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Common Diseases

HIV/AIDS

HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) interferes with your body's ability to successfully fight off viruses, bacteria and fungi that cause disease. AIDS, or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is the term used for the later stages of an HIV infection.

HIV works by damaging or destroying the cells of your immune system, making you more susceptible to certain types of cancers and to opportunistic infections such as pneumonia and meningitis

First discovered in the 1980s, AIDS has quickly developed into a global epidemic. Approximately 38.6 million people throughout the world are currently living with HIV, with more than 4 million of them becoming newly infected since 2005. Twenty-five million people have died of AIDS since the epidemic began.

Although experts are now better able to treat the disease than ever before, the pandemic is far from over. Unfortunately we may be decades away from developing a vaccine, so the only way to control further outbreak of the disease is through education, prevention, and treatment.

Signs and Symptoms

Like hepatitis C, there may be no symptoms during the early stages of HIV infection. However, it is common for a person to feel like he or she has the flu two to six weeks after becoming infected. These symptoms include fever, headache, sore throat, swollen lymph glands and rash, and are often overlooked since they are generally associated with the common cold and flu.

The virus is highly communicable, even by those without symptoms. The virus attacks your immune system and multiplies in your lymph nodes and slowly begins to destroy your helper T cells (CD4 lymphocytes), which are the white blood cells that coordinate your entire immune system.

A person infected with HIV may not experience any symptoms for up to eight or more years. However, as the virus slowly attacks immune cells, they will become frequently susceptible to the following symptoms:

  • Swollen lymph nodes
  • Diarrhea
  • Weight loss
  • Fever
  • Cough and shortness of breath

The last phase of HIV infection occurs approximately 10 or more years after the initial infection and is marked by more serious symptoms. At this time, the infection may be considered full-blown AIDS. In 1993, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) redefined AIDS to mean the presence of HIV infection as shown by a positive HIV-antibody test plus at least one of the following:

  • The development of an opportunistic infection - an infection that occurs when your immune system is impaired - such as Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP)
  • A CD4 lymphocyte count of 200 or less - a normal count ranges from 600 to 1,000

The onset of full-blown AIDS means that the immune system has been severely damaged and the patient will experience many of the following symptoms that accompany opportunistic infections:

  • Soaking night sweats
  • Shaking chills or fever higher than 100°F for several weeks
  • Dry cough and shortness of breath
  • Chronic diarrhea
  • Persistent white spots or unusual lesions on your tongue or in your mouth
  • Headaches
  • Blurred and distorted vision
  • Weight loss

Other symptoms of later stage HIV infection include:

  • Persistent, unexplained fatigue
  • Soaking night sweats
  • Shaking chills or fever higher than 100 F for several weeks
  • Swelling of lymph nodes for more than three months
  • Chronic diarrhea
  • Persistent headaches

While improved treatments have reduced the risk, people infected with HIV are more likely to develop certain cancers such as Kaposi's sarcoma, cervical cancer and lymphoma.

Symptoms of HIV in children

The presence of the HIV virus in children prevents them from gaining weight and growing properly. As it advances, it may cause delayed mental development and difficulty walking. Not only are children with HIV open to the same opportunistic infections that adults with HIV are, but they may also develop severe ear infections, pneumonia and tonsillitis.

Causes

A person can become infected with HIV through:

  • Sexual activity. Having sexual relations with someone who is infected with HIV puts you at risk of contracting the disease, especially if that person's blood, semen or vaginal secretions enter your body. Sharing sexual devices that aren't washed or covered with a condom is also very dangerous. Those who already have another sexually transmitted disease are at much greater risk of contracting HIV.
  • Blood transfusions. Although improved blood screening practices have reduced this risk, there is still a chance you can contract the HIV virus through blood transfusions.
  • Needle sharing. Those who engage in intravenous drug use and who share needles are at a high risk of contracting HIV and other infectious diseases such as hepatitis.
  • Accidental needle sticks. While it's still worth noting, the risk of transmitting the virus between HIV-positive people and health care workers through needle sticks is far less than 1 percent.
  • Mother to child transmission. Nearly 600,000 infants are infected with HIV throughout the world annually. Mother-child transmission can occur either during pregnancy or delivery or through breast-feeding. This type of transmission is far more common in underdeveloped nations because of less access to HIV testing treatment.
  • Other methods. In rare cases, the virus may be transmitted through organ or tissue transplants or unsterilized dental or surgical equipment.

Ways HIV is not transmitted

A person can only become infected with HIV when infected blood, semen or vaginal secretions enter his or her body. The disease cannot be transmitted through ordinary contact like hugging, dancing or shaking hands.

Risk Factors

Regardless of age, race, sex or sexual orientation, your risk of contracting HIV/AIDS is greatly increased if you:

  • Have unprotected sex with multiple partners, regardless of sexual orientation.
  • Have unprotected sex with someone who is HIV-positive.
  • Already have another sexually transmitted disease, such as syphilis, herpes, chlamydia, gonorrhea or bacterial vaginosis.
  • Share needles during intravenous drug use.
  • Have hemophilia and received blood products between 1977 and April 1985 - the date standard testing for HIV began.
  • Received a blood transfusion or blood products before 1985.
  • Have fewer copies of a gene called CCL3L1 that helps fight HIV infection.