Globally, HIV symbolises a threat to humankind, where our subtle knowledge is not sufficient to understand, to feel, or to analyse what is happening or what is to happen if anyone is suspected of having HIV infections. Social stigmas and different opinions sometimes influence patients to stay in the darkness of this disease, though modern science has introduced new inventions to fight back against HIV and AIDS.
Many misconceptions, myths and obscurities make it difficult to understand, to find out HIV causes and symptoms, but still we can try to draw our attention to those who are in this darkness. This blog gives a glimpse of the medical significance of HIV and AIDS, how it spreads, and what the advanced HIV symptoms and complications are.
What is HIV?
HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus, which clearly damages your immune system and turns your life into a shadow of death if you ignore or do not check it after confirming it. Thinking about HIV transmission – yes, HIV easily transmit through semen, fluids, blood, vaginal fluids, and breastmilk. Obviously, it is a kind of STIs that directly affects your happy life without any prior notice if you have any unprotected sexual intercourse with an infected person. HIV early signs are like normal, but severe cases must be recognisable.
How HIV affects the immune system:
HIV can weaken your body’s immune defences by damaging CD4 (T-cell) lymphocytes, which are a type of white blood cell. Symptoms and complications start after it spreads to your blood and develops AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome).
What is AIDS?
AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) is the final and most severe stage of HIV, when the white blood cell count gets very low, and the immune system is totally damaged. The symptoms and complications turn more serious and difficult to survive if not treated well. But medical advancements have now conquered its death rates, and many people with AIDS may also live long.
Difference between HIV and AIDS:
HIV and AIDS are both infections that can be transmitted through unprotected sexual contact with an infected person and also by sharing medical equipment of any infected person.
HIV causes AIDS, which means those people who have been infected with HIV are more likely to develop AIDS in the advanced stages. It occurs when HIV is not treated or when treatment fails. AIDS is the condition that develops when HIV severely damages the immune system. HIV does not mean that it will turn into AIDS, as proper treatment and diagnosis can reduce its impact and slow down its complications.
Stages of HIV and their symptoms:
Several stages of HIV can be identified, such as,
Acute HIV (stage 1):
After being infected with HIV, this stage is the first stage, when you may experience the symptoms, and your immune system starts to be damaged by this virus. HIV early signs are like,
- Fever
- Fatigue
- Rashes on the mouth or skin
- Headache
- Body ache
- Swollen lymph nodes
- Weight loss
- Ulcers in your mouth, anus, or genitals
Clinical Latency (stage 2):
This is the stage when your immune system goes away after a long battle with this virus, and you do not experience any fever or pain; rather, something more is happening internally in your body. Symptoms like,
- Frequent colds or infections
- Persistent fatigue
- Swollen lymph nodes
- Weight loss (unexplained)
- Night sweats
- Skin issues or fungal infections
During this stage, untreated HIV destroys CD4 cells and weakens your immune system. A blood test can measure your CD4 count, and without treatment, the number drops, increasing your risk of infections.
AIDS (stage 3):
This is the final or last stage of HIV, which develops into AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome). You might experience opportunistic infections like Kaposi Sarcoma, Pneumonia, and many other chronic diseases. AIDS symptoms may increase, like
- Feeling weak all the time
- Swollen lymph nodes
- Severe pneumonia
- High fever
- Unexplained weight loss
- Night sweats
People with AIDS may live longer with proper and timely treatments, medications, and by boosting immunity with several drugs.
What are the main causes of HIV infection?
The causes of HIV in adults and adolescents are the virus. HIV and AIDS are closely connected to sexually transmitted infections (STIs). HIV, or Human Immunodeficiency Virus, targets and destroys your body’s T-cells- key defenders of the immune system- gradually weakening your ability to fight infections.
AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) is the final and most advanced stage of HIV infection, occurring when the immune system becomes severely damaged, leaving only a very few functioning immune cells to protect the body from infections and illnesses.
How HIV spreads from person to person:
Several medically confirmed ways are available by which HIV infections can easily be transmitted from one another. Body fluids that can transmit HIV include
- Blood
- Semen
- Vaginal fluids
- Rectal fluids
- Breast milk
Other ways include,
- Having unprotected sexual contact with the HIV- positive person in vaginal sex and anal sex.
- Using contaminated needles, syringes, or equipment for drug injection, tattoos, piercing, or medical injections with non-sterile equipment.
- HIV can be transmitted from mother to baby during pregnancy, childbirth, and through breastfeeding.
- Contaminated Blood transfusions can be a major risk of spreading HIV from one another.
Early symptoms of HIV in men and women:
It’s essential to understand what makes you more concerned about HIV. To better understand HIV early signs, blood tests are necessary for people who have confusion or are at risk of contracting HIV. Common signs of HIV after exposure,
- Fever and chills
- Unexplained weight loss
- Rashes on the skin and mouth
- Sore throat
- Abnormal night sweats
- Swollen lymph nodes
- Muscle pain
- Weakness
What’s a retrovirus?
HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) belongs to the retroviruses. Unlike most living organisms that rely on DNA as their primary genetic material, HIV carries its blueprint in the form of RNA.
Once HIV enters a human cell, it immediately begins its unique process. It unloads its RNA and uses a special enzyme—reverse transcriptase—to create a DNA version of that RNA. This newly formed HIV DNA then gets stitched into the host cell’s own DNA, becoming a permanent part of the cell’s genetic code.
This mechanism is the opposite of what normally happens in human cells, where DNA is used to produce RNA, because HIV works in this reverse direction.
Other illnesses related to HIV and AIDS:
Concerning HIV and AIDS, multiplied by Opportunistic infections, along with cancers and neurological disorders,
- Candidiasis (thrush)
- Cervical cancer
- Recurrent Pneumonia
- Mycobacterium Tuberculosis
- Primary Lymphoma
- Salmonella septicemia
- Extrapulmonary cryptococcosis
- Chronic intestinal isosporiasis (cystoisosporiasis)
- Herpes simplex ulcers
- Kaposi sarcoma.
- Toxoplasmosis of the brain
- Cytomegalovirus
Facts about the myths of HIV/AIDS:
Various misconceptions are available in our society related to HIV/AIDS. There are some facts about the myths of HIV.
HIV/ AIDS cannot spread through:
- If you hug, touch or shake hands with any infected person
- If you share your food or water with any infected person
- If you share clothes or utensils with any HIV-POSITIVE patient
- Through coughing or sneezing
- Or through mosquito or insect bites
How to prevent HIV transmission:
Are you well-known about HIV prevention? Do you know the early signs of HIV? That means how HIV spreads and what the results of having HIV are, and what will happen if HIV turns into AIDS. All these points have been discussed previously. Now, take a look at the prevention tips for how to prevent HIV infections:
- First, be well-informed about HIV and AIDS
- Get HIV blood tests if you notice such symptoms for a long time.
- Use protection whenever you do any kind of sexual intercourse (vaginal or anal)
- Do not share needles, medical equipment, or syringes for any purpose
- Avoid any sexual contact or intimate contact with an HIV-positive person
- Recommend using pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for people who are at high risk of HIV.
- Maintain hygiene and stay healthy
- Get tested for other STIs, because it may increase the chances of developing HIV
Who are at higher risk of being HIV positive?
Some kind of people are more prone to HIV transmission due to their unhealthy lifestyle habits, lack of awareness, and many other factors. People such as
- Teens and adults who are more sexually active
- Those people, like gay and bi sexual persons, have multiple sexual partners
- People who already have any kind of STIs
All these people need to get blood tests for HIV disease detection frequently to stay informed and healthy.
Available treatment options for HIV positive patients:
There is not a single way of treatment for HIV prevention, as HIV attacks your immune system in many ways, and several health complications may arise along with HIV. The most common treatment option for HIV is antiretroviral therapy (ART), which helps suppress the virus and makes you immune and live longer.
This therapy is a course of medications that you need to take at a particular time to lower the HIV attack.
Regular health checkups and monitoring:
Your doctor may prescribe some regular blood tests along with a CD4 cell count that helps in diagnosing the effects of ART. Get blood tests for detecting the presence of HIV at Nirnayan Healthcare, the best laboratory chain across Kolkata and get reliable reports on time.
Global impact and social stigma of HIV & AIDS:
Through awareness programmes in many areas, help HIV -positive patients mentally to be strong and proactive for treating it at an early stage, but in some regions, people face challenges with HIV diagnosis and treatment. By promoting empathy, education, and awareness, HIV prevention can be spread. Breaking social stigmas, taking prevention steps, and timely treatments can help control HIV and AIDS.
Conclusion:
Remember, having HIV is not just a finished game; you can survive, you can deal, and you can manage it with proper medications and treatment. If you feel shy and any outer bindings stop you from getting treated, contact your nearest committee or social welfare groups for HIV patients. For Pathology support, Nirnayan Healthcare is your first and best option for accurate and reliable testing of HIV and AIDS. As well as, you will get a clear picture of your HIV status, and it will help you in the treatment process.
