Technology

One of the most common definitions of disease is lack of ease in any particular area of the body. Some disease can be cured and some can not. Some have cure and some do not have any cure. In this report one such disease is elaborated, which when occurred can not be cured. And that disease is AIDS. AIDS is an acronym and its full form is Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

Acquired means that one can be infected with it.
Immune Deficiency means weakness of the system in body which fights against diseases.
Syndrome means health problem group which make disease.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) causes AIDS. Persons body fight against the infection if someone is infected by HIV. Body will make special molecules named as antibodies to fight against HIV. These antibodies are special type of proteins which are produced by bodys Immune system to fight HIV disease. When blood test for HIV is conducted these antibodies are searched in blood. If there are antibodies present in blood, it means that HIV has affected that person and person with such antibodies in blood are called HIV Positive. However, viral load test is another advanced test which measures virus itself rather than searching for antibodies in blood, produced by immune system.

Having AIDS and being HIV positive or HIV possession in blood is different. Numerous HIV positive people do not get sick for many years.  Damage to immune system increases as HIV disease progresses. HIV it self does nothing to a person or to persons body except damaging the immune system. Immune system is special kind of security guard of human body which protects human body from diseases. Opportunistic infections which in presence of sound immune system usually do nothing but can make a person sick when immune system is damaged. Human body consists of germs like protozoa, bacteria, fungi, etc. With normal immune system these germs usually cause no harm to a person but when immune system is damaged these germs are uncontrollable which can make person sick and these germs are called opportunistic infections.

Usually a person does not know when he gets infected with HIV. After HIV infection with in few weeks or days HIV amount gets very high. Due to which some people suffer from headache, fever, stomach pain, skin rash or inflated lymph glands for two or three weeks. Most people think that it is nothing more than flu. But, it is indication of the first stage of HIV disease and it is named as primary HIV infection or acute HIV infection. More than half of the people who are infected by HIV do not notice it as HIV or do not think that these could be the symptoms of HIV.  If any one has such symptoms and there was any chance to be exposed to HIV disease than one must consult doctor so that he may know the severity of the disease.

If someone is very recently infected with HIV, his normal HIV blood test will be negative because normal HIV blood test looks for antibodies which are produced by immune system to fight HIV disease and immune system usually takes two months to  produce these antibodies to fight HIV. But more advanced viral load test can help in the detection of HIV disease at early stage as well. Viral load test measures the virus it self. At very early stage, HIV multiplies very rapidly because initially no antibodies are produced by immune system to fight against HIV disease. Therefore, at early stage (during acute infection) viral load test will show very high viral load. Negative HIV antibody test and very high viral load is indication that a person has been infected probably in last two months by HIV disease. If person is infected for more than two months his HIV antibody test and viral load test will both be positive but viral load will not be as high as it would have been in first two months.

Many people may think that if HIV disease is in its initial stage it will not cause much harm. They think, damage to immune system will be cured by Antiretroviral Therapy (ART). It is true that after first flu like symptoms some people stay healthy for ten or more years. But it does not mean that HIV is not causing harm to their immune system. During this period HIV disease continuously damages their immune system. In fact, at initial stage HIV particles are much higher initially than at later stage. Exposure of recently infected persons blood who is in acute infection stage is more harmful than exposure of persons blood who is infected for long time with HIV. Research has shown that infection risk is 20 times higher while the person is in acute HIV infection stage than later stage infected person.

CD4 are type of lymphocyte (white blood cell) cells. These cells are one of the most important parts of immune system. Function of CD4 cell is to fight and kill disease which may cause harm to human body. For normal person quantity of CD4 cells ranges from 500 to 1600 cubic millimeter of blood. When a person is infected by HIV most damage is done to CD4 cells. This virus becomes part of the cell and when cell increases its strength to fight against the infection, more copies of HIV are also made. When someone is infected by HIV number of CD4 cells goes down. This is indication of immune system getting weak. Lower the amount of CD4 cells, persons frequency of getting sick will increase. Reduction in the number of CD4 cells is also an indication of HIV.

According to research up to 60  of CD4 cells are infected at the early stage of HIV which is also called acute infection. The lining of intestine also damages very quickly. HIV also reduces the ability to replace lost CD4 cells. It is also possible that these problems may occur before a person is tested positive for HIV.
Without treatment CD4 cell count will go down drastically and in some cases can even reach zero. Initially HIV disease appears in the form of fevers, diarrhea night sweats or swollen lymph nodes and will last from few days to several weeks. Immune system initially produces white blood cells which kill HIV infected cells. If HIV infected person will not use antiretroviral drugs (ARVs), as the time will pass his immune system will stop producing white blood cells which kill HIV disease. Guidelines to take HIV medication can not be given until there are signs of immune system damage. By using ARVs during acute HIV infection can help immune system to produce white blood cells for longer time and can also help in protection of immune system.
Although ARVs are helpful to protect immune system even than to take ARVs is not an easy decision to make. Taking ART changes persons life. Missing dose makes virus easier to develop resistance to medication, which can limit future treatment options. Medication for HIV is very strong, expensive and has side effects which makes difficult for a person to live for long time.  People with more than 40 years of age have weak immune system. They do not respond as well to ARVs as younger people do. However, every one with HIV not gets sick right away. Some people with CD4 cell count over 350 and viral load under 20000 has 50 chances of staying healthy for 6 to 9 years even if they do not take ARVs. Most health providers begin ART when CD4 count goes below 350. Some health providers also use percentage for the measure of CD4 cells. If CD4 percentage goes less than 15, they start ART even if CD4 count is high. Some health specialists wait until the count reaches close to 200.  It is not really clear when to really start taking ART. Most doctors consider three things first is viral load, second CD4 cell count and third is any symptoms person has had. Usually ART starts when viral load is over 10000, if CD4 count less than 350 or if there are any symptoms of HIV. One thing about ARVs should be clear that they do not kill the virus, it just slow down the process of immune system damage.

As mentioned above that HIV is not AIDS. So question arises that what is AIDS In simple words when HIV reaches to its final stages it changes to AIDS. If a person has CD4 cells less than 200 or percentage of CD4 cells is less than 14 than a person is suffering from AIDS. You have AIDS if a person gets opportunistic infections.  There are HIV virus slowing agents but there is no cure for AIDS. No medication can sweep HIV out of human body completely. Although, drugs can be used to treat most opportunistic infections during AIDS easily. However, opportunistic infections are very difficult to be treated.

Some most recent statistics related to AIDS are mentioned as follows which shows people living with HIV, new HIV infected persons, deaths due to HIV disease for different age groups for year 2008. And statistics has been taken from UNAIDS website.

Number of people living with HIV in 2008
Total 33.4 million 31.1 million35.8 million
Adults 31.3 million 29.2 million33.7 million
Women 15.7 million 14.2 million17.2 million
Children under 15 years 2.1 million 1.2 million2.9 million

People newly infected with HIV in 2008
Total 2.7 million 2.4 million3.0 million
Adults 2.3 million 2.0 million2.5 million
Children under 15 years 430 000 240 000610 000

AIDS-related deaths in 2008
Total 2.0 million 1.7 million2.4 million
Adults 1.7 million 1.4 million2.1 million
Children under 15 years 280 000 150 000410 000