Tuesday, March 19, 2024

What Does Hiv Stand For

If You Let Hiv Run Wild In Your Blood By Not Taking Meds Youll Get Aids And An Aids

The HIV/AIDS Epidemic: Where Does The World Stand?

Its that simple.

The sooner you get tested and find out about HIV in your system, the sooner you can start attacking HIV and saving your life.

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You Do Not Get Aids From:

  • Touching, social kissing, coughing, or sneezing
  • Contact with eating utensils, water fountains, toilet seats, telephones, typewriters, etc.
  • Teardrops, saliva, or sweat
  • Using facilities such as public swimming pools, restrooms, or gymnasiums
  • Being close to other people such as on a crowded bus, in a classroom, or restaurant

Symptoms Of Hiv Infection

Most people experience a short flu-like illness 2 to 6 weeks after HIV infection, which lasts for a week or 2.

After these symptoms disappear, HIV;may not;cause any symptoms for many years, although the virus continues to damage your immune system.

This means many;people with HIV do not know they’re infected.

Anyone who thinks they could have HIV should get tested.

Some people are advised to have regular tests as they’re at particularly high risk.

Read Also: Is Hiv Transmittable If Undetectable

What Behaviors Are The Most Risky For Getting Or Transmitting Hiv

Since there is a fairly high number of people who have HIV and dont know it, you should be tested for HIV so you know your status. Being intoxicated is risky because you are more likely to engage in risky sex if you are drunk or high. In terms of sex acts, anal sex and vaginal intercourse are the most risky behaviors.

Treatment And Life Expectancy

Immunodeficiency disorders,2010

If HIV develops into stage 3 HIV, life expectancy drops significantly. Its difficult to repair damage to the immune system at this point. Infections and other conditions, such as certain cancers, resulting from severe immune system impairment are common. However, with successful antiretroviral therapy and some immune system recovery, many people with stage 3 HIV live long lives.

With todays treatments for HIV infection, people can live with HIV and never have AIDS develop. Its also important to note that successful antiretroviral treatment and a sustained undetectable viral load greatly lowers the risk of transmitting the virus to a partner.

Read Also: How Can Hiv Be Contracted

When Should You Call The Doctor If You Have Hiv Or You Think You Have Been Exposed To Hiv

There is also post-exposure prophylaxis , which is used in emergencies and should be started within 72 hours after the possible exposure. This involves taking antiretroviral therapy after this exposure. ART may be prescribed after sexual assault, or if you think you have been exposed during consensual sex or drug-taking.

If you already know you have HIV, you should follow your healthcare providers instructions on when to call. It is important to treat any type of infection, so call if you have new symptoms or things like a fever, sweating episodes, diarrhea, and so on. Its better to check with your doctor if you have any kind of symptom that worries you.

The main feature of managing AIDS is to continue to take your medicines and to fight back at opportunistic infections at the first sign of them.

How Is An Hiv Test Performed

Before taking an HIV test:

  • Ask the clinic what privacy rules it follows.
  • Ask your healthcare provider any questions you have about HIV, AIDS, or the HIV test.

To do the HIV test, a small sample of blood is taken from your arm. The blood is sent to a lab and tested for HIV.

Home testing is available. The sample can be obtained via oral secretions , or a blood sample from a finger-stick test strip that is then mailed to a laboratory for screening. Positive results must be confirmed by your doctor before a diagnosis of HIV infection can be established.

Some clinics perform HIV tests without ever taking your name . You must go back to the clinic to get your results. A positive test means you have HIV. A negative test means no signs of HIV were found in your blood.

If your test comes back positive, your healthcare provider is likely to recommend other tests to assess your health. These may include a complete blood count , along with:

  • Viral hepatitis screening.

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How Do People Get Hiv

HIV spreads when infected blood or body fluids enter the body. This can happen:

HIV also can pass from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding.

HIV is NOT spread through:

  • pee, poop, spit, throw-up, or sweat
  • coughing or sneezing
  • sharing eating utensils or drinking glasses

What Does The Virus Do

CNA Abbreviations: AIDS

All viruses must infect living cells to reproduce. HIV takes over certain immune system cells that are supposed to defend the body. These cells are called CD4 cells, or T cells.

When HIV takes over a CD4 cell, it turns the cell into a virus factory. It forces the cell to produce thousands of copies of the virus. These copies then infect other CD4 cells. Infected cells don’t work well and they die early. Over time, the loss of CD4 cells weakens the immune system, making it harder for the body to stay healthy.

Pop question: True or false: CD4 cells are cells in the body that fight HIV.

True

Read Also: Is Hiv And Herpes The Same

How Can I Keep From Getting Hiv

The best way to protect yourself is to avoid activities that put you at risk. There’s no way to tell by looking at someone if he or she has HIV. Always protect yourself. Use latex condoms whenever you have any type of sex .

  • Don’t use condoms made from animal products.
  • Use water-based lubricants .
  • Never share needles to take drugs.
  • Avoid getting drunk or high. Intoxicated people might be less likely to protect themselves.
  • Consider getting testedit is really important to be aware of your HIV status.

If you are a healthcare worker, you are at a slightly higher risk of getting HIV from a needle-stick injury, skin contact with contaminated fluid or from human bites. You should follow universal precautions:

  • Always wear protective equipment when dealing with blood and body fluids.
  • Follow careful hand-washing guidelines when dealing with such fluids.
  • Follow safe handling guidelines for needles and sharp instruments.
  • Be aware of post-exposure policies at your workplace.

If you are in a relationship with a partner who has HIV, or you are at high risk for any other reason, consider using pre-exposure prophylaxis, commonly called PrEP. This means taking one of two medicines every day, emtricitabine-tenofovir or emtricitabine-tenofovir alafen .

If you are a person with HIV who is in a relationship with a person who is HIV-negative, you should also be on a medication regimen.

Difference Between Hiv & Aids Diseases

The Main Difference Between HIV/AIDS is that;Human Immune Deficiency Virus attack and destroy the CD4 cells and due to this attack on cells our immune system becomes weak and the diseases Called AIDS;is incurring in simple;Human Immune Deficiency Virus creates aids.;

if;you are an Human Immune Deficiency Virus you do not have aids for a long time for many years with no sign of diseases. Most people using HIV Drugs as they are prescribed to reduce Human Immune Deficiency Virus attacks of cells in early time.

when there was no treatment of HIV to control most of the people have died but now there are many treatments to acquire immunity to our immune systems like immune Drugs and Injection and the rate of deaths due to these types of diseases is very low as compared to early times.

people having Aids can rebuild their immunity and make strong their immune system by using Drugs and live for many years a healthy life

Read Also: What City Has The Highest Hiv Rate

What Conditions Are Considered To Be Opportunistic

Some of the most common of these OIs/cancers among HIV-positive people include:

Cancer: The types of cancers that are you are more likely to get if you have AIDs include lymphoma, Kaposis sarcoma, invasive cervical cancer, anal cancer, liver cancer, and cancers of the mouth, throat and lungs.

Candidiasis : This condition is caused by Candida fungus. It can happen in the skin, nails and mucous membranes throughout the body, such as the mouth or the vagina. The cases can be troublesome, but thrush is especially dangerous when it affects the esophagus or parts of the respiratory system .

Pneumonia: This respiratory condition is most commonly caused by _Pneumocystis jirovecii and the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae._

Salmonella: This infection is spread through contaminated food and water. It causes diarrhea, vomiting and nausea.

Toxoplasmosis: This disease is caused by a parasites that live in cats and rodents and other warm-blooded animals. The infection is spread through the feces. Toxoplasmosis can cause severe problems in the lungs, heart, brain and other organs. If you have a cat, wear gloves to change the litter and be thorough in washing your hands.

Common Scientific Terms Related To Hiv/aids

What does HIV stand for?
  • ELISA or Western Blot are the two common blood tests utilized to detect for HIV infection. Both tests should be conducted to confirm the diagnosis if either test reveals a positive result. A positive ELISA test indicates the presence of HIV antibodies in the blood. A Western Blot test detects HIV proteins in the blood to confirm diagnosis. If both are positive, the person can be diagnosed as HIV-positive meaning that they are infected with HIV. If negative, this indicates that HIV infection has not occurred or may be in an early stage where it cannot be detected in the blood . Repeat testing is then required after 6 weeks to 3 months. A negative test is commonly termed as being HIV negative although this is not an accurate medical term for a persons HIV status.
  • ART or anti-retroviral therapy refers to the cocktail of antiviral drugs that are used in HIV infection, usually more than one type of antiretroviral . The individual drugs may be referred to as ARVs or anti-retrovirals. The use of several antiviral drugs to reduce the viral load may also be termed HAART .
  • Viral load is a measure of the HIV nucleic acid present in the infected person which increases as the disease progresses over time. It gives an indication of the progression of the disease, response to therapy and prognosis. Viral load together with the CD4 count are important in monitoring HIV infection and are deciding factors for the commencement of ART before the onset of AIDS.
  • Cryptococcal meningitis
  • Also Check: What Does The Hiv Virus Look Like

    How Is Niaid Addressing This Critical Topic

    NIAID researchers and grantee institutions advance understanding of disease mechanisms and cooperate to move novel HIV prevention and treatment strategies from basic research into clinical practice. With the generous help of clinical research volunteers, investigators at NIH and around the world create opportunities for the discovery, development and evaluation of technologies and tools that can play a role in decreasing HIV transmission, improving the health of people with HIV, and ultimately ending the pandemic.

    What Do Hiv And Aids Stand For

    HIV;stands for;Human Immunodeficiency Virus. HIV attacks certain cells of the bodys natural defence or immune system, eventually weakening the bodys ability to fight infections.Eventually, HIV infection always develops into AIDS, or;Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. AIDS is diagnosed when the body can no longer fight infections and diseases that a normal healthy person would be able to resist.Because HIV sometimes advances slowly, many people can live for years without any symptoms. Some may not even know that they have been infected.

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    Are Women More Likely To Get Hiv

    Yes. Biologically speaking, a woman is more vulnerable to heterosexual transmission of the disease because the genitalia are easily exposed to seminal fluids.

    Gender inequality has great influence on the spread of HIV/AIDS among women. In some cultures, many women and girls are often put in situations where they engage in non-consensual sex or have sex for money.

    In the U.S., minority communities have been hit the hardest by HIV. African American and Hispanic women together represent less than 25% of all U.S. women, yet they account for more than 78% of AIDS cases reported among women in the country.

    S Of Infection Include:

    What does HIV and AIDS stand for?
    • Sexual Contact. This most commonly includes unprotected vaginal and anal sex, especially rough activity that damages the delicate lining of these passages. The virus may also be passed by using unwashed sexual devices. People with a sexually transmitted disease , such as herpes or gonorrhea, generally run higher risk because these illness can cause inflammation and breast in the skin which cam make it easier for HIV to enter the body. The risk of contracting HIV increases with the number of sexual partners.
    • Contaminated Needles. This is another common way of transmitting HIV. Contaminated needles include shared needles and syringes for injection drug use, and unsterilized needles use for tattooing, skin piercing or acupuncture. Healthcare workers have been contaminated HIV-infected blood.
    • Mother to Child. An infected mother can transfer the virus to her baby during pregnancy or birth, or through breast-feeing.
    • Blood Products or transfusions. Infection with HIV is a risk for people treated with blood products in a country where blood products are not carefully screened.

    Recommended Reading: How Hiv Affects The Immune System

    Hiv Is Treated With Antiretroviral Therapy

    The use of medications to halt the progression of the virus called antiretroviral therapy . With early detection and treatment, those who have contracted HIV can live long, productive lives. Current treatments can keep the virus at low levels and prevent AIDS. If treatments successfully reduce the level of viruses detected in the bloodstream to zero, there is little risk of transmitting the virus. Post-exposure prophylaxis can even be used to lower your risk of a permanent infection up to 72 hours after exposure.

    Can Hiv Be Prevented

    To reduce the risk of getting HIV, people who are sexually active should:

    • use a condom every time they have sex
    • get tested for HIV and make sure all partners do too
    • reduce their number of sexual partners
    • get tested and treated for STDs ; having an STD increases the risk of HIV infection
    • consider taking a medicine every day if they are at very high risk of getting infected

    For everyone:

    • Do not inject drugs or share any kind of needle.
    • Do not share razors or other personal objects that may touch blood.
    • Do not touch anyone else’s blood from a cut or sore.

    Also Check: How Do You Know If You Contracted Hiv

    Associated Types Of Cancer

    A person with HIV may have a higher risk of various types of cancer, including lymphoma.

    Kaposis sarcoma herpesvirus, also known as human herpesvirus 8, causes a type of cancer that involves the growth of abnormal blood vessels. These can develop anywhere in the body. The cancer is called Kaposis sarcoma, and if it reaches organs such as the intestines or lymph nodes, it can be extremely dangerous. On the skin, a doctor may recognize characteristic solid, purple or pink spots, which may be flat or raised.

    In addition, Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma have strong links to HIV infection. These affect the lymph nodes and lymphoid tissues.

    Also, a female with HIV should recieve regular checks for cervical cancer. Receiving an early diagnosis can help limit the cancers spread.

    Hiv Vs Aids: Whats The Difference Between Hiv And Aids

    What is HIV and what does HIV stand for?

    by CourteneyPublished on November 3, 2020Updated on February 14, 2021

    The topic of HIV vs AIDS can be confusing. Especially to those looking to educate themselves on safer sex practices. There are a significant number of people who believe that a diagnosis of HIV is synonymous with AIDS. Not to mention, there are various stigmas surrounding HIV which have led to misunderstandings concerning the disease and the people who have been affected by it. If you should be experiencing HIV symptoms, find one of our local STD testing centers to get tested today. In the meantime, due to the importance of this topic and its relation to sexual wellness, this detailed overview is offered as a reliable and helpful resource to mediate misunderstandings, present facts and explain the topic of one of the more serious viral STDs in a simplistic yet easy-to-understand way.

    Read Also: What Are The Signs That You Are Hiv Positive

    What Does The Test Measure

    HIV tests detect the presence of the HIV virus, HIV antigens, and/or HIV antibodies. If these substances are detected, the test returns a positive result for HIV.

    There are three types of HIV tests available:

    • Antibody test:;Antibodies are produced by the body after an HIV infection. It can take weeks for the body to produce antibodies, so HIV antibody tests can only detect HIV from 3 to 12 weeks after infection.
    • Antigen/antibody test:;Antigens are foreign substances that activate an immune response. Antigens appear before the body produces antibodies, so HIV antigen/antibody tests can detect an HIV infection earlier than antibody tests, within 2 to 4 weeks of becoming infected.
    • HIV viral load test:;An HIV viral load test looks for the quantity of HIV virus in the blood. In addition to detecting an HIV infection, viral load testing can also detect how much of the virus is in the blood. Although this type of testing can detect an HIV infection earlier than other HIV tests, its very expensive and is typically only used when someone has symptoms or a possible exposure to HIV.

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