They are the most important causes of AIDS, and HIV infection can be transmitted through vaginal, oral, or anal sexual contact with a partner who carries HIV when one of these things enters the body, such as: blood, semen, or vaginal secretions.
Common use of sex toys that have not been washed and cleaned or that have not been wrapped in a clean condom between use and another transmits infection as the HIV virus lives in semen or vaginal secretions that enter the body during sexual intercourse through small cuts or tears sometimes found in the vagina or in the rectum.
If a person has another STI, they are at greater risk of contracting HIV. Contrary to what researchers thought in the past, even women who use spermicides are also at risk of contracting HIV.
This is because this spermicide irritates the inner mucous membrane of the vagina, which can create cracks and tears through which the HIV virus can enter the body.
In some cases, the AIDS virus can be transmitted through blood or blood derivatives 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 been examining donated blood for any antibodies to HIV that may be present in them, and these tests have greatly reduced the risks of exposure to HIV from intravenous transfusion in addition to improving the screening and filtering of donors.
HIV is easily transmitted by inflamed needles or syringes that have come into contact with contaminated blood. Using common IV equipment 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. If this possibility is not available, the risk of infection can be reduced by using sterile, single-use injection equipment.
The possibility of HIV transmission between HIV carriers and medical staff by an accidental needle prick is very small, and professionals tend to estimate the chance at less than 1%.
Statistics indicate that about 600,000 young children are infected with HIV annually, whether during pregnancy or as a result of breastfeeding, but the risk of infection of the fetus with HIV infection when the mother takes treatment for HIV during pregnancy is very much reduced.
In the United States of America, the majority of women undergo early tests to detect HIV antibodies, and drugs are available to treat retroviruses.
But the situation in developing countries is different, where the majority of women lack awareness of their health conditions and the possibility of contracting HIV, and where the opportunities and possibilities for HIV treatment are often very limited or not available at all.
When medicines are not available, it is preferable to give birth by caesarean section instead of a regular vaginal delivery, but other possibilities and alternatives, such as vaginal sterilization, for example, have not been proven to be effective.
There are rare cases in which the AIDS virus can be transmitted when organs or tissues are transplanted, or through dental tools if they are not sterilized properly.
AIDS complications
Here are the most important complications that can result from HIV infection:
1. Infection
Inflammation caused by the AIDS virus weakens the immune system, which makes a person who is infected with the AIDS virus susceptible to many infectious diseases caused by germs, viruses, fungi, or parasites.
The body also becomes susceptible to certain types of cancer, but the treatment of AIDS with antiretroviral drugs has significantly reduced the number of opportunistic infections and the various types of cancer that attack patients with HIV.
It can be assumed that these infections will appear in people who did not receive any treatment, and include the following:
There are many germs that may lead to bacterial pneumonia, which can arise spontaneously from infection in the lung itself or as a result of infection in the upper respiratory airways due to a cold or flu.
- Mycobacterium avium complex - MAC
It is an infection caused by a group of microorganisms. These bacteria usually cause inflammation in the respiratory tract, but if AIDS has reached its advanced stages and the T-lymphocyte count falls below 50, it is likely to develop multisystem inflammation capable of infecting almost any organ from Internal body organs, including the bone marrow, liver, or spleen.
This inflammation causes a range of symptoms, such as: high body temperature, night sweats, weight loss, abdominal pain, and diarrhea.
In developing countries, tuberculosis is the most prevalent opportunistic infection associated with HIV infection, and tuberculosis is the leading cause of death among AIDS patients. Millions of people around the world have both AIDS and tuberculosis, and many experts view the two infections as twin epidemics. This is because there is a fatal symbiotic relationship between AIDS and tuberculosis, both of which stimulate the emergence of the other.
A person who is sick with AIDS is more likely to contract tuberculosis, and the risk of transmitting the AIDS virus to him increases from a dormant virus to an active virus.
Tuberculosis also increases the frequency and rate of replication of HIV, not to mention that tuberculosis may attack people infected with HIV many years before the appearance of any symptoms that would indicate HIV infection, where the sudden appearance of tuberculosis outside the lungs is often one of the initial symptoms for AIDS infection.
If the tests show that a person has HIV, then it is recommended that he be immediately tested for tuberculosis, and if the result of the test for tuberculosis is positive, then lung imaging and other necessary tests are recommended to detect whether the tuberculosis is dormant or active.
If the disease is ineffective, there are several medical treatments that can prevent the disease from turning into an active disease, as tuberculosis is a disease of greater and more concern than other opportunistic diseases because it is a highly contagious disease.
- Inflammation of the intestine caused by the bacteria Salmonella (Salmonella)
This infectious inflammatory disease is transmitted through contaminated water or food, and its symptoms include: severe diarrhea, high body temperature, chills, abdominal pain and sometimes vomiting.
Although everyone exposed to salmonella bacteria gets sick, it is more prevalent in HIV carriers, where it is possible to reduce the risk of infection by washing hands thoroughly after contact with food or animals, and taking care of cooking meat and eggs properly.
2. Viral infections
Which includes the following:
This common virus that causes herpes is transmitted primarily through bodily fluids, such as: saliva, blood, semen, and breast milk.
A healthy immune system can neutralize this virus, turning it into a dormant virus in the body, but when the immune system is weak, the virus becomes effective and may cause damage to the eyes, digestive system, lungs, and other organs of the body.
This virus causes infections in the retina and if such inflammation in the eye is not treated, it may progress to the point of total blindness.
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Symptoms of viral hepatitis include: yellowing of the whites of the eyes, i.e. jaundice, fatigue, nausea, abdominal pain, loss of appetite and diarrhea. There are several types of viral hepatitis.
Hepatitis B and hepatitis C may lead to chronic and persistent inflammation, which increases the risk of long-term complications, such as cirrhosis or liver cancer, and liver cancer.
If someone is HIV positive and develops viral hepatitis, then they may be at risk of developing hepatotoxicity in the future as a result of the medications they will have to take to treat that disease.
- Herpes Simplex Virus - HSV
The herpes simplex virus that causes genital herpes is most often transmitted during unprotected anal or oral sex.
The initial symptoms of this disease include: pain or irritation and itching in the genital areas, then blisters containing fluid that erupt and bleed in the genital areas, buttocks, and around the anus.
Although these wounds usually heal on their own, the virus periodically reappears, causing the same symptoms over and over, and if someone is HIV-positive, their HSV dermatitis is likely to be more severe than it could be. In healthy people, the wound may sometimes take longer to heal.
General herpes symptoms are also likely to be more severe. Although herpes is not a life-threatening disease, in severe cases, it can lead to blindness or brain damage.
This virus is one of the most prevalent among the sexually transmitted viruses. Some types of this virus cause simple warts and other types of it may cause warts in the genital area.
If a person is a carrier of the AIDS virus, they are at greater risk of infection caused by the papilloma virus, in addition to an increased risk of recurrent infections caused by this virus.
Inflammation caused by HPV poses a particularly high risk for women because it increases the risk of cervical cancer.
The combination of HIV and HPV significantly increases the risk in women, as cervical cancer has been found to attack women with HIV more severe and deadly.
In 2006, the US Food and Drug Administration approved for the first time a vaccine against the most dangerous types of HPV.
This vaccine has been shown to be effective primarily when given to girls before they begin sexual relations, but it is also effective for young women up to age 26 who have regular sexual relations.
If this vaccine is not suitable for a woman who is HIV-positive or has unprotected sexual relations with a large number of partners, it is preferable to undergo a cervical cancer screening test called the Papanicolaou test once a year. Examination of cells taken from the cervix in order to rule out the possibility of cervical cancer, papilloma, or other sexually transmitted diseases.
It is recommended that every person who engages in anal sex undergo a special examination to detect cancer in the anus, since the papilloma virus increases the risk of developing this cancer in both men and women alike.
- Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML)
Viral encephalitis is an acute infection caused by human John Cunningham virus (JCV) polyomavirus.
Symptoms and initial signs of the disease vary from case to case, and include: difficulty speaking, weakness on one side of the body, loss of vision in one or both eyes, or loss of sensation in one limb.
Viral meningitis appears only when the immune system is severely damaged.
This infection is caused by a virus called Bartonella henselae, whose primary symptoms are purple to red spots that appear on the skin. Symptoms are very similar to those of Kaposi's sarcoma, but it is able to spread to other areas and organs in the body, including the liver and spleen. .
3. Fungal infections
They include the following:
Candidiasis is one of the most common infections of AIDS patients. Candidiasis leads to the formation of a thick white layer on the membrane of the mouth, tongue, esophagus, or in the vagina.
Symptoms are generally more severe in children and appear mainly in the mouth and esophagus, causing severe pain and difficulties eating.
Meningitis is an infection of the meninges, which is the covering of the spinal cord, the brain, and the fluid that contain and preserve the brain and the spinal cord region. Fungal meningitis is an infection of the central nervous system and is common in carriers and patients with AIDS.
This infection is caused by a fungus found in the soil. The fungus is also present in the secretions of birds and bats. Symptoms of this infection include: headache, high body temperature, stiff neck, and excessive sensitivity to light.
Cryptococcal meningitis can be treated with antifungal medications, but early detection and treatment is key to recovery.
Meningitis is a very serious disease that may cause very difficult complications and complications and may even cause death within a short period of time, and in the event of infection with this infection, long-term drug treatment should be undertaken in order to ensure that the disease does not recur in the future.
4. Parasitic infections
Which includes the following:
- PCP - Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia
Although treatment with antiretroviral drugs has been shown to reduce the number of patients with pneumonia of this type, the disease remains one of the most common diseases among carriers and patients with HIV in the United States.
This infection affects the lungs, causing shortness of breath, and its symptoms also include: persistent cough, and high temperature.
This sometimes fatal infection is caused by a parasite called Toxoplasma gondii. This parasite is spread primarily by cats.
Cats infected with the parasite transmit the disease through feces or by transferring it to other animals, and humans generally get this parasite when they touch their mouths with their hands without washing them well after treating their cats’ bedding, or as a result of eating insufficiently cooked meat.
After exposure to it, this parasite spreads to all parts of the body, including the heart, eyes and lungs. Toxoplasmosis may worsen in people who are HIV-positive or infected, and develop into encephalitis.
Its symptoms include: spatial disorientation, convulsions, and difficulties in walking and speaking.
Inflammation caused by a parasite usually found in the intestines of various animals, usually transmitted after consumption of water or food contaminated with the parasite, the parasite develops in the intestines and in the gallbladder ducts, causing acute and chronic diarrhea in people who are HIV-positive or infected.
5. Cancer
The most common types of cancer include:
It is a cancerous tumor that arises and develops on the walls of blood vessels, although this type of cancer is rare among people without HIV, but it is very common among HIV carriers.
This type of cancer generally appears as purple to red spots on the skin and in the oral cavity. These spots appear dark brown or black in dark-skinned people. Kaposi's sarcoma may also affect the internal organs, including the digestive system and lungs.
Scientists are still searching for new combinations of chemotherapy drugs to treat this type of cancer, in parallel with the search for new ways to give these drugs.
As in most opportunistic infections related to AIDS, the use of antiretrovirals has reduced the spread of this type of cancer, as well as reducing the number and size of visible wounds in people who have contracted it.
The source of this cancer is in lymphocytes, which are a type of white blood cell, where lymphocytes are located in the marrow, lymph nodes, spleen, digestive system and skin, and this lymphoma usually begins in the lymph nodes, although it can start in any organ of the body.
Its initial symptoms include: unaccompanied swelling of the lymph nodes in the neck and armpits.
6. Other complications
The most prominent complications include the following:
The adoption of strict treatment programs has led to a reduction in the phenomenon of weight loss in AIDS patients, but this symptom still affects many patients. Weight loss is defined as the loss of more than 10% of body weight, which is often accompanied by diarrhea, chronic weakness, and a high degree of body temperature.
- Neurological complications
Although AIDS does not attack nerve cells, it can lead to neurological complications, such as confusion, memory loss, behavioral changes, depression, anxiety, and walking difficulties.
One of the most common neurological symptoms is dementia, which leads to behavioral changes and limits the functioning of the brain, and treatment is generally the administration of antiretroviral drugs.
AIDS diagnosis
AIDS is diagnosed by a blood test or examination of the oral mucosa to detect whether there are antibodies to the AIDS virus.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends these HIV tests for adolescents and adults, ages 13 to 64, as an essential part of routine medical exams.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone who belongs to any of the risk groups listed above be tested for HIV at least once a year.
Unfortunately, HIV tests do not give completely accurate results when they are performed immediately after exposure to the HIV virus, because the human body needs some time to develop the appropriate antibodies to the HIV virus.
It may take at least 12 weeks from the moment of exposure to HIV infection, and in some rare cases, the period may be extended to about six months or more in order to be able to detect the presence of HIV in the body.
Tests that can diagnose AIDS:
1. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay - ELISA
For many years, the only test available to detect the presence of HIV antibodies in the body was the ELISA test, which detects HIV antibodies in a blood sample taken from the person concerned.
If the test results are positive, that is, they indicate the presence of HIV antibodies in the blood, the test is performed again.
If the results are positive on the repeat test, i.e. the second time as well, the same person will have to take an additional blood test.
2. Western Blot Test
Where it checks for the presence of AIDS proteins in the blood, the Western blot test is of particular importance in diagnosing AIDS because the blood may contain antibodies that are not antibodies to the AIDS virus, but they are able to confuse the results of the ELISA test and give a positive result, when in fact it is a false result.
The use of these two tests together made it possible to ensure that accurate results were obtained. An AIDS diagnosis that confirmed HIV infection was considered definitive and reliable only after positive results were obtained in the three tests detailed above.
However, the main and major drawback of these examinations is the need to wait for two weeks to obtain the results of all three examinations, which may cost a heavy psychological price and may lead to the person in question not returning to the clinic to obtain the results of his examinations.
3. Quick checks
Today, there are many rapid tests that give accurate and reliable results within 20 minutes, and these tests aim to detect the presence of HIV antibodies in the blood, or in the fluid in the upper or lower gums, after taking samples from them.
The examination taken from oral fluids gives accurate results with the same accuracy as the results of a blood test, and even saves the trouble of taking blood, but when a positive result is obtained in a quick examination, a blood test must be performed to confirm the result.
As these tests are relatively recent, they were initially approved to be performed in a limited number of qualified laboratories only; So it is possible that these tests will not be available everywhere.
4. Home checks
The US Food and Drug Administration recently authorized the use of a home test to detect AIDS. This test is as accurate as a laboratory test, and all positive results obtained in this test are subjected to another additional examination.
In contrast to the home test to detect pregnancy, the results of the home test to detect AIDS are not analyzed by themselves, but the concerned person who is conducting the test must send a sample of his blood to the laboratory and then call after a few days to obtain the results of the test.
This method guarantees privacy, as the person with the examination is identified by the code number on each of the kits.
The main shortcoming of this method is that the person under examination does not receive the direct personal advice that he could have obtained when going to the attending physician or to the clinic, although he is offered to direct him to medical services or to social services.
Regardless of the specific test that a person chooses to undergo and undergo, in the event that he is found to be carrying the AIDS virus, he must first inform his life partner of the matter immediately, so that he, too, can conduct the test and take the necessary preventive measures.
In the event that a person obtains a positive result and it turns out that he is carrying the AIDS virus, his treating doctor can help him estimate the expected stages of the development of AIDS, as this examination shows the amount of viruses present in the blood.
Research has shown that people with a high viral load get sick more than people with a low viral load, and viral load tests are also done to determine when to start drug therapy and when to change it.
AIDS treatment
When HIV was first discovered in the 80s of the last century, few drugs were available to treat HIV and the opportunistic infections associated with it.
But since that time many drugs have been developed to treat HIV and the opportunistic infections that accompany it, and these types of AIDS treatments have helped many people, including children, and increased their quality of life.
Researchers at the US National Institutes of Health estimate that HIV treatment and antiretroviral drugs given to patients with AIDS in the United States since 1989 have given these patients a few years of life.
But none of these drugs is a cure for AIDS, not to mention that many of them have severe side effects and are very expensive.
Treating AIDS and taking such medicines for long years, sometimes more than 20 years, lose their effect and effectiveness. Because many people with HIV who are treated with it develop tolerance and resistance to it, they are no longer affected by it.
In light of this, vigorous research is being conducted to develop and produce new drugs that are able to help these patients with AIDS. The most prominent treatment methods include the following:
1. Anti-retroviral drugs
Antiretroviral drugs suppress the growth and reproduction of HIV at different stages of its life cycle. These drugs are available in seven different combinations:
- Nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitors - NARTIs or NRTIs.
- Protease inhibitors - PIs.
- Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs).
- Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors - NtRTIs.
- Fusion inhibitors.
- Integrase inhibitors or fusion inhibitors.
2. Response to AIDS treatment
The extent of response to AIDS treatment is measured according to the level of the viral load, that is, the amount of viruses in the blood (viral load) of the patient. The viral load must be measured at the start of the drug treatment and then periodically every three months for the duration of the AIDS treatment.
In some special and unusual cases, these examinations may be conducted during more frequent periods.
3. New ways to treat AIDS
A wide variety of drugs to treat the side effects of HIV or AIDS are still in the testing, testing and development stages in various laboratories.
4. Guidance and guidance for the treatment of AIDS
A leading group of researchers on the subject of AIDS treatment worked on drafting a list of recommendations directed to AIDS patients, including guidelines and guidelines related to antiretroviral therapy for AIDS. These recommendations are based on the best information available until the writing of the recommendations.
According to the current list of recommendations, AIDS treatment should focus on inhibiting and masking AIDS symptoms for the longest possible period of time. This offensive approach is known as highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).
The goal of the highly effective antiretroviral therapy program is to reduce the amount of viruses present in the patient's blood to a minimum where they cannot even be observed or detected, although this does not mean that AIDS will disappear from the blood completely and permanently, and this result can be reached by Combine three or more medicines together.
AIDS treatment recommendations focus on the quality of life, so the main goal in AIDS treatment is to find the easiest, simplest, and least side effects treatment regimen.
If someone has AIDS, it is important that they be an active partner in making decisions about their HIV treatment measures.
He should discuss the HIV treatment programs offered to him with his treating physician; This is to assess the risks and benefits of each of the proposed treatments for AIDS treatment, and even to reach an informed and wise decision about AIDS treatment, which may be complex and may be of long duration.
AIDS prevention
There is not yet an effective vaccine that prevents HIV infection, and there is not yet a cure for AIDS.
But every person can protect himself and others from contracting AIDS; This is done by studying and understanding AIDS and refraining from everything that would expose it to secretions contaminated with the AIDS virus, such as: blood, semen, vaginal secretions, and breast milk.
1. Tips to prevent disease for non-infected people
People without AIDS may benefit from the following tips to prevent HIV infection:
- Self-awareness and guidance of others.
- Awareness of the partner's status in any sexual relationship with regard to HIV and AIDS.
- The necessity of using a new condom when having sexual intercourse.
- Examine the possibilities of male circumcision.
- It is necessary to use clean syringes.
- Adopt extreme caution when dealing with blood derivatives from certain countries.
- Regular and consistent examinations to detect the disease.
- Stay away from indifference.
2. Methods of preventing infection
For people who are HIV-positive or have AIDS, the following tips may help them prevent transmission of HIV infection to other people:
- The need to practice safe sex only with preventive means.
- The need to inform the partner of the fact that she is pregnant with the AIDS virus.
- The need to inform people, including the partner, that it is important to know the truth.
- Refrain from using other people's needles, syringes, or syringes.
- Refrain from donating blood or donating organs.
- Refrain from using other people's razors or toothbrushes.
- Go for immediate medical treatment in case of pregnancy.
