Breaking the Stigma: Understanding and Supporting Those Living with HIV/AIDS

ACQUIRED IMMUNODEFICIENCY SYNDROME:

AIDS ( Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) is a chronic, potentially life- hanging condition caused by the human immunodeficiency virus( HIV). By damaging vulnerable system, HIV interferes with body’s capability to fight against the organisms that beget disease. Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome ( AIDS) is defined in terms of either a CD4 T cell count below 200 cells per µL( CD4 lymphocyte chance below 14 are considered to have AIDS) or the circumstance of specific conditions in association with an HIV infection.

The most severe form of HIV infection is AIDS. Human immunodeficiency virus is referred to as HIV. H-Human:

This particular contagion can only infect human beings. I-Immunodeficiency: HIV weaken vulnerable system by destroying important cells that fight disease and infection. V- virus: A contagion can only reproduce itself by taking over a cell in the body of its host. Virus can be insulated from body fluids, blood, semen, vaginal secretion, saliva, breast milk, tears, urine, cerebrospinal fluid, peritoneal fluid. Important cause of infection is unsafe sexual intercourse, participating unsterilized needles, blood and blood products. The presence of HIV in saliva, urine and tears isn’t significant to transmit infection. The casual,non-sexual contact doesn’t transmit infection. Also, HIV cannot be transmitted by a mosquito bite.

MODES OF TRANSMISSION:

• Sexual transmission: The most common way that HIV is spread is through unprotected heterosexual sexual encounter with an infected individual. Several sexually transmitted illnesses, such as syphilis, gonorrhoea, and genital ulcers, enhance the risk of transmission. Exposure to contaminated blood or blood products: Transfusions of contaminated blood or blood products, needlestick injuries, needle-sharing during intravenous medication usage, or medical injections performed using unkempt equipment are the second most common ways that HIV is spread.

• Mother to foetus: During pregnancy, childbirth, or through bone milk, HIV can be passed from mother to kid. Perinatal transmission is variable and dependent on viral cargo and mothers CD 4 count.

• Use of contaminated clotting factors by haemophiliacs: People living with haemophilia bear regular transfusions of clotting factors in order to maintain a normal blood clotting system. Thus, those haemophilia cases entering untested and unscreened clotting factors are at an extreme threat for constricting HIV via the blood products.

• Transplantation of infected tissues or organs : The risks of transplant related HIV infection are low. All organ and towel benefactors are screened for threat factors, and tested for HIV and other contagious agents that potentially could be transmitted through transplantation.

PRIMARY HIV SYNDROME:

Utmost people who are infected with HIV experience a short, flu- such like illness( also known as seroconversion illness) that occurs two to six weeks after infection. It’s estimated that up to 80 of people who are infected with HIV experience this illness. After this, HIV frequently causes no symptoms for several times. The most common symptoms are fever, sore throat, body rash, headache, diarrhoea, frazzle, common pain, muscle pain and lymphadenopathy.

As the primary HIV illness clears up, the HIV-infected individual stays asymptomatic for a long time. Yet, HIV typically continues to multiply, and the CD4 count gradually drops from its normal range of 500 to 1200 cells per L..Once CD4 count drops below 500 cells per μL, HIV infected person is at threat for opportunistic infections.

AIDS SYMPTOMS:

Signs and Symptoms of Common Opportunistic Infections include,

• Dry cough
•  Shortness of breath
•  Delicate or painful swallowing
•  Diarrhoea lasts for further than a week
•  White spots or unusual mars in and around the mouth
•  Pneumonia- such like symptoms,
•  Shaking chills or fever more than 100 F( 38 °C) for several weeks
•  Vision loss
•  Nausea
•  Abdominal cramps
•  Vomiting
•  Reddish brown, purple or pinkish blotches on or under the skin or inside the mouth, nose, or eyelids,
•  Seizures or lack of coordination Neurological diseases similar as
• Depression, memory loss, and confusion,
• Severe headaches
• Neck stiffness
• Coma.
  When the CD4 cells count drops below 200 cells per μL, person is considered to have advanced HIV disease. During late stage HIV infection, the threat of developing a life hanging illness is much lesser. Examples include
•  Esophagitis( an inflammation of the filling of the lower end of the oesophagus).
•  Infections to the nervous system( acute aseptic meningitis, subacute enceph- alitis, supplemental neuropathy).
• Pneumonia.
• Some cancers, similar as Kaposi’s sarcoma, invasive cervical cancer, lung cancer, rectal lymphomas , hepatocellular lymphomas , head and neck cancers, lymphomas etc.
• Toxoplasmosis( a disease which is caused by a sponger that infects the brain. It can also beget complaint in the eyes and lungs).
• Tuberculosis. Life- threatening disease, may be controlled and treated with proper HIV treatment. If CD4 count drops below 50 cells per count μL -then thesymptoms may include
• Persistent herpes-zoster infection(shingles)
• Oral candidiasis (thrush)
• Oral hairy leukoplakia
• Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS)
• Mycobacterium avium
• Cytomegalovirus infections
• Lymphoma
• Dementia
  Most deaths occur with CD4 counts below 50 cells per μL.Infants with HIV
  
  Symptoms in infants include
• Failure to thrive
• Persistent oral candidiasis
• Hepatosplenomegaly
• Lymphadenopathy
• Recurrent diarrhoea
• Recurrent bacterial infections
• Abnormal neurologic findings.

AIDS DIAGNOSIS:

There are several types of tests that screen blood( and sometimes slaver) for HIV infection. Newer tests can descry the presence of HIV antigen, a protein, up to 20 days before than standard tests. It’s vindicated by demonstrating certain serological tests.
Performance of medical tests is constantly described in terms of

• Perceptivity: The chance of the results that will be positive when HIV is present.
• Particularity: is nothing but the chance of the results that will be negative when HIV is not present. All individual tests have limitations, and sometimes their use may also able to produce an incorrect or questionable results.
• False positive: The test erroneously Indicates that HIV is present in anon-infected person.
• False negative: The test erroneously indicates that HIV is absent in an infected person. Tests used for the opinion of HIV infection in a particular person bear a high degree of both perceptivity and particularity.Antibody Tests
  The most common HIV tests look for HIV antibodies in body, rather than looking for HIV itself.
• ELISA :The enzyme- linked immuno- sorbent assay( ELISA) was the first webbing test generally employed for HIV. ELISA tests use blood, oral fluid, or urine to descry HIV antibodies. However, will need to take another. If result from either of these tests is positive test, called a Western spot test, to confirm that result. It can take up to two weeks to confirm a positive result.
• Western spot test: Like the ELISA procedure, the western spot is an antibody discovery test. Still, unlike the ELISA system, the viral proteins are separated first and paralyzed. In posterior way, the list of serum antibodies to specific HIV proteins is imaged.Antigen tests:
  These tests aren’t as common as antibody tests, but they can be used to diagnose HIV infection before from 1- 3 weeks after first infected with HIV. Antigen tests bear a blood sample.
• The PCR test (Polymerase chain reaction test): may detect HIV in the blood within two to three weeks of infection and can detect the inheritable material of HIV it self. Babies born to HIV-positive maters are tested with a special PCR test, because their blood contains their mama ‘s HIV antibodies for several months. This means, they would test HIV-positive on a standard antibody test but a PCR test can helps to determine whether the babies have HIV themselves.
  

  THERAPEUTIC APPROACH TO HIV INFECTION:

  There’s presently no cure for AIDS or HIV infection. Although antiretroviral treatment can suppress HIV and can delay AIDS related illness for numerous times to live a long and healthy life, it can not clear the contagion fully.

  A combination of antiretroviral medicines, called antiretroviral remedy( ART), also known as largely active antiretroviral remedy( HAART), is veritably effective in reducing the quantum of HIV in the bloodstream. This is measured by the viral cargo( how important free contagion is set up in the blood). Precluding the contagion from reproducing( replicating) can ameliorate T- cell counts and help the vulnerable system recover from HIV infection.

  In 1987, a medicine called Azidothimidine( AZT) came the first approved treatment for HIV complaint. Since also, roughly 30 medicines have been approved to treat people living with HIV/ AIDS, and more are under development. Eg.Didinosine, Stavudine, Zalcitabineetc.

  The classes of anti-HIV medicines include:

•  Non-nucleoside rear paraphrase- tase impediments( NNRTIs): NNRTIs disable a protein demanded by HIV to make clones of itself. Examples include Efavirenz, Etravirine and Nevirapine. 
• Transcriptase Nucleoside reverse inhibits ( NRTIs): NRTIs are defective performances of structure blocks that HIV needs to make clones of itself. Exemplifications include Abacavir and the combination medicines Emtricitabine and Tenofovir and Lamivudine and Zidovudine. 
• Protease inhibitors( PIs): PIs disable protease, another protein that HIV needs to make clones of itself. Examples include Atazanavir, Darunavir, Fosamprenavir and Ritonavir. 
• Entry or emulsion inhibits: These medicines block HIV’s entry into CD4 cells. Examples include Enfuvirtide and Maraviroc. 
• Integrase inhibitors: It’s a disable integrase, a protein that HIV uses to infect CD4 T cells. The most common integrase asset is Raltegravir. PREVENTION: Certain educational and motivational programmes can effectively reduce the spread of HIV and AIDS. 
• Safe sex practice: similar as using latex condoms, are effective in precluding HIV transmission. But there’s a threat of getting the infection, indeed with the use of condoms. 
• Abstain: ( Abstain from coitus) Not having vaginal, anal, or oral coitus is the surest way to avoid HIV. Abstinence or detention of sexual onset can reduce transmission rate especially in youthful population who haven’t started sexual exertion. 
• Medicine abuse and needle sharing: Intravenous medicine use is an important factor in HIV transmission in developed countries. Participating needles can expose druggies to HIV and other contagions. Strategies similar as needle exchange programs are used to reduce the infections caused by medicine abuse. 
• Body fluid exposure: Exposure to HIV can be controlled by employing preventives to reduce the threat of exposure to polluted blood. At all times, health care workers should use walls( gloves, masks, defensive eyewear, securities and gowns). Frequent and thorough washing of the skin incontinently after being defiled with blood or other fleshly fluids can reduce the chance of infection. 
• Pregnancy: Anti-HIV drugs can harm the future child. But an effective treatment plan can help HIV transmission from mama to baby. Preventives have to be taken to cover the baby’s health. Bone feeding may have to give way to bottle feeding if the mother is infected.