Human Immunodeficiency Virus, also known as HIV, is the virus that causes the disease known as AIDS, also known as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified AIDS as a pandemic disease, meaning it has spread to a very wide geographic area.
AIDS causes a decrease in the body’s self-healing mechanism and many opportunistic infections like tuberculosis, pneumonia, fungal infection, diarrhea, etc. affect the body. As the name implies, HIV virus causes a deficiency of immunity in humans, which in turn leads to a range of disease conditions, primarily due to seriously impaired immunity due to the invasion of the virus.
The incidence of HIV:
Approximately 0.26 million children died of AIDS in 2009, and it is estimated that 0.6% of the world’s population has AIDS. Between 1981 and 2006, over 25 million people died from HIV infection.
About HIV virus:
The HIV virus, which is believed to have originated from chimpanzees and exists in two types, HIV type I and HIV type II, with type I being the more common, is the causative organism of AIDS. HIV virus was found in some gay people who had the then-unknown infection, and was discovered in 1982 by two scientists, Robert Gallo and Luc Montagnier, individually.
The majority of HIV infections worldwide are due to HIV-1, which is also more dangerous and contagious. HIV-2, which is more prevalent in West African nations, is known to cause about 5% of HIV infections.
HIV virus transmission can occur through these fluids, including blood, semen, vaginal fluid, pre-ejaculation fluid (pre-cum), and breast milk. HIV can also spread through genital, anal, or anal routes through sexual contact. HIV never spreads through air or touch.
HIV, which is primarily a sexually transmitted disease, must be noted that it cannot be transmitted by touching healthy skin to healthy skin. Infected syringes used by medical professionals, nurses, drug addicts, tattoo artists, etc. constitute another major source of infection.
HIV infection
HIV attacks white blood cells, known as CD4 cells, which are fighter cells. As a result, CD4 cells get destroyed and decrease in number, which causes immune or defense mechanism to collapse. As the number of CD4 cells keeps reducing, the patient continues to get more susceptible to infections like colds, chest infections, tuberculosis, and urinary tract infections.
The time it takes for AIDS symptoms to manifest varies from patient to patient and depends on factors like the patient’s immunity, the number of viral episodes they have experienced, and environmental factors.
Anti-retroviral therapy may extend the lives of HIV-infected patients, who typically develop AIDS within ten years of HIV infection, though some may progress much more quickly and some will take much longer.
When a person becomes infected with HIV, a period of rapid viral multiplication occurs, resulting in an abundance of virus in the blood (there may be millions of viruses per milliliter of blood during this primary infection).
Symptoms of AIDS
For days or even months, HIV infection can go undetected and unnoticed.
- Early Symptoms
- Late symptoms
Early symptoms
It has been noted that a small number of patients may experience early HIV-related symptoms, some of which may be mistaken for influenza.
- Low-grade fever
- Headache
- Nausea
- Tiredness
Late Symptoms
The symptoms listed below may be warning signs of late-stage HIV infection and may appear 4–7 years after HIV infection:
- rapid (more than 15%) loss of weight
- Relapsing fever
- infections caused by all types of bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi
- Excessive fatigue
- lymph node growth in the groin, armpits, and other places
- a week or more of diarrhea
- Recurring Pneumonia
- disorders of the nervous system, including memory loss
increased risk of cervical cancer, lymphoma, cancer of the lymph nodes, and Kaposi’s sarcoma.
2-4 weeks after exposure, many patients may experience acute HIV infection, which presents with symptoms similar to the flu.
- Fever
- Swelling of Lymph nodes
- Skin rash
- Body-ache
- Weakness
- Recurrent nonhealing oral ulcers
- Headache
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Swelling of liver/spleen
- Weight loss
Despite the fact that the patient is much more contagious during this time and these symptoms are frequently mistaken for those of a common viral infection rather than HIV infection, identifying the syndrome can be crucial.
Diagnosis
HIV can be detected using certain tests in blood or other body fluids.
- Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)
- Western blot test
- Immunofluorescence assay (IFA)
Vaccines for HIV:
HIV infection cannot be prevented by a vaccine at this time.
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