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HIV and AIDS
What is HIV and what are the causes?
HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is a virus which attacks and weakens the body's immune system. This makes it very hard for the infected person to recover from infections. AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is the term often used to describe the late stages of HIV. This is when the immune system becomes so weak that it leaves the person open to very serious illnesses such as pneumonia and tuberculosis which they cannot fight off.
HIV is spread by bodily fluids containing sufficiently high levels of the virus, such as semen, vaginal fluids and blood (it cannot be caught from saliva or urine). It is often sexually transmitted.
Statistics from the Health Protection Agency show there are around 73,000 people with HIV in the UK. It is believed third of people with it are undiagnosed.
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What are the early symptoms of HIV?
For many infected people, there are no early signs of HIV. However, if early symptoms do develop they generally show within 3 months and include:
• fever
• aching muscles
• lethargy
• rash
• swollen lymph nodes
• swollen glands
At this stage, a doctor may incorrectly diagnose the early symptoms of HIV as flu. Therefore, if you have having unprotected sex it is important to get regular STD tests.
HIV Symptoms
With treatment, a person can have HIV for 10 to 15 years before it progresses to AIDS. During this time the sufferer will become increasingly susceptible to infections and respond to illnesses far more seriously than a healthy person would.
Symptoms are also likely to include:
• swollen lymph nodes
• night sweats
• fever
• rapid weight loss
• diarrhoea
• breathlessness
• extreme lethargy
• a dry, persistent cough
• loss of appetite
• rash
• the appearance of lesions (red, brown or purple in appearance)
• easy bruising
• yeast infections
HIV treatment
At present there is no cure for HIV or AIDS. There is anti-viral medication available which, when combined, help slow down the damage to the immune system and so prolonging the person's life. In countries where highly active anti-viral therapy (HAART) is available, an infected person can expect a period of 10 to 15 years before HIV progresses to the AIDS stage, and a life expectancy of up to 5 years after that.
As with most medications, there are potential side effects. The most common are nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and fatigue. Sometimes these side effects subside over time, as the body becomes 'used' to the drugs. If the side effects are interfering with a person's day to day life, their doctor may make a change to the combination of medication they are taking in order to combat this.
The HIV virus can mutate and become resistant to certain drugs. This means a person may catch a strain which is already resistant to a certain type of treatment, or they may stop responding to medication that previously worked well for them.
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