HIV: Human Immunodeficiency Virus AIDS: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. HIV is different from most other viruses because it attacks the immune system. The immune system gives our body the ability to fight other infections. HIV finds and destroys a type of white blood cell (T cells or CD4 cells) that the immune system must have to fight disease. AIDS is the final stage of HIV infection. It can take years for a person infected with HIV, even without treatment, to reach this stage.
Having AIDS means the virus has weakened the immune system to the point at which the body has a difficult time fighting infections. When someone has one or more of these infections and a low number of T cells, he or she has AIDS. TRANSMISSION OF HIV HIV can only be transmitted from directly from an infected patient to other people. HIV is only transmitted when an infected body fluid comes into contact with mucous membrane or broken skin (wounds, lesions, eczema) or if it enters directly into the bloodstream.
HIV cannot cross healthy skin because it is protected by its outer layer, the stratum corneum. MODES OF TRANSMISSION Sexually transmitted: HIV infection is a sexually transmitted disease (STD). Infection takes place both through sperm and through vaginal fluids. A single sexual contact with someone who is seropositive can be enough to infect you. Oral-genital sex can also be dangerous. Mother to baby transmission: A seropositive mother can pass HIV onto her baby during pregnancy, while giving birth, and while breastfeeding.
Medical and surgical equipments: The use of non-sterile medical and surgical equipments (gloves, forceps, surgical knives, syringes and needles, etc) is a potent means of HIV transmission. Blood transfusions and organ transplant: In Nigeria, blood and organ donors are tested. Hence the risk of failing to identify a seropositive donor is extremely low. Health workers: If the rules of hygiene in hospital environment are not adhered to, health workers are very likely to be infected. The most frequent case is that of injury from a needle contaminated with blood from a seropositive patient.
SIGNS AND SYMTOMS OF HIV AND AIDS The signs and symptoms are preliminarily the result of conditions of that do not normally develop in individuals with healthy immune systems. Most of these conditions are infections caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi that are normally controlled by the elements of the immune system that HIV damages. People with AIDS have an increased risk of developing various cancers such as kaposi’s sarcoma, cervical cancer and cancer of the immune systems known as lymphomas.
Additionally people with AIDS have systemic symptoms like fevers, sweats (particularly at night), swollen glands, chills, weakness, and tuberculosis and weight loss. PHASES OF HIV AND AIDS The cause of untreated HIV can be divided into three phases: the acute HIV disease, then the latency phase, and then finally the disease of AIDS, ending in death. The acute HIV disease lasts for a few weeks. This period is also known as the window of vulnerability. During this phases the HIVs invades the organs of the defence system and other bodily organs and establish themselves there.
The latency phase lasts on average of ten years, during which the virus concentration is relatively low. In the AIDS phase the defence system is completely destroyed, as the result of which death occurs after one to two years. CONFIRMATION AND COUNCELLING (HIV TEST) Many Nigerians are unaware of the fact that they are infected with HIV. Less than 20% of the sexually active population in Nigeria has been tested, and this proportion is even lower in rural populations.
Further more only about 10% of pregnant women have been tested, received their test results and counselled. STIGMATISATION AIDS stigma exist around Nigeria in variety of ways, including ostracism, rejection, discrimination and violence of HIV-infected people; compulsory HIV testing without prior consent or protection of confidentiality. Fear of violence prevents many people from seeking HIV testing, returning for their results, or securing treatments, possibly turning what could be a manageable chronic illness into a death sentence and perpetuating the spread of HIV.
PREVENTION The three main transmission routes of HIV in Nigeria are sexual contact, exposure to infected body fluids or tissue and from mother to child during perinatal period. Sexual contact: The majority of HIV infections in Nigeria are acquired through unprotected sexual relations between partners, one of whom has HIV. During sexual act, only male or female condoms can reduce the risk of infection with HIV and other STDs. I will recommend abstinence for unmarried couples.
Body fluid exposure: health workers can reduce exposure to HIV by taking the following precautions; using barriers such as gloves, masks, protective eye ware or shields, and gowns which prevent exposure of the skin, etc. Mother-to-child: Current recommendation states that HIV-infected mothers should avoid breast feeding their infants. Education: One way to change risky behaviour is health education. Several studies have shown the positive impact of education and health literacy on cautious sex behaviour.