Start Treatment As Soon As Possible After Diagnosis
- HIV medicine is recommended for all people with HIV, regardless of how long theyve had the virus or how healthy they are.
- Talk to your health care provider about any medical conditions you may have or any other medicines you are taking.
- Let your health care provider know if you or your partner is pregnant or thinking about getting pregnant. They will determine the right type of HIV medicine that can help prevent transmitting HIV to your baby.
What if I delay treatment?
- HIV will continue to harm your immune system.
- This will put you at higher risk for developing AIDS. Learn more about AIDS and opportunistic infections.
- This will put you at higher risk for transmitting HIV to your sexual and injection partners.
What are the benefits of taking my HIV medicine every day as prescribed?
Treatment Helps Prevent Transmission To Others
- If you have an undetectable viral load, you have effectively no risk of transmitting HIV to an HIV-negative partner through sex.
- Having an undetectable viral load may also help prevent transmission from injection drug use. We dont have data about whether having an undetectable viral load prevents transmission through sharing needles, syringes, or other injection equipment . It very likely reduces the risk, but we dont know by how much.
- Having an undetectable viral load also helps prevent transmission from mother to baby. If a mother with HIV takes HIV medicine as prescribed throughout pregnancy, labor, and delivery and gives HIV medicine to her baby for 4 to 6 weeks after birth, the risk of transmitting HIV to her baby can be 1% or less.
- Having an undetectable viral load reduces the risk of transmitting HIV to the baby through breastfeeding, but doesnt eliminate the risk. The current recommendation in the United States is that mothers with HIV should not breastfeed their babies.
Can Hiv Be Spread Through Casual Contact
It is not possible to get HIV from an infected person with whom you have casual contact. You can’t get HIV from hugging, shaking hands, a toilet seat, a drinking fountain, or by eating food prepared by a person who is HIV-positive. You cannot get HIV from a bug bite. You cannot contract the virus from tears, saliva, sweat, or closed-mouth kissing. HIV dies quickly when it is on surfaces outside of the human body.
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Avoiding Exposure To Relevant Body Fluids
To limit the risk of exposure to HIV, reduce contact with blood, semen, vaginal secretions, and other body fluids that can carry the virus.
Frequently and thoroughly washing the skin immediately after coming into contact with body fluids can also reduce the risk of infection.
To prevent transmission, healthcare workers use gloves, masks, protective eyewear, face shields, and gowns when exposure to these fluids is likely, and they follow established procedures.
Resources For Hiv And Aids Prevention
These are among the U.S. government agencies that provide helpful information for individuals and health care professionals about the most effective approaches for preventing the spread of HIV and AIDS.
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, HIV National Strategic Plan The plan presents the departments strategy for ending the HIV epidemic in the U.S. by 2030 by preventing new infections and improving health outcomes for people with HIV.
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How Is It Treated
The standard treatment for HIV is a combination of medicines called antiretroviral therapy, or ART. Antiretroviral medicines slow the rate at which the virus multiplies.
Taking these medicines can reduce the amount of virus in your body and help you stay healthy.
To monitor the HIV infection and its effect on your immune system, a doctor will regularly do two tests:
- Viral load, which shows the amount of virus in your blood
- CD4+ cell count, which shows how well your immune system is working
After you start treatment, it’s important to take your medicines exactly as directed by your doctor. When treatment doesn’t work, it is often because HIV has become resistant to the medicine. This can happen if you don’t take your medicines correctly.
Symptoms Of Hiv Infection
Some people may not develop any symptoms after contracting HIV and could remain undiagnosed until the symptoms of AIDS appear. This could be up to 10 years later.
However, 50% or more of people living with HIV may develop mild flu-like symptoms within 2 to 4 weeks. Early symptoms may include:
- chills
- muscle aches
- swollen glands
The symptoms of HIV infection may last from a few days to weeks. They may go away on their own.
Misdiagnosis of early HIV infection is common. If you think you have HIV, speak with your health care provider about being tested.
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Can You Prevent Hiv
Practicing sexual abstinence and avoiding high-risk behavior are is the only sure-fire ways to maximally reduce risk or to prevent contracting HIV. If you are going to have sex, use a condom every time . Limit the number of sexual partners you have to decrease your risk of exposure. You are less likely to be infected with HIV from having oral sex than from having vaginal sex or anal sex. If you are at very high risk of contracting HIV, ask your doctor about medications that may substantially reduce your risk of getting the virus. If you engage in high-risk behavior, prophylactic medication is available to decrease the risk of contracting HIV. If you do inject drugs, always use clean, sterile needles. Avoid sharing needles. People at risk for getting HIV should be tested at least once per year, maybe even more frequently.
Get Tested And Get Help
There is no cure for HIV, but there are effective treatments that can increase life expectancy. Early diagnosis and treatment of the virus is important to achieve the best possible outcomes. Get tested for HIV, especially if you engage in high-risk behavior. AIDS.gov provides a listing of many government resources for those living with HIV, including locations for testing. The CDC provides similar resources at gettested.cdc.gov or 800-CDC-INFO .
REFERENCES:
- AIDS.gov: âTesting Sites & Care Services.â
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: âGet Tested: National HIV, STD, and Hepatitis Testing,” âHIV/AIDS,ââNational Vital Statistics Reports â Deaths: Final Data for 2014.â
- Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine: âOrigins of HIV and the AIDS Pandemic.â
- HIV.gov: âFast Facts.â
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What Are The Symptoms Of Hiv
After the first month or so, HIV enters the clinical latency stage. This stage can last from a few years to a few decades.
Some people dont have any symptoms during this time, while others may have minimal or nonspecific symptoms. A nonspecific symptom is a symptom that doesnt pertain to one specific disease or condition.
These nonspecific symptoms may include:
- headaches and other aches and pains
- swollen lymph nodes
- recurrent oral or vaginal yeast infections
- pneumonia
- shingles
As with the early stage, HIV is still transferable during this time even without symptoms and can be transmitted to another person.
However, a person wont know they have HIV unless they get tested. If someone has these symptoms and thinks they may have been exposed to HIV, its important that they get tested.
HIV symptoms at this stage may come and go, or they may progress rapidly. This progression can be slowed substantially with treatment.
With the consistent use of this antiretroviral therapy, chronic HIV can last for decades and will likely not develop into AIDS, if treatment was started early enough.
The cause of the rash determines:
- how it looks
- how it can be treated depends on the cause
People Are Living Longer Thanks To Treatment
According to the new research, which retrospectively analysed data from 88,504 patients starting treatment over three-year periods between 1996 and 2010, life expectancy rose by nine years for woman, and ten years for men. This means that a 20 year-old person living with HIV in these regions, starting treatment after 2008, can now expect to live to 78.
This figure is very much reflective of the improvements in antiretroviral agents, along with the expanded access of effective HIV treatment and care programmes. Antiretroviral drugs are less toxic, with fewer side-effects. Screening and managing drug resistance is easier, and we now have more options for switching drugs in the event that resistance occurs. The onset of opportunistic infections and screening for and managing other related co-morbidities is better integrated into programming meaning people with HIV are experiencing better health outcomes.
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Hiv/aids’ Impact In Mozambique
Because HIV is a sexually spread infectious that can infect individuals who rely on daily work to support themselves and their families, HIV/AIDS impacts much more than just a human’s immune system. The impact of the epidemic is not uniformly distributed either. In 2005, HIV infection among adults aged 15 to 49 was estimated at 16.1 percent, and the primary mode of transmission was through heterosexual contact, with women at much greater risk for HIV infection than men. Young women aged 15 to 24 have an estimated HIV rate of 10.7 percent, compared to 3.6 percent among young men in the same age group. Nevertheless, factors such as personal knowledge of HIV and its effects, family support, and clinical confidentiality play large roles in the frequency by which HIV-positive individuals are linked to care.
A civil war restricted movement within and outside the country until 1992, but returning refugees, and economic and commercial activity since that time, have rapidly increased HIV rates to levels nearly as great as those in neighboring countries. Additional demographic groups demonstrating high HIV rates include mobile populations, people engaged in prostitution, and individuals who live close to major transportation routes. In addition to seasonal cholera outbreaks, Mozambique also suffers from co-epidemics of tuberculosis and malaria, all of which exacerbate the impact of HIV/AIDS.
Will There Ever Be A Cure For Hiv
Researchers and scientists believe we can find a cure for HIV. We know a lot about HIV, as much as certain cancers. Scientists are researching two types of cure: a functional cure and a sterilising cure.
There is no ‘natural cure’ or ‘herbal cure’ for HIV. Antiretroviral treatment is the only medication that is proven to effectively control HIV.
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Is There A Vaccine For Hiv
Currently, there are no vaccines to prevent or treat HIV. Research and testing on experimental vaccines are ongoing, but none are close to being approved for general use.
HIV is a complicated virus. It mutates rapidly and is often able to fend off immune system responses. Only a small number of people who have HIV develop broadly neutralizing antibodies, the kind of antibodies that can respond to a range of HIV strains.
The first HIV vaccine efficacy study in 7 years was underway in South Africa in 2016. The experimental vaccine is an updated version of one used in a 2009 trial that took place in Thailand.
A 3.5-year follow-up after vaccination showed the vaccine was 31.2 percent effective in preventing HIV transmission.
The study involves 5,400 men and women from South Africa. In 2016 in South Africa, about contracted HIV. The results of the study are expected in 2021.
Other late-stage, multinational vaccine clinical trials are also currently underway.
Other research into an HIV vaccine is also ongoing.
While theres still no vaccine to prevent HIV, people with HIV can benefit from other vaccines to prevent HIV-related illnesses. Here are the CDC recommendations:
- pneumonia:
What Is Hiv The Virus That Causes Aids
HIV is short for human immunodeficiency virus. The virus attacks and suppresses the immune system, making those who have it more susceptible to infections and cancer. AIDS stands for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome . HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. While there is no cure for the disease, there are medications that slow down its progression. People who have HIV can take measures to decrease the risk of transmitting the virus to others.
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Reasons For The Gaps:
Women
The overall life expectancy of HIV-positive women in this study was less than that of MSM and HIV-negative women. The researchers suggested several possibilities for their findings. It is possible that women may be accessing HIV-related care at later stages of HIV disease than men. The study enrolled large numbers of women who had a history of injecting street drugs . In general, people who inject street drugs have worse survival, regardless of HIV status, than non-IDUs. Women in this study may have had less education, lower incomes and more difficulty interacting with the health care system and may have experienced more social stigma and isolation than HIV-positive MSM in the study.
Unmentioned by the researchers are the many roles that women have thrust upon them, including caring for children and other family members, running a household and working outside the home. Due to these multiple roles, women sometimes are forced to prioritize the care of others and have insufficient time to care for themselves. All of these factors could have impacted the overall health and survival of women in this study.
People who inject street drugs
The research team suggested that the following factors likely played a role in the poorer life expectancy of people who inject street drugs in this study:
- having co-morbidities such as hepatitis C virus
- difficulty taking ART every day exactly as directed
- the destabilizing effect of active drug use
- unstable housing
Researching An Hiv Cure: The Main Approaches
Although the stem cell approach has had some success in the past, its very dangerous for the patient. It would only be considered a viable option, if the person needed a stem cell transplant to treat another more deadly condition, such as very advanced leukaemia which, unlike HIV, doesnt have as many other safe and effective treatment options available.
While there is promising research being carried out in these areas, there is no viable cure on the horizon.
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What Is Hiv Treatment
HIV treatment involves taking medicines that slow the progression of the virus in your body. HIV is a type of virus called a retrovirus, and the combination of drugs used to treat it is called antiretroviral therapy . ART is recommended for all people living with HIV, regardless of how long theyve had the virus or how healthy they are. ART must be taken every day, exactly as your health care provider prescribes.
Aids Diagnosis Is More Complicated
AIDS is late stage HIV infection. Healthcare providers look for a few factors to determine if HIV latency has progressed to stage 3 HIV.
Because HIV destroys immune cells called CD4 cells, one way healthcare providers diagnose AIDS is to do a count of those cells. A person without HIV can have anywhere from 500 to 1,200 CD4 cells. When the cells have dropped to 200, a person with HIV is considered to have stage 3 HIV.
Another factor signaling that stage 3 HIV has developed is the presence of opportunistic infections. Opportunistic infections are diseases caused by viruses, fungi, or bacteria that would not make a person with an undamaged immune system sick.
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Using Safe Injection Practices
Intravenous drug use is a key means of HIV transmission. Sharing needles and other drug equipment can expose a person to HIV and other viruses, such as hepatitis C.
Anyone who injects any drug should do so with a clean, unused needle.
Needle exchange and addiction recovery programs can help reduce the prevalence of HIV.
Is It Hard To Take These Drugs
The HIV medicines that currently are recommended are usually very simple and easy to take. Several drug combinations are available that package 3 separate medicines into only 1 pill, taken once a day, with minimal side effects.
For the great majority of people, HIV medicines are tolerable and effective, and let people with HIV live long and healthy lives. For some people, the drugs may be difficult to take every day, and for a small number, they cause serious side effects or don’t work well.
Once patients are on medications, they must work with their health care providers to find solutions for side effects and monitor how well the drugs are working.
The good news is that there are many excellent HIV medicines. Finding the right combination of medicines for each person is usually possible–a combination that controls the virus but does not cause side effects.
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How Hiv Is Spread
HIV is spread when blood, semen, or vaginal fluids from an infected person enter another person’s body, usually through:
- Sexual contact. The virus may enter the body through a tear in the lining of the rectum, vagina, urethra, or mouth. Most cases of HIV are spread this way.
- Infected blood. HIV can be spread when a person:
- Is accidentally stuck with a needle or other sharp item that is contaminated with HIV.
HIV may be spread more easily in the early stage of infection and again later, when symptoms of HIV-related illness develop.
A woman who is infected with HIV can spread the virus to her baby during pregnancy, delivery, or breastfeeding.