AIDS is a life-threatening chronic disease caused by a virus that suppresses the immune system in humans.
How does HIV work?
The AIDS virus robs the body of its ability to fight and resist viruses, germs, and fungi by infecting the immune system, making the body susceptible to various diseases.
AIDS exposes the human body to certain types of cancer and infections that it could have fought and overcome, such as pneumonia and meningitis, and the virus and the inflammation it causes is called AIDS (Human immunodeficiency virus - HIV).
The term acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) defines AIDS in its more advanced stages.
About 39.5 million people around the world today are infected with the AIDS virus. Although AIDS has been discouraged in several countries of the world, the extent of AIDS is still the same and has even increased in other countries.
Operations through which HIV cannot be transmitted
In order for HIV infection to occur, infected blood, contaminated semen fluid, or contaminated vaginal secretions must enter the body. Hence, HIV infection does not occur through normal daily contact with a person infected with HIV, such as: hugging, kissing, dancing, or shaking hands.
The mechanism of HIV infection
White blood cells usually attack and destroy foreign organisms that invade the body. This reaction is organized and coordinated by white blood cells called T lymphocytes (Lymphocytes - CD4).
These T lymphocytes also constitute the central target of the AIDS virus, which attacks these cells and penetrates into them. After the AIDS virus succeeds in penetrating these cells, it s its genetic material into them, and in this way it multiplies itself.
New replicated HIV viruses begin to exit the host lymphocyte and enter the bloodstream, where they begin to search for new cells to attack.
Meanwhile, the host lymphocyte and neighboring healthy T cells die due to the effects of the attacking AIDS virus, and this phenomenon is a periodic phenomenon that repeats itself over and over again.
Thus, in this process, millions of new HIV cells are produced daily, and at the end of this process, the number of T-cells decreases, until a serious immune deficiency is reached, which means the body''s inability to resist viruses and disease-causing germs that attack it.
groups most at risk of contracting AIDS
Anyone of any age of any gender can become infected with HIV, but the risk of contracting HIV increases when:
Having unprotected sexual relations with many people, and the degree of danger does not differ whether the person has sex with the opposite sex, with the same sex, or with both sexes. An unprotected sexual relationship means having sexual intercourse without a condom.
Having sex with a partner who is HIV positive.
A person infected with another sexually transmitted disease, such as: syphilis, herpes, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and viral vaginitis.
Multiple use of shared syringes and needles when using intravenous drugs.
Not having enough of the gene (CCL3L1), which helps fight HIV.
Newborns and infants of mothers who are HIV positive but have not received preventive treatment.
Symptoms of AIDS
Symptoms of AIDS
Symptoms of AIDS vary from one case to another, and according to the specific stage of AIDS.
1. Symptoms of the early stage of inflammation
In the early stages of exposure to the AIDS virus, no symptoms or signs of AIDS may appear, although it is very common in AIDS to have flu-like symptoms that quickly disappear after two to four weeks from the moment of exposure to the AIDS virus.
Symptoms of AIDS may include the following
High body temperature.
Swelling in the area of the lymph glands.
Skin rash.
If a person has been exposed to the AIDS virus, he is likely to transmit the AIDS virus to other people even if he does not show any symptoms of AIDS. Once the AIDS virus enters the body, the immune system becomes vulnerable to attack.
The AIDS virus multiplies and multiplies itself in the lymph nodes, and then begins a slow process of destroying T-cell lymphocytes (T CD4 lymphocytes), which are the white blood cells responsible for coordinating all the operations and activities of the immune system.
2. Symptoms of the advanced stage of inflammation
The infected person may not suffer any symptoms in the advanced stages of AIDS during a period ranging from one year to nine years, and perhaps even more than that in some cases.
However, in the meantime, the AIDS virus continues to multiply and multiply itself, as well as systematically destroy the cells of the immune system. At this stage, the infected person may have some chronic symptoms of AIDS, such as:
Swelling of the lymph glands.
Diarrhea.
weight loss
High body temperature.
Cough.
shortness of breath
3. Symptoms of the last stages of inflammation
In the final stages of AIDS symptoms and infection with the AIDS virus, which is after 10 years or more of exposure to the AIDS virus for the first time, the most serious symptoms of AIDS begin to appear, and then the inflammation becomes in a state that can be called AIDS.
In the year 1993, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States of America set a new definition for AIDS, this definition states that: AIDS is a disease if the AIDS virus is found in the body, and this can be confirmed if the results of the tests show the presence of antibodies to the AIDS virus in the blood accompanied by one of the The following symptoms of AIDS:
Opportunistic infection: It occurs when the immune system is weak or infected, as in the case of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia - PCP.
Lymphocytes: their number is 200 or less, knowing that the correct value should range between 800-1200.
As AIDS progresses and worsens, the immune system becomes more and more damaged, making the body an easy prey for opportunistic infections.
Symptoms of AIDS and some of these infections include the following
Excessive night sweats.
Chills or fever over 38°C that lasts for several weeks.
Dry cough and shortness of breath.
Chronic diarrhea.
Permanent white dots or strange sores on the tongue and in the oral cavity.
headache.
Blurred or disturbed vision.
He lost weight.
In a more advanced stage of AIDS, additional symptoms may appear, such as
Inexplicable permanent fatigue.
Excessive night sweats.
Chills or fever over 38°C that lasts for several weeks.
Swelling of the lymph glands that lasts for more than three months.
Chronic diarrhea.
permanent headache
HIV infection also increases the risk of developing certain types of cancer, especially Kaposi''s sarcoma, throat cancer, and lymphoma, although it is possible to reduce the risk of developing these diseases through preventive treatments.
4. Symptoms of AIDS in children
As for the symptoms of AIDS that the child is infected with, they include
Problems gaining weight.
Growth problems.
Walking problems.
Slowed mental development.
Infection with common inflammatory diseases such as: ear infections, pneumonia, and tonsillitis.
Causes and risk factors for AIDS
AIDS virus
HIV infection may occur in several ways, including the following
1. Sexual intercourse
It is the most important cause of AIDS. It is possible to become infected with the AIDS virus through vaginal, oral, or anal sexual intercourse with a partner who is HIV-positive when one of these things enters the body, such as: blood, semen, or vaginal secretions.
Shared use of sex toys that have not been washed and cleaned or that have not been wrapped with a clean condom between use and the other transmit infection as the AIDS virus lives in semen or vaginal secretions that enter the body during sexual intercourse through small cuts or tears sometimes present in the vagina or in the rectum.
If a person is a carrier of another sexually transmitted disease, they are at increased risk of contracting HIV, and contrary to what researchers believed in the past, even women who use semen are also susceptible to infection with HIV.
This is because this spermicide stimulates the inner mucous membrane of the vagina, which may cracks and tears through which the HIV virus can enter the body.
2. Infection with the AIDS virus from infected blood
In some cases, the AIDS virus can be transmitted through blood or blood products that are given to a person by intravenous injection, which is one of the common causes of AIDS.
Since 1985, hospitals and blood banks in the United States have screened donated blood for any HIV antibodies it might have. These tests have greatly reduced the risk of HIV exposure from intravenous transfusions, as well as improved screening and filtering of donors.
3. Syringe needles
HIV is easily transmitted through infected needles or syringes that have come into contact with contaminated blood. Use of shared intravenous devices increases the risk of exposure to HIV and other viral diseases, such as hepatitis.
The best way to prevent HIV infection is to abstain from using intravenous drugs, but if this possibility is not available, it is possible to reduce the risk of infection by using sterile, disposable injection tools.
4. Accidental needle prick
The possibility of transmission of the AIDS virus between HIV carriers and the medical staff by an accidental needle prick is a very small possibility, and specialists tend to estimate the probability at less than 1%.
5. Transmission of HIV from mother to child
Statistics show that about 600,000 young children are infected with HIV annually, whether during pregnancy or as a result of breastfeeding, but the risk of fetal infection with HIV when the mother takes HIV treatment during pregnancy is very low.
In the United States of America, the majority of women undergo early tests to discover HIV antibodies, and drugs are available to them to treat retroviruses.
However, the situation in developing countries is different, where the majority of women lack awareness of their health conditions and the possibility of being infected with HIV, and where opportunities and possibilities for AIDS treatment are often very limited or not available at all.
When medicines are not available, it is preferable to deliver by caesarean section instead of a normal vaginal delivery. As for other possibilities and natives, such as vaginal sterilization, for example, their effectiveness has not been proven.
6. Other ways of transmission of HIV infection
There are rare cases in which the HIV virus can be transmitted when transplanting organs or tissues, or through dental work tools if they are not properly sterilized.
