The Menace of HIV Virus
The HIV virus or in medical terms the human immunodeficiency virus is a member of the retrovirus family. This virus causes the menacing acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or what we all know as AIDS. AIDS is a condition when the immune system of a human being shuts down allowing a variety of infections and cancers to develop as a result
HIV Virus – The Retrovirus Family
HIV virus that causes the HIV infection is considered an illness that occurs worldwide. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), HIV infection is now a pandemic. From the initial year the HIV virus was discovered and AIDS was also eventually discovered, about 25 million deaths due to AIDS has been recorded with the number still on the rise. This significant number will soon double if public education about the HIV virus and AIDS is not improved.
Transmissions Ways of HIV Virus
To date, medical experts agree that there are four major routes of transmitting the HIV virus. Unsafe sex, breast milk, transmission from an infected mother to her infant during birth and using contaminated needles are the only known ways this deadly virus is passed from one individual to another.
HIV virus specifically targets the T helper cells in the human immune system, the macrophages and the dendritic cells as well. As the virus continues its onslaught in the body, there are three specific mechanisms that the HIV virus has to effectively subdue the body’s immune system; initially, the virus directly kills the infected cells of the immune system, next, apoptosis or programmed cell death occurs and last the HIV virus kills infected CD4+T cells. This can cause the CD4+T numbers to decline which increases the risk of developing opportunistic infections. When an HIV infection is untreated, the individual may ultimately develop AIDS and prognosis is bleak. Many people with AIDS die of opportunistic infections and many types of cancers. The progression from HIV infection to AIDS may depend on several factors and this can happen soon or even as long as 10 years or more.
Treatments for HIV Virus
There are many antiretroviral drugs and therapies to manage AIDS and have successfully extended the life of AIDS sufferers worldwide. If a person with AIDS seeks treatment using antiretroviral medication his life may extend for more than five years. If a person with AIDS on the other hand does not have access to appropriate treatment, he may dies of complications and malignancies within a year or less.
The most significant test for HIV virus is a blood test and although screening for HIV has improved throughout the years, there are still a large portion of people infected with the HIV virus are unaware of their condition. It is estimated that there are 20% of infected people in the United States alone who may not know of their health condition. It is thus recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that all people who are 13 to 64 years of age to undergo HIV screening as well as available resources for education be provided in local HIV testing centers to contain this menacing HIV Virus.
