HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is a virus that causes AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). It’s a virus that progressively weakens the immune system making our body more susceptible to infections and diseases. HIV from an infected person can be transmitted through various specific ways such as during unprotected sexual contact and sharing needles or syringes that has been contaminated with blood from a HIV positive person. This virus can also be passed from a mother to her child through the pregnancy and when the baby is drinking infected breast milk. (Medical News Today, 2012)
The replication of HIV is a multi-stage process and therefore is a potential target of antiretroviral drug. HIV infects a specific group of white blood cells that are imperative to the immune system which is known as helper T lymphocytes or helper T cells. Helper T cells play an important role for normal immune responses. (Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, 2012) HIV enters into a cell by the means of certain receptors that interact with protein complexes inside the virus. This complex binds to the helper T cell receptors and unfolds itself to facilitate the fusion of their membranes.
HIV enters the capsule releasing two RNA strands and three essential enzymes which were surrounded by an envelope. HIV is unable replicate on its own and instead leverages on the machinery of the host cell to produce new viral particles. Once the virus has infected a T cell, integrase(protein complex) transcribes its RNA into double helix DNA copy by means of viral enzyme reverse transcriptase. Reverse transcriptase lacks it’s ‘filtering’ function that other DNA synthesizing have, mutations arise as it replicates and handicap the immune system’s ability to fight the virus.
The vira...
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Different people define success in many different ways. What is considered success by one person may be viewed as failure by another person. Randy Shilts, a homosexual newspaper reporter / author, attempts to make fundamental changes in America’s opinion on AIDS. In Randy Shilts’s essay, "Talking AIDS to Death," he speaks of his experiences as an "AIDS celebrity." At the core of Shilts’s essay is the statement, "Never before have I succeeded so well; never before have I failed so miserably"(221). Shilts can see his accomplishments from two points of view- as a success and as a failure. Despite instant fame, Shilts is not satisfied with the effects his writings has on the general public. Shilts’s "success" and reasons for failure can both be considered when one decides whether or not his efforts were performed in vain.
Everyday researchers have proposed new methods of how to control the HIV virus from turning into AIDS. A combination of effective HIV medicines help stop the formation of new copies of HIV as it reproduces in your body. This technique helps to keep your CD-4 cell count up and your viral load down. CD-4 cells are one type of immune cells that assist to fight off the virus, the higher your count the stronger your immune system (Nakashima 77). Whereas, your viral load is a measure of HIV in your blood and your treatment goal is to have the lowest viral load possible. People with higher viral loads tend to progress to AIDS and become sick sooner than those with lower viral loads (Nakashima 80). Successful HIV medications can prevent other infections common with AIDS and can help you live longer.
HIV, also known as Human Immunodeficiency Virus, is a virus that attacks the body’s immune system. If left untreated, HIV reduces the number of CD4 cells in the body, which makes a person more likely to get infections or infection-related cancers. HIV can also lead to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), if it is not being treated (aids.gov). There is no effective cure for HIV, however with proper treatment and medical care, HIV can be controlled. In
Masur H, H. L. (2007). Treatment of human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. In A. D. Goldman L, Cecil Medicine (p. Chap 412). Philadelphia, PA: Saunders Elsevier.
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retro virus that causes AIDS. HIV is a virus that can only be contracted between human to human. HIV weakens your immune system because this virus is destroying cells that fight diseases and infection in your body. A virus can only produce itself by taking over a cell in the body of its h...
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) leads to the life threatening Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). HIV only lives in the blood and other bodily fluids. Concentrations of HIV are small in vomit, sweat, tears, and saliva and cannot be transmitted by those fluids. The main transmission is through fluids like semen, vaginal fluids, and rectal mucous during sexual contact, breast milk and amniotic fluid passing to children, and blood during transfusions and exposure. Beginning stages of HIV start with the acute infection. During the first 2 weeks to a month after exposure to the HIV infection, most infected individuals with display symptoms of a severe flu. The symptoms include fever, swollen glands, sore throat, rash, muscle and joint aches and pains, fatigue, and headache. The early period of infection is known as the “acute retroviral syndrome” (Stages, 2013). Once the virus is out of the acute stage it enters into the latency stage where it continues to replicate but no symptoms are shown. As the infection progresses and the immune system beco...
How Do Vaccines Work? How Do Vaccines Work? Department of Health, Jan. 2011. Web. The Web.
HIV is the human immunodeficiency virus; this virus can lead to acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or AIDS. Accoring to Avert, 2.6 million people became infected with HIV in 2009, there are now an estimated 33.3 million people around the world who are living with HIV. HIV is transmitted by the exchange of bodily fluids via sharing contaminated syringes, from infected mother to the child, and sexual contact. Contact with blood, semen, vaginal secretions, breast milk, or saliva that is contaminated with HIV, puts an individual at higher risk for contracting HIV. However, HIV cannot be transmitted by touch, coughing, or by bits from insect vectors.
(Accessed April 2014). 12Mayo Clinic Staff, Vaginitis March 2014 Available from: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/vaginitis/basics/definition/con-20022645 (Accessed April 2014).
HIV, or Human Immunodeficiency Virus, is a progressive disease that attacks and weakens the immune system causing the HIV-positive person to become more susceptible to any ailments and infections. Human Immunodeficiency Virus is caused by the transfer of bodily functions including blood, breast milk, semen, and vaginal secretions. Sex, including oral, vaginal, and anal, is the most common way of obtaining HIV. It can also be acquired by injecting a needle into your body that was used by someone who has HIV. The virus cannot be spread through the air or though food and water. You also cannot contract the virus from shaking a HIV-posit...
(2013, 04). What are the types of genetic tests?. Your Guide to Understanding Genetic Conditions. Retrieved 04, 2014, from http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/handbook/testing/uses
HIV is similar to other viruses like the common cold or the "flu". The main difference between the other viruses and HIV is that, the immune system can clear most viruses out of the human body, but it is not case with HIV. The human immune system cannot eradicate it, since the target of this virus is the immune system itself. Researchers are being conducted to figure out the reason for it.
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) first came to light in 1981. There has been a long and arduous global effort on the prevention of HIV/AIDS. HIV is a virus that is spread through body fluids that affect the specific T-cells of the immune system. Without treatment HIV infection leads to AIDS and there is no cure for AIDS. HIV infection can be controlled and the importance of primary pre...