Jafet Villeda Morales

Richard O. Jacobson

BIOL 1370 101

11/17/2017

How Does HIV And Aids Virus Work In The Human Organism?

HIV is the Human Immunodeficiency Virus that attacks and destroys CD4 cells, it
is “a type of white blood cell that is part of the immune system and fights infections” (1).
The person is left defenseless and exposed to opportunistic infections such as
tuberculosis, candidiasis, toxoplasmosis, pneumocystis and other diseases. Faced with
an infection with the virus, there are not always immediate manifestations of the
symptoms. In some cases, several months or years pass before you notice any
symptoms. However, among the first signs the person experiences flu-like symptoms:
fever, headache, tiredness, skin rash or sore throat, and these may disappear after a
while, which may delay diagnosis of virus infection.

Silently the virus attacks the immune system and spreads in the lymphoid tissue
and lymph nodes, which are part of this and help the body to recognize and defend
against pathogens and infections. The virus has a very high capacity of multiplication
within the human being, as well as the induction of resistance by complex mechanisms
that facilitate its survival and make the therapeutic approach very complex. It is also
capable of subjecting the infected cells in the host to generate new viral particles.

On the other hand, AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is the most
advanced stage of the virus, in which infections, tumors, some types of cancer and
other diseases appear before which the immune system is weakened to cope. To reach
the state of AIDS can it take from a few years to more than 10.The manifestation of the
disease in each person is different. In some people it is only evident that the disease is
suffered until the most severe symptoms are manifested. The way to know if you are
infected with HIV is through a laboratory test that you must perform in case you have
been in a situation of risk. In this way, a person can be a carrier of the HIV virus and
develop the syndrome after many years of being infected, but can also infect other
people if they do not take the necessary precautions.

HIV can be transmitted from person to person through sexual contact without
condom use, through the use of infected syringes and also from mother to child,
whether during pregnancy, delivery or breastfeeding. In a terminal stage of the disease,
AIDS acts on the patient with severe symptoms such as rapid weight loss, severe
infections, pneumonia, swollen lymph nodes, skin spots, chronic diarrhea, lesions in the
mouth, anus or the genitals, in addition to impairments in memory, depression and other
neurological disorders, as well as cancer. HIV carriers are exposed to opportunistic
infections, that is, pathogens that take advantage of the deficiency of the immune
system to enter the body. Tuberculosis is one of the leading causes of death in AIDS
patients. As Healey Justin wrote, this virus “has claimed more than 25 million lives since
1981 and left some 33 million people infected, a tally rising by around 7,400 new cases
per day” (43).

It is also known that the child population can also be affected by HIV due to
mother-child transmission and that the “infection [that] is transmitted from a mother who
is HIV infected to her child during pregnancy can be reduced to 2 percent or less” (1).
Although it is usually difficult to detect the presence of the virus because they are
asymptomatic. Similarly, they can have health effects such as skin, respiratory or
gastrointestinal infections, sinusitis, otitis media, swollen lymph nodes, fever, even a
delay in their psychomotor development. In a severe symptomatology, children can
present bacterial infections, Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, infections by other
opportunistic agents, cerebral toxoplasmosis and even chronic diarrhea. Children with
HIV who are not treated are more likely to acquire childhood illnesses and have
complications: acute respiratory infection and acute diarrheal disease, which can lead to
prolonged periods in the hospital.

How can it be treated? Neither HIV infection is reversible nor AIDS disease is
curable, but there is a growing group of drugs available for its control, called
Antiretroviral Treatment (ART), which alter the reproduction of the virus in the body,
reduce the viral load in the body and postpone the appearance of the most severe
symptoms of the disease to provide quality of life to the carrier. Sexual health plays a
very important role in the lives of people, their care is vital to maintain healthy
relationships, and that our body is maintained in optimal conditions. Some disorders in
sexual health can affect the full enjoyment of sexual relations in both men and women,
as well as impair fertility.
 Work Cited

AVERT, “Global HIV and AIDS Statistics.” AVERT, 1 Sept. 2017, www.avert.org/global-
hiv-and-aids-statistics

CDC. “HIV Basics .” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health
& Human Services, 30 May 2017, www.cdc.gov/hiv/basics/index.html.

CDC. “HIV/ AIDS Transmission .” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
Department of Health & Human Services, 6 June 2017,
https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/basics/transmission.html

Healey, Justin. Hiv and Aids. Thirroul, N.S.W., Spinney Press,

2011. http://web.a.ebscohost.com.tamiu.idm.oclc.org/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/Z
TAwMHhuYV9fMzY0OTAwX19BTg2?sid=e5d5a0a1-4eed-4789-a793-
2ca5ad6f2366@sessionmgr4009&vid=0&format=EB&lpid=lp_41-2&rid=0

United States. Department of Health and Human Services, and Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (U.S.). Reducing Hiv Transmission from Mother-To-Child
: An Opt-Out Approach to Hiv Screening. Atlanta, Ga., U.S. Dept. of Health and
Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2004.

https://permanent-access-gpo-gov.tamiu.idm.oclc.org/lps63702/OptOut.pdf