Symptoms of HIV infection and methods of preventing the development of the disease

HIV infection is a slowly progressive disease with a contact transmission mechanism, caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection - HIV-infection), belonging to the family of retroviruses, the genus of lentiviruses (so-called slow viruses).

Symptoms of acute HIV infection

It is characterized by damage to the immune system with the subsequent development of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), clinically manifested by the occurrence of secondary infectious diseases (opportunistic infections), autoimmune processes, and malignant neoplasms.

The virus was first isolated in 1983 in Paris by a group of scientists led by Luc Montagnier from a biopsy of the lymph node of an AIDS patient. In parallel, a similar virus was discovered by Professor Robert Gallo in the USA in the blood of an infected person. In 1987, the World Health Organization adopted a single name for the causative agents of AIDS - human immunodeficiency virus.

Using electron microscopy, the structure of HIV has been reliably established. The viral particle itself forms the virion core, surrounded by a protective protein shell built from host proteins interspersed with viral proteins.

The average life expectancy of the vast majority of HIV-infected patients not receiving treatment is 3–11 years; with adequate therapy, it is comparable to the average life expectancy.

Under natural conditions, the virus remains active in biological fluids for several days, and in frozen blood plasma for up to several years.

As of December 2016, in the Russian Federation alone there were about 1.5 million registered people infected with HIV, in the world this figure for the entire time (from the beginning of the diagnosis of AIDS to the present) exceeds 60 million, at present there are more than 35 million people. Two thirds of all HIV-infected people live in sub-Saharan Africa.

Causes and risk factors

The source of HIV infection is a person who is a carrier of the virus, even during the incubation period in the absence of clinical manifestations of the disease.

There are 2 types of human immunodeficiency viruses: HIV-1 and HIV-2. These varieties differ in antigenic composition and structure, as well as in certain clinical and epidemiological characteristics. The predominant type is HIV-1.

HIV is distributed in all biological fluids of the body; its highest concentration is observed in blood, semen and pre-ejaculate, vaginal secretions and cervical mucus, and breast milk. The virus is also detected in saliva, urine, sweat, cerebrospinal and tear fluids, but its concentration in these environments is much lower.

HIV infection is transmitted from person to person through droplets, parenteral, and antenatal routes

There are 3 main ways of transmitting HIV:

• contact, occurring during homo- or heterosexual sexual contact (more than 85% of all cases of infection);
• parenteral, which occurs during transfusion of infected blood and its components;
• from mother to child [vertical, antenatal route of transmission of the virus (suggesting intrauterine infection of the fetus during pregnancy) (observed in 30–50% of cases in HIV-positive mothers), intranatal (at the time of passage through the birth canal), postnatal (in the postpartum period when breastfeeding)].

Information about the possibility of transmitting HIV infection by airborne droplets, fecal-oral, and transmissible methods does not have an evidence base.

Risk factors:

• the presence of sexually transmitted diseases [the risk of becoming infected upon contact is several (according to some data, several tens) times higher], such as syphilis, herpes, chlamydia, gonorrhea and bacterial vaginosis;
• promiscuity;
• unprotected sexual contacts;
• injection of narcotic substances (sharing of syringes, needles);
• blood transfusions and non-sterile manipulations involving violation of the integrity of the skin;
• antisocial lifestyle (vagrancy, street prostitution, etc.);
• accidental injury with an infected needle or contact with infected blood (there is a risk for medical workers, hotel staff, air and sea lines of international transport).

Currently, more than 35 million people live on the planet with a confirmed diagnosis of HIV. Two thirds of all HIV-infected people live in sub-Saharan Africa.

HIV infection is not transmitted:

• when shaking hands;
• when using cutlery and bedding;
• when sharing furniture or production equipment;
• when using a swimming pool, shower, plumbing products;
• for insect bites.

Stages of the disease

Clinical classification of HIV infection according to V. I. Pokrovsky (adopted in the Russian Federation):

• stage I – incubation (from several weeks to months or years);
• stage II – primary manifestations (can last up to 10 years): IIA – acute febrile phase; IIB – asymptomatic phase; IIB – persistent generalized lymphadenopathy;
• stage III – secondary diseases (pre-AIDS) (IIIA, IIIB, IIIB);
• stage IV – terminal (AIDS).

World Health Organization classification:

• stage I – asymptomatic;
• stage II – early, or mild;
• stage III – intermediate;
• stage IV – terminal.

In the USA, the CDC classification has been developed and is widely used, assessing both clinical and laboratory indicators (the number of CD4+ T-lymphocytes in 1 μl of blood).

Symptoms

The targets of viruses are immune cells that carry the CD4+ marker on their surface (T lymphocytes, macrophages, Langerhans cells, follicular dendritic cells, alveolar macrophages, epithelial cells of the colon and kidneys, cervical cells, oligodendroglia, astrocytes); the virus also infects CD8+ lymphocytes.

Penetrating inside the cells of the immune system, the virus integrates its DNA into the DNA of the host cell, reconfiguring its work to produce the structural elements of HIV, from which, under the influence of a specialized enzyme, new full-fledged viruses are assembled, which continue to colonize the host’s body.

The HIV virus inserts its DNA into the DNA of a human cell, changing the way it works

Damage to cells carrying CD4+ receptors leads to immune imbalance, as a result of which control over the penetration of various pathogenic elements (bacteria, fungi, viruses) into the body of the virus carrier and the development of malignant neoplasms is lost.

In addition to the aggressive effect on the cells of the immune system, HIV has a destructive effect on the cells of other organs and systems (hematopoietic, nervous, cardiovascular, endocrine, etc.), which provokes the development of multiple organ failure with extensive, varied symptoms and the steady progression of HIV infection .

In the first weeks or months after infection, there are no symptoms of the disease. The subsequent acute febrile phase, which lasts 1–2 months, is characterized by the following manifestations:

• increased body temperature;
• intoxication phenomena (headache, muscle and joint pain, severe weakness, drowsiness);
• inflammation of the tonsils (tonsillitis);
• swollen lymph nodes;
• measles or rubella-like skin rash;
• ulcerative defects and erosions of the mucous membrane of the pharynx, less often - of the oral cavity;
• cough.

Inflammation of the lymph nodes in the neck due to HIV infection

The acute phase is replaced by an asymptomatic phase, which can last several years, most often its duration is approximately 6 months. Despite the absence of clinically significant manifestations, the disease is steadily progressing, and the number of HIV virions in the biological environment of the body is increasing.

A turning point in the treatment of the disease was 1996, when antiretroviral drugs were introduced into clinical practice, which make it possible to manage the disease as a chronic process.

Stage IIB (persistent generalized lymphadenopathy) is characterized by an isolated increase in the size of the lymph nodes (most often the posterior cervical, supraclavicular, axillary and ulnar ones are involved in the pathological process), not accompanied by inflammation in nearby anatomical areas. Enlarged lymph nodes persist for many months or years.

Pre-AIDS is characterized by the following symptoms:

• fever – body temperature 38 ºС, pouring sweat, severe general weakness, deterioration in tolerance to usual physical activity;
• weight loss;
• lesions of the skin and mucous membranes (candidiasis, leukoplakia, condylomas);
• persistent diarrhea of ​​unknown etiology;
• various dyspeptic disorders.

At this stage, a secondary opportunistic infection is actively associated, provoking the development of a number of diseases (rhinitis, pharyngitis, sinusitis, tracheitis, bronchitis, pneumonia, meningitis, infections of soft tissues, bones and joints, recurrent herpes, ulcerative-necrotic diseases of the oral cavity, fungal infections of the nails, malignant neoplasms, etc.).

The main complications of HIV infection are the progression of the disease and the development of AIDS, complicated by various pathological conditions.

Symptoms of the terminal stage of HIV infection (AIDS itself) are represented by severe exhaustion, damage to the central and peripheral nervous system, endocrine disorders, severe astheno-neurotic manifestations and severe intoxication. The patient is bedridden, irreversible changes in the cognitive sphere develop.

Diseases characteristic of the terminal stage: tuberculosis, salmonellosis, cytomegalovirus infection, candidiasis, herpetic esophagitis, cryptosporidiosis, toxoplasmosis, meningoencephalitis, progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, histoplasmosis, cryptococcosis, malignant tumors (cervical cancer, Kaposi's sarcoma, lymphomas), Pneumocystis pneumonia.

• 10 myths about sexually transmitted infections
• TOP 7 most common sexually transmitted diseases
• 6 diseases you can get from a beauty salon

Diagnostics

Laboratory diagnostic methods have the greatest informative value in identifying HIV infection. The entire arsenal of diagnostic tests can be divided into several groups:

• tests to detect antibodies to HIV [enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), immunochemical assay (ICA), immunoblotting];
• tests to detect HIV antigens [polymerase chain reaction (PCR)];
• tests to detect and monitor the amount of viral nucleic acids.

The standard procedure in the Russian Federation currently is the detection of antibodies to HIV (first-level diagnosis). If the ELISA or ICA reaction is positive, a confirmatory test is performed - immunoblotting - to determine the specificity of the detected antibodies (the second level of diagnosis).

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) can detect antibodies to HIV in the blood

The results of the immunoblot are defined as “positive”, “negative”, “uncertain” according to the criteria established by regulatory documents.

Sometimes there is a phenomenon of a seronegative window, when, despite a high concentration of the virus in the body, test results are negative (antibodies to HIV are formed within 28 days after infection and may be absent when tested at an early stage). To eliminate diagnostic inaccuracies, it is recommended to repeat ELISA (ICA) 6 months after possible infection.

Currently, express diagnostic methods are widely used, allowing you to get results within 10-15 minutes.

Treatment

A turning point in the treatment of the disease was 1996, when antiretroviral drugs were introduced into clinical practice. If until this time HIV infection was considered a fatal disease, at the moment we can talk about it as a controlled chronic process.

Adequate pharmacotherapy can slow or stop the progression of the disease, however, there are currently no means to destroy viruses.

Therapy is carried out in several areas:

• antiretroviral therapy (nucleoside analogs that inhibit HIV reverse transcriptase, non-nucleoside HIV transcriptase inhibitors, HIV protease inhibitors);
• treatment of secondary diseases (parasitic, bacterial, viral, protozoal or fungal infections, malignant neoplasms);
• pathogenetic therapy of concomitant syndromes.

Treatment for HIV infection begins as early as possible from the moment the diagnosis is confirmed and is implemented for life.

Antiretroviral therapy for HIV infection allows you to manage the disease

Possible complications and consequences

The main complications are the progression of the disease and the development of AIDS, complicated by various pathological conditions.

Forecast

The average life expectancy of the vast majority of HIV-infected patients not receiving treatment is 3–11 years; with adequate therapy, it is comparable to the average life expectancy.

Information about the possibility of transmitting HIV infection by airborne droplets, fecal-oral, and transmissible methods does not have an evidence base.

Prevention

Measures to prevent HIV infection:

• use of contraceptives;
• refusal of unprotected sex with a casual partner;
• refusal to take drugs;
• regular HIV testing of people exposed to risk factors;
• carrying out antiretroviral prophylaxis if a partner has HIV;
• implementation of measures for the transmission of HIV from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period.

Video from YouTube on the topic of the article:

Olesya Smolnyakova Therapy, clinical pharmacology and pharmacotherapy About the author

Education: higher education, 2004 (State Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education “Kursk State Medical University”), specialty “General Medicine”, qualification “Doctor”. 2008-2012

– postgraduate student of the Department of Clinical Pharmacology, KSMU, Candidate of Medical Sciences (2013, specialty “pharmacology, clinical pharmacology”). 2014-2015

– professional retraining, specialty “Management in Education”, Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education “KSU”.

The information is generalized and is provided for informational purposes. At the first signs of illness, consult a doctor. Self-medication is dangerous to health!

Source: https://www.neboleem.net/vich-infekcija.php

HIV infection - symptoms and signs, causes, treatment, prognosis for people with HIV

HIV infection is a disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus, characterized by acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, which contributes to the occurrence of secondary infections and malignancies due to the profound inhibition of the body's protective properties.

A feature of the virus that causes HIV infection is the development of a sluggish infectious-inflammatory process in the human body, as well as a long incubation period. We will look in more detail about what kind of disease this is, what are the causes of its development, symptoms and routes of transmission, as well as what is prescribed as treatment.

What is HIV infection?

• HIV infection is a slowly progressive viral disease that affects the immune system, the extreme stage of development of which is AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome).
• HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a retrovirus from the genus of lentiviruses, infection with which suppresses the activity of the immune system and leads to the development of a slowly progressive disease, HIV infection.
• In the human body, nature has a mechanism through which immune cells produce antibodies that can resist microorganisms with foreign genetic information.

When antigens enter the body, lymphocytes begin to work in it. They recognize the enemy and neutralize it, but when the body is infected by the virus, the protective barriers are destroyed and the person can die within a year of infection.

Main types of HIV infection:

• HIV-1 or HIV-1 – causes typical symptoms, is very aggressive, and is the main causative agent of the disease. Discovered in 1983, it is found in Central Africa, Asia and Western Europe, North and South America.
• HIV-2 or HIV-2 – HIV symptoms are less intense and is considered a less aggressive strain of HIV. Discovered in 1986, it is found in Germany, France, Portugal and West Africa.
• HIV-2 or HIV-2 is extremely rare.

Causes and routes of transmission

The higher the immune status of a healthy person, the lower the risk of getting an infection when in contact with an HIV-infected patient. And vice versa - weak immunity will lead to an increased risk of infection and a severe course of the resulting disease.

A high viral load in a person with HIV in their body increases their danger as a carrier of the disease several times.

Methods of transmission of HIV to humans:

1. During sexual intercourse without using a condom. And also during oral sex, if there are cuts or damage.
2. Using an injection syringe, a medical instrument after a person infected with HIV.
3. The entry into the human body of blood already infected with the virus. Occurs during treatment and blood transfusion.

4. Infection of a child from a sick mother in the womb during childbirth or lactation.
5. Using an instrument after an HIV-infected person during cosmetic procedures, manicure or pedicure, tattooing, piercing, etc.

6. Using other people's personal hygiene items in everyday life, for example, razors, toothbrushes, toothpicks, etc.

How can you avoid becoming infected with HIV?

If there is an HIV-infected person in your environment, you must remember that you cannot become infected with HIV if:

• Coughing and sneezing.
• Handshake.
• Hugs and kisses.
• Consumption of shared food or drinks.
• In swimming pools, baths, saunas.
• Through “injections” in transport and the metro. Information about possible infection through infected needles that HIV-infected people place on seats, or try to inject people in a crowd with them, is nothing more than myths. The virus does not persist in the environment for very long; in addition, the virus content at the tip of the needle is too small.

HIV is an unstable virus, it dies quickly outside the host’s body, is sensitive to temperature (reduces infectious properties at a temperature of 56 ° C, dies after 10 minutes when heated to 70-80 ° C). It is well preserved in blood and its preparations prepared for transfusion.

At-risk groups:

• intravenous drug users;
• persons, regardless of orientation, who use anal sex;
• recipients of blood or organs;
• medical workers;
• persons involved in the sex industry, both prostitutes and their clients.

Without highly active antiretroviral therapy, the life expectancy of patients does not exceed 10 years. The use of antiviral drugs can slow down the progression of HIV and the development of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome - AIDS. Signs and symptoms of HIV at different stages of the disease have their own colors.

They are varied and increase in severity of manifestation.

The first signs of HIV in adults

Human immunodeficiency virus is a retrovirus that causes HIV infection. Depending on the clinical signs of HIV infection, the following stages are distinguished:

• Incubation period.
• Primary manifestations:• acute infection;• asymptomatic infection;• generalized lymphadenopathy.
• Secondary manifestations: • damage to the skin and mucous membranes; • persistent damage to internal organs; • generalized diseases.
• Terminal stage.

HIV has no symptoms of its own and can masquerade as any infectious disease. In this case, blisters, pustules, lichen, and seborrheic dermatitis appear on the skin. The virus can only be detected using tests: an HIV test.

The first signs you need to pay attention to:

• Fever of unknown origin for more than 1 week.
• Enlargement of various groups of lymph nodes: cervical, axillary, inguinal - for no apparent reason (no inflammatory diseases), especially if lymphadenopathy does not go away within several weeks.
• Diarrhea for several weeks.
• The appearance of signs of candidiasis (thrush) of the oral cavity in an adult.
• Extensive or atypical localization of herpetic eruptions.
• A sharp decrease in body weight, regardless of any reason.

Symptoms of HIV infection

The course of HIV infection is quite diverse; all stages do not always occur; certain clinical signs may be absent. Depending on the individual clinical course, the duration of the disease can range from several months to 15-20 years.

Main symptoms of HIV infection:

• Enlargement of 2 or more lymph nodes, unconnected, which are painless, and the skin over them does not change its color;
• Increased fatigue;
• A gradual decrease in CD4 lymphocytes, at a rate of approximately 0.05-0.07 × 109/l per year.

Such symptoms accompany the patient for approximately 2 to 20 years or more.

In the human body, HIV goes through 5 stages, each of which is accompanied by certain signs and symptoms.

Stage 1 human immunodeficiency virus

HIV infection stage 1 (window period, seroconversion, incubation period) – the period from infection of the body with the virus until the appearance of the first antibodies detected in it. Usually ranges from 14 days to 1 year, which largely depends on the health of the immune system.

Stage 2 (acute phase)

The appearance of primary symptoms, which are divided into periods A, B, C.

• Period 2A - no symptoms.
• Period 2B - the first manifestations of infection, similar to the course of other infectious diseases.
• 2B - manifests itself in the form of sore throat, herpes, candidiasis, pneumonia, but at this stage of development of the disease, infections respond well to treatment. Period 2B lasts 21 days.

Latent period and its symptoms

The latent stage of HIV lasts up to 2-20 years or more. Immunodeficiency progresses slowly, the symptoms of HIV are expressed by lymphadenitis - enlarged lymph nodes:

• They are elastic and painless, mobile, the skin retains its normal color.
• When diagnosing latent HIV infection, the number of enlarged nodes is taken into account - at least two, and their location - at least 2 groups not connected by a common lymph flow (with the exception of inguinal nodes)

Stage 4 (pre-AIDS)

This stage begins when the level of CD4+ lymphocytes drops critically and approaches 200 cells in 1 μl of blood. As a result of such suppression of the immune system (its cellular component), the patient develops:

In general, any infectious disease (for example, tuberculosis, salmonellosis, pneumonia) is more severe than in the general population.

Stage 5 HIV infection (AIDS)

The terminal stage is characterized by irreversible changes, treatment is ineffective. The number of T helper cells (CD4 cells) falls below 0.05x109/l, patients die weeks or months from the onset of the stage.

In drug addicts who have been using psychoactive substances for several years, the CD4 level may remain almost within normal limits, but severe infectious complications (abscesses, pneumonia, etc.)

) develop very quickly and are fatal.

The number of lymphocytes decreases so much that infections that otherwise would never have arisen begin to cling to a person. These diseases are called AIDS-associated infections:

Pathogenic factors that accelerate the development of the disease from stage 1 to AIDS:

• Lack of timely and adequate treatment;
• Coinfection (addition of other infectious diseases to HIV infection);
• Stress;
• Poor quality food;
• Elderly age;
• Genetic characteristics;
• Bad habits – alcohol, smoking.

HIV has no symptoms of its own and can masquerade as any infectious disease. In this case, blisters, pustules, lichen, and seborrheic dermatitis appear on the skin. The virus can only be detected using tests: an HIV test.

Diagnosis and test for HIV

If you suspect HIV infection, you should contact an infectious disease specialist. The test can be taken anonymously at the AIDS Prevention and Control Center, which is located in every region. There, doctors also provide consultations on all issues related to HIV infection and AIDS.

Considering the fact that the course of the disease is characterized by a duration of absence of severe symptoms, diagnosis is possible only on the basis of laboratory tests, which boil down to identifying antibodies to HIV in the blood or directly upon detection of the virus.

The acute phase mainly does not determine the presence of antibodies, however, three months after infection, they are detected in about 95% of cases.

HIV diagnosis consists of special tests:

1. 1st test - enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). This is the most common diagnostic method. Three months after the virus enters the bloodstream, the amount of antibodies that can be determined by an enzyme immunoassay accumulates in the human body. It gives false positive or false negative results in about 1% of cases.
2. 2nd test - immunoblot (Immune Blotting). This test determines the presence of specific antibodies to HIV. The result can be positive, negative and doubtful (or uncertain). An indeterminate result may mean that HIV is present in a person’s bloodstream, but the body has not yet produced the full range of antibodies.
3. PCR or polymerase chain reaction is used to determine any infectious pathogen, including the HIV virus. In this case, its RNA is detected, and the pathogen can be detected at very early stages (at least 10 days must pass after infection).
4. Rapid tests, thanks to which you can determine the presence of HIV infection within 15 minutes. There are several types of them:
   • The most accurate test is immunochromatographic. The test consists of special strips onto which capillary blood, urine or saliva is applied. If antibodies to HIV are detected, the strip has a colored line and a control line. If the answer is no, only the line is noticeable.
   • Home use kits "OraSure Technologies1". Developer - America. This test was approved by the FDA.

The incubation period of the HIV virus is 90 days. During this period, it is difficult to detect the presence of pathology, but this can be done using PCR.

Even after the final diagnosis of HIV infection, throughout the entire period of the disease, it is necessary to conduct regular laboratory tests of the patient in order to monitor the course of clinical symptoms and the effectiveness of treatment.

Treatment and prognosis

A cure for HIV has not yet been invented, and there is no vaccine. It is impossible to remove the virus from the body, and this is a fact at this time. However, one should not lose hope: active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) can reliably slow down and even practically stop the development of HIV infection and its complications.

Treatment is predominantly etiotropic and involves the prescription of drugs that reduce the reproductive capabilities of the virus. In particular, these include the following drugs:

• nucleoside transcriptase inhibitors (otherwise known as NRTIs), corresponding to various groups: Ziagen, Videx, Zerit, combination drugs (combivir, trizivir);
• nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (otherwise known as NTRTIs): stocrine, viramune;
• fusion inhibitors;
• protease inhibitors.

The main task of the treating specialist when selecting a drug regimen for antiviral treatment of HIV is to minimize adverse reactions. In addition to the use of specific medications, the patient must correct eating behavior, as well as work and rest patterns.

In addition, it should be taken into account that some HIV-infected people belong to the category of non-progressors, who have viral particles in their blood, but the development of AIDS does not occur.

Factors that slow down the transition of HIV infection to the AIDS stage:

• Timely initiation of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). In the absence of HAART, the patient's death occurs within 1 year from the date of diagnosis of AIDS. It is believed that in regions where HAART is available, the life expectancy of HIV-infected people reaches 20 years.
• No side effects from taking antiretroviral drugs.
• Adequate treatment of concomitant diseases.
• Adequate food.
• Rejection of bad habits.

HIV infection is completely incurable; in many cases, antiviral therapy gives little result. Today, on average, HIV-infected people live 11-12 years, but careful therapy and modern medications will significantly extend the life of patients.

The main role in containing the developing AIDS is played by the psychological state of the patient and his efforts aimed at complying with the prescribed regimen.

This is all about HIV infection: what are the first symptoms in women and men, how to treat the disease. Do not be ill!

Source: http://simptomy-i-lechenie.net/vich-infektsiya/

Symptoms of HIV infection, mechanism of disease development, AIDS dissidence

Update: February 2019

Anecdote: AIDS is the plague of the twentieth century and the runny nose of the twenty-first.

Announcement: 80% of people infected with HIV live in Africa, but over the past 30 years the population of this continent has doubled. Is the Devil called HIV so scary and does the epidemic really exist?

For the first time, an atypical manifestation of immunodeficiency in homosexual men was described in the American journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly in 1981. This year is the starting point in the history of HIV.

The virus itself was isolated in 1983 at the Pasteur Institute (France) and at the same time at the National Institutes of Health (USA), but it was the Frenchmen Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier who received the 2008 Nobel Prize. for this discovery.

Epidemiology and pathogenesis

The human immunodeficiency virus belongs to the RNA-containing viruses of the Retrovirus genus, the Lentivirus family.

There are two types of the virus: HIV-1, the main cause of the epidemic, and HIV-2, a less common variant mainly found in West Africa.

Entering the human body, the viral particle detects CD4 cell receptors, attaching to which it can enter the cell.

The source of HIV-1 infection is a sick person; there is a theory that HIV-1 can infect wild chimpanzees; for HIV-2, some species of African monkeys can be the reservoir.

The virus is very unstable in the external environment: it does not tolerate heating and drying, any antiseptics destroy it almost instantly. HIV is present in all body fluids: tears, breast milk, spinal fluid, saliva, rectal mucus, etc.

, but the largest amount is found in blood, semen and vaginal secretions.

Methods of HIV transmission

Sexual. The virus is transmitted through unprotected sexual contact. Homosexual men are at greatest risk, since their way of satisfying sexual desire is the most dangerous.

Hemocontact is also parenteral. The virus is transmitted through blood transfusions, as well as through contaminated medical instruments such as syringes, or through trauma when the blood of an infected person enters the wound of an uninfected person. The main population of people infected in this way are intravenous drug addicts. They make up 70–80% of those infected with HIV in civilized countries.

Vertical. That is, from mother to fetus. Most often, infection of a baby occurs directly during childbirth, through the mother's blood. Infection through the placenta is rare, and even more rarely the virus is transmitted through breast milk. In general, an HIV-positive mother has a 25-30% chance of having an HIV-positive baby.

HIV is not transmitted through everyday contact; kissing, handshaking and bites of blood-sucking insects are also safe.

At-risk groups

• intravenous drug users;
• persons, regardless of orientation, who use anal sex;
• recipients of blood or organs;
• medical workers;
• persons involved in the sex industry, both prostitutes and their clients.

Symptoms and stages of HIV infection

Incubation stage

From the moment of infection until the appearance of the first symptoms of HIV infection. Usually lasts from 3 weeks to 3 months, rarely can extend to 1 year. At this time, the virus is actively introduced into cells and reproduces. There are no clinical symptoms of the disease yet, the body’s immune response has not yet been observed.

Stage of primary manifestations

Active reproduction of the virus continues, but the body is already beginning to respond to the introduction of HIV. This phase lasts about 3 months. It can occur in three ways:

• Asymptomatic – there are no signs of the disease, but antibodies to HIV are detected in the blood.
• Acute HIV infection - this is where the first symptoms of HIV infection appear, accompanied by an unmotivated rise in body temperature to subfebrile levels, increased fatigue, increased sweating, various rashes on the skin and mucous membranes, enlarged lymph nodes (usually posterior cervical, axillary, elbow), Some people may experience sore throat, diarrhea, and an enlarged spleen and liver. Blood test - decreased lymphocytes, leukocytes, thrombocytopenia. This period lasts on average from 2 weeks to 1.5 months, then passes into the latent stage.
• Acute HIV infection with secondary diseases - sometimes in the acute phase the suppression of immunity is so strong that already at this stage HIV-associated infections (pneumonia, herpes, fungal infections, etc.) may appear.

Latent stage

All signs of the acute phase pass. The virus continues to destroy cells of the immune system, but their death is compensated by their increased production.

Immunity fades slowly but constantly until the number of lymphocytes drops to a certain critical level. Previously it was believed that this stage lasted about 5 years, now this period has been increased to 10 - 20 years.

This stage does not have any clinical symptoms of HIV infection.

Stage of secondary diseases or AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome)

The number of lymphocytes decreases so much that infections that otherwise would never have arisen begin to cling to a person. These diseases are called AIDS-associated infections:

• Kaposi's sarcoma;
• brain lymphoma;
• candidiasis of the esophagus, bronchi or lungs;
• cytomegalovirus infections;
• Pneumocystis pneumonia;
• pulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis, etc.

Actually this list is long. In 1987, a WHO expert committee compiled a list of 23 diseases that are considered markers of AIDS, and the presence of the first 12 does not require immunological confirmation of the presence of the virus in the body.

Treatment of HIV infection

Modern medicine is not yet able to completely cure HIV, and a reliable vaccine has not been developed that allows for specific prevention of this disease. However, the use of antiretroviral drugs can reduce the viral load in the body and prevent the disease from progressing to the AIDS stage. Treatment must continue throughout the patient's life.

The effectiveness of combination (includes 2 or more drugs with different mechanisms of action) antiretroviral therapy has been proven in two large studies: HPTN-052 and CROI-2014. Both studies involve homosexual and heterosexual couples, where one partner is infected and takes antiretroviral drugs, while the virus is not detected in his blood, and the other is healthy.

• HPTN-052 started in 2005, as of 2011 the probability of infection has decreased by 96%;
• CROI-2014 started in 2011, conducted only in the USA, 40% of couples are homosexual, 280,000 heterosexual and 164,000 homosexual unprotected sexual acts were tracked, as of February 20014. Not a single documented case of infection of a sexual partner has yet been recorded.

Both studies are not yet completed, but the preliminary results are very impressive.

Alternative point of view

Money rules the world. This postulate is obvious to everyone. All major world religions condemn acquisitiveness, but this does not save humanity. Golden Taurus dominates all spheres of human activity.

In terms of profitability, medicine is right behind the arms trade, drug trafficking, casinos and prostitution, but with much less risk. Turn on the TV, half of the commercials will sell you various pills that help “for everything.”

For example, the well-known Mitsubishi corporation produces everything from cars to fountain pens (an artist I know only uses pencils from this company).

So, this company includes a division of Mitsubishi Chemical, which produces medicines. It is Mitsubishi Chemical that provides half of the income of the entire corporation.

It is not cars, but pills that support the well-being of Mitsubishi management.

Modern medicine has made great progress in the fight against dangerous diseases. We have defeated smallpox, almost eradicated polio, and we no longer die from plague and cholera.

Even cancer is not as scary for modern people as it was a hundred years ago. Doctors can successfully lower blood pressure, treat heart attacks, transplant up to 60% of organs, and make prosthetics that are no worse than real limbs.

In general, markets have been dismantled, areas of activity have been divided...

Beginners in the pharmaceutical business have absolutely nothing to do. Megacorporations, which are richer than oil companies, will gobble it up one or two times. But they also need to somehow increase their income.

So how can we increase farm income now? companies, if everything has already been divided and the epidemics have been eliminated? We need to invent a threat. Believe me, in the history of the 20th century there were many scams that brought fabulous profits to pharmaceutical corporations.

These are synthetic vitamins, statins (cholesterol drugs that are dangerous to health), some vaccines, the already mentioned Aspirin, etc. But the most ambitious hoax is, of course, the human immunodeficiency virus, also known as HIV infection.

The US government has already spent $50 billion to fight the AIDS epidemic, yet an effective vaccine has not been created, and antiretroviral drugs kill people faster than HIV itself.

15–20% of the population of the poorest countries in Africa are declared to have AIDS, despite the fact that a monthly course of treatment for Africans costs at least 150 USD. for one person. In Russia and the USA, the cost of therapy can reach up to $800 per month.

Do you feel the size of the profits of the pharmaceutical cartels?

The first person to question the connection between AIDS and HIV was Peter Duesberg (the famous biologist). Back in 1987 he studied the statistics on the incidence of AIDS in the USA and found out that 90% of patients are men, and 60 - 70% of them are drug addicts, and the remaining 30% are gays who actively use all kinds of aphrodisiacs and psychostimulants; blacks make up 12% of the US population, while among About 47% of them are HIV-infected.

This behavior of the virus seemed suspicious to Duesberg. Around the same time (late 1980s), the HIV/AIDS denial movement (AIDS dissidents) emerged.

Its supporters (some of them world-famous scientists and even Nobel laureates) argue that there is no connection between acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and HIV.

Here are some of the postulates of AIDS dissidence:

• Acquired immunodeficiency exists, but it is not caused by HIV, but by a host of other factors: intoxication, drug addiction, homosexuality, radiation, vaccinations, taking certain medications, malnutrition, pregnancy (in women who have given birth frequently), stress, etc.
• Among those infected through sexual contact, the majority are homosexual men. AIDS dissidents explain this fact by the fact that male sperm introduced in an unnatural way is a powerful immunosuppressant. By the way, the symptoms of HIV infection in women and men are absolutely identical.
• Drug addiction is very destructive to the immune system, so drug addicts die from immunodeficiency even without HIV. Drugs rapidly destroy the liver, whose functions are to neutralize toxic substances, it is involved in many types of metabolism, and if its functions are disrupted, a person can get sick and die from anything.
• In Africa, three factors are enough to make a diagnosis of AIDS: diarrhea, exhaustion, and fever. This does not require confirmation of virus detection. Millions of Africans are dying from malnutrition, poor sanitation, tuberculosis, herpes simplex, CMV, malaria and other “diseases of poverty” due to weakened immunity, but megacorporations are trying to convince us that they are dying from AIDS.
• Since the outbreak began, Africa's population has doubled. The most HIV-affected African country is Uganda, where about 20% of the population is allegedly infected with HIV, and is demonstrating constant population growth.
• There is not a single disease directly related to HIV; when a person dies from AIDS, it means that he died from tuberculosis, Pneumocystis pneumonia, Salmonella sepsis, etc.
• Duesberg himself put forward the chemical theory of AIDS; he claims that the disease is caused by drugs, as well as many drugs, including those used in the treatment of HIV, after which he became enemy No. 1 among the pharmaceutical cartels. He conducts his research with modest donations from private individuals.
• Freddie Mercury died of AIDS in 1991, after battling the disease for 3 years, he was a homosexual and a drug addict. In the same year, American basketball player Magic Johnson announced the end of his sports career due to the discovery of HIV in his blood. He is heterosexual and has not “dabbled in drugs” - he is still alive and well.
• Pharmaceutical companies are resisting in every possible way the reduction in price of their products aimed at combating HIV. The market for these drugs is estimated at $500 billion per year. GlaxoSmithKline alone earns about $160 billion annually from HIV.

What’s interesting is that supporters of the classical theory do not try to logically and reasonably refute AIDS dissidents, classifying them as sectarians, and this indirectly proves that their statements are absolutely groundless, since the viral nature of the origin of AIDS is considered proven in scientific circles.

Paradoxically, the hysteria around HIV has benefited domestic healthcare. Medical workers have become more careful about sanitary and epidemiological rules, the production of disposable consumables has increased tenfold, and their attitude towards blood has changed (it has become less frivolous).

I'll add a few words of my own. Remember the story of thirty-two people being infected with HIV in Elista in 1988; I was not too lazy to find out their fate; by 2011, half of them had died. I personally know a woman who has been HIV-positive for 12 years, has ignored antiretroviral therapy, looks quite healthy and has no plans to die yet.

My personal IMHO conclusion from the above is the following: HIV exists, but its connection with AIDS is not obvious, and this problem is overly inflated by pharmaceutical cartels for selfish purposes. Ask yourself, would you have unprotected sexual intercourse with a partner who claimed to have HIV? So I wouldn’t, it’s scary...

Postnova Maria Borisovna general practitioner

Source: http://zdravotvet.ru/simptomy-vich-infekcii-mexanizm-razvitiya-bolezni-spid-dissidentstvo/

AIDS: history of origin, spread, symptoms. Reference

Some scientists believe that the HIV virus was transmitted from monkeys to humans around 1926. Recent research suggests that humans acquired the virus in West Africa. Until the 1930s, the virus did not manifest itself in any way. In 1959, a man died in the Congo.

Later research by doctors who analyzed his medical history showed that this may have been the first case of death from AIDS recorded in the world. In 1969, the first cases of the disease with symptoms of AIDS were recorded among prostitutes in the United States. Then doctors did not pay much attention to them, considering them a rare form of pneumonia.

In 1978, symptoms of the same disease were found among homosexual men in the United States and Sweden, as well as among heterosexual men in Tanzania and Haiti.

About 200 of these people died.

Since most of the patients were homosexuals, the new disease was called “Gay Related Immuno Deficiency (GRID)” or “A Gay Cancer.”

On June 5, 1981, an American scientist from the Center for Disease Control, Michael Gottlieb, first described a new disease that occurs with deep damage to the immune system.

A thorough analysis led American researchers to the conclusion about the presence of a previously unknown syndrome, which in 1982 received the name Aquired Immune Deficiency Syndrom (AIDS) - acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

At the same time, AIDS was called the disease of four “Hs”, based on the capital letters of the English words - homosexuals, hemophiliacs, Haitians and heroin, thereby highlighting risk groups for the new disease.

Immune deficiency (decreased immunity), from which AIDS patients suffered, was previously encountered only as a congenital defect of premature newborns. Doctors found that in these patients, the decrease in immunity was not congenital, but was acquired in adulthood.

In 1983, the French scientist Montagnier established the viral nature of the disease. He discovered a virus in a lymph node removed from an AIDS patient, calling it LAV (lymphadenopathy associated virus).

On April 24, 1984, the director of the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland, Dr. Robert Gallo, announced that he had found the true cause of AIDS. He managed to isolate the virus from the peripheral blood of AIDS patients. He isolated a retrovirus called HTLV-III (Human T-lymphotropic virus type III). These two viruses turned out to be identical.

In 1986, Montagnier's group announced the discovery of a new virus, which was named HIV-2 (HIV-2). A comparative study of the genomes of HIV-1 and HIV-2 showed that, in evolutionary terms, HIV-2 is far removed from HIV-1.

The authors suggested that both viruses existed long before the modern AIDS epidemic. HIV-2 was first isolated in 1985 from AIDS patients in Guinea-Bissau and the Cape Verde Islands.

Studies have shown that diseases caused by HIV-2 and HIV-1 are independent infections, since there are differences in the characteristics of the pathogens, clinical picture and epidemiology.

In 1987, the World Health Organization approved the name of the causative agent of AIDS - “human immunodeficiency virus” (HIV, or in the English abbreviation HIV).

In 1987, the WHO Global Program on AIDS was established and the World Health Assembly adopted a global strategy to combat AIDS. In the same year, the first antiviral drug, azidothymidine (zidovudine, retrovir), was introduced into the treatment of patients in a number of countries.

It must be emphasized that HIV and AIDS are not synonymous. AIDS is a broader concept and means immunity deficiency.

This condition can occur as a result of a variety of reasons: chronic debilitating diseases, exposure to radiation energy, in children with defects in the immune system and in elderly patients with involution of immune defense, certain medications and hormonal drugs. Currently, the name AIDS is used to refer to only one of the stages of HIV infection, namely its manifest stage.

HIV infection is a progressive anthroponotic infectious disease, with a blood-contact mechanism of infection, characterized by specific damage to the immune system with the development of severe immunodeficiency, which is manifested by secondary infections, malignant neoplasms and autoimmune processes.

The source of HIV infection is a person with AIDS or an asymptomatic virus carrier. The main mechanism of infection transmission is blood contact.

The disease is transmitted through sexual contact, especially homosexual; from an infected mother to a child during pregnancy through the placenta, during childbirth, during breastfeeding from mother to fetus; through razors and other sharp objects, toothbrushes, etc.

HIV epidemiologists do not admit the existence of airborne and fecal-oral transmission routes, since the release of HIV from sputum, urine and feces is very small, as well as the number of susceptible cells in the gastrointestinal tract and respiratory tract.

There is also an artificial route of transmission: during therapeutic and diagnostic manipulations through the penetration of the virus through damaged skin, mucous membranes (transfusion of blood and its preparations, transplantation of organs and tissues, injections, operations, endoscopic procedures, etc.), artificial insemination, when administering drugs intravenously, performing various types of tattoos.

The risk group includes: passive homosexuals and prostitutes, who are more likely to suffer damage to the mucous membranes in the form of microcracks. Among women, the main risk group is drug addicts who inject drugs intravenously.

Among sick children, 4/5 are children whose mothers have AIDS, are infected with HIV, or belong to known risk groups.

The second place in frequency is occupied by children who have undergone blood transfusions, the third place is taken by patients with hemophilia, medical personnel who have professional contact with the blood and other biological fluids of HIV-infected patients.

And many people do not pay due attention to the initial signs of its manifestation, mistaking them for symptoms of other, at first glance, not dangerous diseases. If the treatment process is not started on time, the final stage of HIV – AIDS – occurs.

The immunodeficiency virus can become the basis for the development of other infectious diseases. Along with the risk of developing AIDS, the risk of other infectious diseases also increases.

Symptoms

Fever for more than 1 month, diarrhea for more than 1 month, unexplained weight loss of 10% or more, prolonged pneumonia, recurrent or not responding to standard therapy, persistent cough for more than 1 month, persistent, recurrent viral, bacterial, parasitic diseases, sepsis, swollen lymph nodes two or more groups over 1 month, subacute encephalitis, dementia in previously healthy people.

The last stage - AIDS - occurs in three clinical forms: onco-AIDS, neuro-AIDS and infectious-AIDS. Onco-AIDS is manifested by Kaposi's sarcoma and brain lymphoma. Neuro-AIDS is characterized by various lesions of the central nervous system and peripheral nerves. As for infectious AIDS, it is manifested by numerous infections.

As HIV progresses to its final stage—AIDS—the symptoms of the disease become more pronounced. People are increasingly being affected by various diseases, such as pneumonia, pulmonary tuberculosis, herpes virus and other diseases called opportunistic infections.

They are the ones that lead to the most severe consequences. At this time, the immunodeficiency virus becomes a serious disease. It happens that the patient’s condition is so serious that the person is not even able to get out of bed.

Such people most often are not even subject to hospitalization, but are at home under the care of people close to them.

• Diagnostics
• The main method of laboratory diagnosis of HIV infection is the detection of antibodies to the virus using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
• Treatment

At the present stage of medical development, there is no medicine that can completely cure this disease. However, with timely initiation of HIV treatment, it is possible to postpone for a long time the transition of the immunodeficiency virus to the development of AIDS, and therefore prolong a more or less normal life for the patient.

Treatment regimens have already been developed that can significantly slow down the development of the disease, and since the infection lasts a long time in most cases, we can hope to create effective therapeutic agents during this time.

Source: https://ria.ru/20091130/196207724.html