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Brief Description of AIDS

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is an incurable condition caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which kills white blood cells and severely weakens the immune system. According to the National Institutes of Health, 33.4 million people were diagnosed with HIV or AIDS in 2008, which also included 2.1 million adolescents under the age of 15. Sexual or blood contact is the most common way this virus spreads.

  1. Development

    • According to AIDS.org, the human immunodeficiency virus causes AIDS when the immune system is significantly damaged. If your CD4 percentage is less than 14 percent or it is determined your body has less than 200 CD4 cells, the doctor will diagnose it as AIDS.

    Spread

    • The HIV virus multiplies by entering CD4 cells, white blood cells responsible for coordinating attacks against foreign organisms. The HIV virus inserts its genetic material into the cell and multiplies, repeating the same process. This causes CD4 cells to die, becoming soon outnumbered by the HIV virus. This weakens the immune system.

    Symptoms

    • According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms of AIDS include soaking night sweats, dry cough, shortness of breath, shaking chills, having a fever higher than 100 degrees Fahrenheit for several weeks, headaches, blurred vision, weight loss, white spots or lesions on the tongue or mouth and chronic diarrhea. Patients with AIDS are also at higher risk of infection because of their weakened immune systems.

    Transmission

    • The HIV virus spreads through transmission of seminal fluids, vaginal fluids and blood. Having vaginal, anal or oral sex that causes the transfer of these fluids can result in infection. The virus can also be spread to a unborn child if the mother has the virus. Sharing contaminated needles, unsterilized medical equipment or receiving organ or tissue transplants from an HIV-positive person can also spread HIV, which can eventually develop into AIDS.

    Complications

    • AIDS patients have weakened immune systems, and are at risk for infections, such as mycobacterium avium complex (MAC), tuberculosis, salmonellosis, bacillary angiomatosis, cytomegalovirus, viral hepatitis, herpes, human papillomavirus infection, progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, candiasis, cryptococcal meningitis, pneumocystis cariniii pneumonia, toxoplasmosis and cryptosporidiosis. People with AIDS are also at risk for certain cancers, including Kaposi's sarcoma and Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, as well as neurological damage. They can also develop wasting syndrome, a condition marked by at least 10 percent weight loss, diarrhea, chronic weakness and fever.

    Treatment

    • Anti-retroviral therapy can slow down the development of AIDS by suppressing replication of HIV. Ethytropoetin or filgrastim are also used to treat anemia and low white blood cell counts caused by AIDS. There is currently no cure for the virus that causes AIDS.

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