HIV/AIDS: Infectious Disease

HIV/AIDS
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HIV/AIDS
Abstract
Records reveal that HIV/AIDS has been exerting pressure on the global healthcare systems since scientists first discovered it in the 1990s in Africa. The disease arises when a human becomes infected by the causative agent, the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV). The virus targets the T4 cells of the host, leading to a weakened immunity that predisposes them to opportunistic infections. These infections lead to diverse signs and symptoms, including diarrhea, stomach pains, weight loss, and intractable cough. Although HIV/AIDs has no cure or vaccine, researchers have formulated pharmacological care using ARVs and non-pharmacological that comprise nutritional and lifestyle changes as options that significantly improve the infected person’s immunity and boost their quality of life. Other management approaches include safe sex education to reduce the likelihood of infection and minimize HIV/AIDS prevalence.
Introduction
HIV/AIDS is a viral infection that has burdened the global healthcare systems for decades. The viral infection remains incurable and is regarded as a nightmare by many patients grappling with its consequences. However, as years have passed and medicine has evolved, the disease is no longer life-limiting. These changes arise from the recent discoveries by scientists, booting the management protocols, which have increased the life expectancy of individuals living with the disease. However, the only effective mode of treatment is through management using anti-retroviral drugs, commonly known as ARVs (Klatt, 2023). Therefore, this paper discusses the etiology, prognosis, signs and symptoms, treatment options, prevention methods, and a chain of infection of HIV/AIDS.
Brief History
Epidemiologists reported the first case of HIV/AIDS in the 1980s, prompting widespread studies investigating the disease. Research revealed that HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is a virus that attacks the human immune system, leading to AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). Pepin (2021) explains that scientists consider the diseases to have emerged in the African region since the first blood sample collection occurred in DRC Congo. The condition then mutated into HIV 1 and HIV 2 and further spread across Africa and other areas, becoming a global pandemic. The prevalence rates revealed that the most vulnerable groups comprised individuals with unsafe sexual practices. As a result, early interventions focused on devising strategies for breaking the mode of transmission by improving the safety of their interactions. Thus, these measures became fundamental in reducing its rapid spread since people have become more aware of its existence, and a significant proportion adhere to protective methods.
Etiology
HIV is caused by the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV), which originates from chimpanzees. According to Klatt (2023), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) argues that when human beings come into contact with chimpanzees’ blood during practices such as hunting, the SIV virus infects human blood and mutates as HIV. The human body cells become suppressed and damaged, leading to weak immunity. Therefore, if a human body comes into contact with HIV, it weakens the immune system, leading to AIDS. There are two types of the Human Immuno-deficiency Virus, including HIV 1 and HIV 2. HIV 1 spreads quickly and originated from Central Africa, while HIV 2 is from West Africa with significantly lesser aggression. However, the primary mechanism of infection comprises practices such as unprotected sexual behavior, sharing needles and sharp objects with infected individuals, and mother-child transmission during breastfeeding.
Signs and Symptoms
A patient with HIV/AIDS presents diverse signs and symptoms depending on the severity of the infection. Klatt (2023) reports that patients often complain of subjective symptoms such as abdominal pains, fever, fatigue, and diarrhea. Others present with varied discomforts without a precise cause. Moreover, objective signs comprise weight loss, a drop in CD4 count of 200 cells, and pulmonary lesions, among other signs. Klatt adds that patients can sometimes become vulnerable to tuberculosis due to the immunity-suppressing effects of HIV. In such incidences, presentations may comprise passing sputum with traces of blood and intractable cough (2023). Although tuberculosis is a common disease, researchers categorize it as a concerning symptom of HIV/AIDS. The presence of these objective and subjective presentations demonstrates the severity of the health impacts of this condition.
Transmission Process
Infectious diseases have a chain of infection through which the virus manifests in the human body. The human immunodeficiency virus has a transmission mode like any other viral disease. For instance, Justiz et al. (2022) explain that HIV/AIDS infection begins with an infectious agent. The virus acts on the T4 cells or white blood cells responsible for protecting the body’s immune system, leading to compromised immunity. This agent uses the human body as the reservoir, which multiplies and exits through bodily fluids su...