becoming infected; this number dropped to about 40,000 per year in the 90’s

Why teens are at risk?

The number of AIDS cases is decreasing but the number of HIV infections is not declining from those ranging 13 -24 years of age.

The reason for this is new treatments and drug therapies that are allowing patients to live longer

How HIV attacks body

Attaches to the surface of the cellCore of the virus enters cell and goes to

nucleusVirus makes copy of genetic materialNew virus assembles at surface of cellNew virus breaks away from cell

destroying it

What this does to the body?

HIV virus enters certain cells of the immune systemT cells- help lymphocytes identify and destroy invading

pathogens

Once the virus takes over and copies itself, it destroys the cell when it breaks out

This process repeats itself continuously destroying the number of T cells that help fight off invading pathogens

AIDS vs. HIV

As the virus begins to duplicate the number of T cells begins to decrease and the body is weakened to fight infection

The body is susceptible to opportunistic infectionsInfections that occur in individuals who do not have

healthy immune systems and are difficult to treatThis process takes place over months and

years; the virus does not become AIDS until the number of T cells drops below a certain number

How it is transmitted

Sexual intercourse – secretions from the infected partner enter through any cuts or sores that may be caused from Std’s; or the transmission of fluid

Sharing Needles- Any injection of drugs that punctures the skin if infected can be transmitted from person to person

Mother to baby – through the umbilical cord and during delivery. Also through the mothers breast milk.

**With the use of antiviral drugs, mothers can drop the risk of transmission down to 1-2 %**

Becoming Infected

Just like many STDs, many people infected with HIV show no symptoms and do not receive treatment for several years

Although a person is infectious immediately, symptoms may not show for 6 months to 10 years.

Half of people infected develop symptoms in first three to six weeks

Symptoms

Symptoms that do appear in first couple weeks include: fever, rash, headache, body aches, and swollen glands

These symptoms disappear within one week to a month and are often mistaken for a viral infection

Once symptoms disappear the infected person enters the asymptomatic stage.

Stages of the Infection: Asymptomatic

Asymptomatic Stage- a period of time during which infected person has no symptoms. This also includes those that show symptoms in the first few weeks.

During this time the virus continues to grow inside the body

At this time the immune system will keep pace with the infection generating billions of new cells until the HIV takes over and infects and destroys most of the cells in the immune system

Stages of Infection: Symptomatic

Symptomatic Stage – the infected person with HIV has symptoms of infections due to the severe drop in immune cells (helper T cells)

These symptoms include: swollen glands, weight loss, and yeast infections

Stages of Infection: AIDS

AIDS – Presence of HIV infectionSeverely damaged immune system (measured

by number of helper T cells)Appearance of one or more opportunistic

infectionsBy this time HIV has reached the brain cells

causing difficulty remembering and thinking

Detecting the infection

EIA testing- If person thinks they are exposed the will get tested.EIA test responds to antibodies in the bloodThe initial test can cause inaccurate results

Retesting – If the EIA test is positive they will retest using the same EIA test to rule out any inaccuracies

Western Blot Test- if the repeated test is positive a a western blot test is performed. The most common test for HIV in the United States If done properly test is 100% accurate If positive individual is referred to as HIV-positive

Inaccuracy of EIA

A false negative: Test shows the infected individual test negative

for infection when the person is HIV-positiveMost people take three to four weeks and up to

six months for antibodies to be present in the immune system

If tested before antibodies are present, the test will show a negative result.

Inaccuracy of EIA

False Positive:Test shows individual is positive for HIV but the

individual did not contract the infectionCertain health conditions will cause the test to

show a positive result for HIV antibodies when there are none present

These conditions are: hemophilia, hepatitis, and pregnancy

Treating the Infection

There is NO cure for HIV/AIDSThere are drug cocktails – combination of

drugs- available to slow progressionSome treatments had severe side effects

causing people to stop treatment. Stopping treatment allows virus to mutate

and new drug resistant strains of the virus are developing

Health Services Currently Available

There are currently drugs that can help treat HIV and prevent the complications of opportunistic infections

These drug treatments will only improve the quality of life they do not cure the disease

Treatment can be costly, exceeding $1,000 per month

Also, some countries do not have all of the treatments available

The Continuing Problem

The new reports of AIDS cases are decreasing

This is impart to the drug cocktails slowing down the progression of HIV to AIDS

In the year 2002 nearly 5 million people had become infected

At the end of 2002 an estimated 40 million people had been are carrying the virus

Pandemic

HIV is now considered a PandemicPandemic – a global outbreak of

infectious diseasesBy 2010 between 50 – 70 million people

will be infected and living with HIV/AIDS