HIV
• Definition
· AIDS is the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome which was first characterized in 1981.
· HIV is the Human Immunodeficiency Virus and was first isolated in 1983 and was identified as the cause of AIDS in 1984.
· AIDS is diagnosed in an individual who is infected with the HIV virus and also has a special blood test indicating a specific blood cell type (CD4+ T cell ) is less than 200 or has infections that would not occur someone with a normal immune system.
• Overview
The HIV virus is transmitted by:
· sexual contact
· contaminated blood products
· infected needle
· infected mother to fetus
· There is no evidence that HIV can be transmitted by casual contact or insect bites.
· Worldwide there are about 33.2 million individuals infected with the HIV virus and almost one million in the United States
• Symptoms
· Patients with HIV infection may have no symptoms for up to 10 years after exposure.
· Symptoms common in HIV infection include:
· fever
· night sweats
· weight loss
• Complications
• Opportunistic infections result from damage to the immune system by the HIV virus and include:
· Bacillary angiomatosis
· Candidal esophagitis
· CMV retinitis
· Cryptococcal meningitis
· Molluscum contagiosum
· Oral candidiasis
· Pneumocystis pneumonia
· Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML)
· TB
· Toxoplasmosis
• Cancer resulting from damage to the immune system by the HIV virus and include:
· Cervical carcinoma
· Central nervous system lymphoma
· Kaposi sarcoma
· Non-Hodgkin lymphoma
• Treatment
· Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) is the combination of at least 3 anti-viral(anti-HIV) medications
References
JAMA. 2006 Aug 16;296(7):892. [PMID: 16905793]
Am J Epidemiol. 1999 Aug 1;150(3):306-11. [PMID: 10430236]
April 13th 2009
Posted on September 24, 2008
[...] Cristopher Geiler, M.D. · HIV infection over time destroys the immune system. As HIV infection worsens, CD4 cells will [...]