HIV and AIDS - Causes, Symptoms and Treatments
HIV and AIDS - The human immune deficiency virus (HIV) causes AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) (HIV). This undermines the body's capacity to fight infections and malignancies by killing or impairing immune system cells.
The most frequent way for HIV to spread is through sexual contact with an infected partner. Contact with infected blood from contaminated needles is another prominent way for HIV to spread.
How does HIV/AIDS spread?
⦁ HIV is most often transmitted through sexual contact with an infected partner. During sexual intercourse, the virus enters the body through the lining of the vagina, vulva, penis, rectum, or mouth.
⦁ HIV can also be passed from person to person through contact with contaminated blood. However, because the blood in the United States is screened for signs of HIV infection, the risk of contracting HIV via blood transfusions is extremely low.
⦁ Sharing needles, syringes, or drug-use equipment with someone who is HIV-positive is a common way for the virus to spread. Transmission from a patient to a healthcare professional, or vice versa, is extremely unlikely due to incidental contact with infected needles or other medical devices.
⦁ HIV can also be passed on to children who are born to HIV-positive moms or are nursed by them.
Non-Transmissible methods
Saliva is not a source of HIV/AIDS transmission.
Other methods include:
⦁ Sweat
⦁ Tears
⦁ Sharing food utensils, towels, and beds are one example of casual touch.
⦁ Swimming pools are a popular recreational activity.
⦁ Telephones
⦁ Seats for toilets
⦁ insects that bite
What are the HIV/AIDS symptoms?
Within a month of being exposed to HIV, some people may get a flu-like sickness. However, many people have no symptoms at all when they are first infected. Furthermore, the symptoms that do emerge, which generally go away within a week to a month, are frequently misdiagnosed as being caused by another virus.
Some patients have recurrent and severe herpes infections that produce oral, vaginal, or anal sores, as well as shingles, a painful nerve condition. Children's development may be slowed or they may fail to flourish.
The number of CD4+ T cells in most persons decreases over time when they get infected with HIV. Although some people's numbers may decline suddenly and dramatically.
Symptoms of HIV infection might be similar to those of other illnesses.
For a diagnosis, always consult your healthcare provider. There are rapid diagnostic tests available, and early diagnosis is critical.
How can you know if you have HIV/AIDS?
Early HIV infection frequently has no symptoms and can only be identified by testing a person's blood for antibodies—disease-fighting proteins—against the virus. It takes 1 to 3 months after infection for HIV antibodies to reach levels high enough to be detected by conventional blood testing, and it might take up to 6 months.
A test for the presence of HIV itself in the blood is performed when a person is very likely to be infected with HIV, yet antibody tests are negative. Antibody testing should be repeated later when antibodies to HIV are more likely to have formed.
HIV and AIDS treatment
Early identification, like with many other diseases, provides more treatment options. There are medicinal therapies available today that can decrease the rate at which HIV weakens the immune system and keep HIV in check so that the person can live a normal life. Unfortunately, HIV infection does not have a cure.
Are we on the verge of developing an AIDS vaccine?
HIV continues to spread throughout the world. While research into various vaccination methods continues, there is still no treatment. A cure or treatment for AIDS has been one of the difficulties the medical field has faced. Its vaccine, known as HAART, is widely used with AIDS patients to inhibit the growth of the virus and elongate their life span.
