The first cases diagnosed as AIDS in the world date back to 1981, when the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported the presence of several cases of pneumonia by Pneumocystis Carinii, in addition to several cases that also had Kaposi sarcoma, a type of skin cancer. Subsequent research showed how these patients had a low number of CD4 T blood cells.
In those early stages, the widespread lack of awareness of HIV or AIDS meant the stigmatization of the gay group, as well as of anyone suffering from the disease, regardless of the route of contagion. Only research and awareness-raising and support campaigns for AIDS patients have achieved better acceptance of the disease.
Today, and with antiretroviral treatment, patients may have a life expectancy similar to that of someone not infected, in addition to staying healthy and not transmitting the virus to others. In this article, we will find out what HIV is, its causes, symptoms, and current treatment.
What is AIDS or HIV?
HIV or AIDS is the achronic of human immunodeficiency viruses or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. A disease that brings together a group of clinical manifestations related to the loss of defenses and originates from a human immunodeficiency virus infection. Added to this main infection are other opportunistic infections, in addition to tumors.
HIV is currently one of the biggest public health challenges in the world, with nearly 33 million people having died in the nearly 40-year-old epidemic. The number of HIV patients was estimated at around 38 million at the end of 2019. Coverage of services and care has been increasing, with lifelong antiretroviral treatment being offered to 68% of adult HIV patients and 53% of children (2019), offering an ever-increasing quality of life and life expectancy.
HIV is transmitted through direct contact with HIV-infected blood, semen, and vaginal fluids, and is also transmitted by an HIV-positive mother in pregnancy, childbirth, and lactation. Also, not all infected people develop the disease immediately, symptoms can appear between five and ten years later if treatment has not been received.
Causes of AIDS
The main cause is HIV infection by blood, semen and pre-seminal fluid, vaginal discharge, and breast milk. The most common means of contagion are:
- Vaginal, anal, or oral sexual intercourse with an HIV-infected person.
- Share syringes to use drugs.
- Infected blood or blood products, are a very common route of contagion in the early years of the disease.
- Pinching with HIV-contaminated syringe needles.
- Vertical transmission, from mother to fetus.
- The virus is NOT transmitted by air, or water, either through animals or insects or by sharing cutlery, toilets, and any object that does not lead to blood or sexual contact. Nor is it infected to touch, caress, or embrace an infected person.
HIV Symptoms
Depending on the stage where the disease is located, we will find different symptoms of HIV. Thus, if you are infected, but the typical symptoms of HIV have not yet developed, that is, you are asymptomatic, then it is often common for infections of the candida or herpes zoster to appear.
If the disease has already made its onset, then it is common to have symptoms typical of a poor immune system. Thus, different types of infections and tumors may appear.
It is also common for the acute phase to be like a mild flu or a common cold at first (fatigue and fever), but then become more acute and lead to very high fever, swollen lymph nodes, night sweats, etc.
HIV Prevention
The prevention of HIV infection begins by avoiding risky sexual intercourse and always using condoms in any sexual relationship with unusual partners or unknown persons, in addition to not sharing needles or any other type of material for the use of injecting drugs. For infected pregnant women, it is essential to provide them with treatment so that their babies are not infected.
The most effective preventive remedies are the proper use of condoms and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Pre-exposure prophylaxis is effective and harmless and consists of taking a combination of HIV drugs daily.
However, researchers believe the safest way to curb new HIV infections is the preventative vaccine. This vaccine, still under study, would be given to people who are not infected, being an effective method to prevent infection in those who are at high risk of becoming infected.
On the other hand, early detection of infected people not only facilitates timely treatment for the HIV-positive person but also curbs future infections.
Diagnosis
HIV diagnosis is simple and is carried out through a blood test, and can be requested from the GP or any center for the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. HIV testing can be done either routinely or if the disease is suspected to have contracted.
This test reveals the presence of antibodies, and it is necessary to wait a while to appear in the blood, between one and three months. It is important to take into account this period and when it is suspected that contagion may have occurred before the test is carried out.
Other complementary tests include saliva tests, a self-selling autotest in pharmacies, or the Western blot, a test that shows the presence of antibodies early.
HIV testing should be done by all those people who:
- Suspect you have been at risk for sexual intercourse with HIV or casual partners.
- They have had some sexually transmitted infections such as chlamydia, syphilis, or gonorrhea.
- They engage in prostitution and have not used condoms in relationships.
- They have had unprotected sex with people from countries with high AIDS prevalence.
- They have used drugs by sharing syringes and/or needles or other materials.
- They’ve had a sexual assault.
- They think they have HIV symptoms.
- They want to get pregnant and want to be sure not to be infected.
AIDS Treatments
HIV treatments have been advancing over these four decades, with no therapeutic vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yet. Several research is ongoing and its purpose is to improve the body’s immune response to the virus in an HIV-positive person. The vaccine would slow the progress of infection and eliminate the need for antiretroviral treatment, while undetectable concentrations of the virus occur.
Antiretroviral treatment (TAR) consists of a combination of HIV medicines, recommended for all HIV-positive people, and the start of the ART as soon as possible. This initial treatment regimen usually includes three or more medicines for at least two different classes and must be taken once or twice a day.
Drugs that are supplied are usually protease inhibitors (IPs), nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitors (Itin), nucleotide reverses transcriptase inhibitors (Itinn), integrase inhibitors, melting inhibitors, CCR5 antagonists, integration inhibitors, post-fixing inhibitors, pharmacokinetic enhancers and combinations of HIV drugs in a single tablet.