🛡️ Immunology🟢 BasicHIV and AIDS

HIV and AIDS

Infection with a virus that attacks the immune system, leaving the body open to unusual infections and cancers.

Key points

HIV (the human immunodeficiency virus) infects and destroys the CD4 helper T lymphocytes that coordinate the immune response.
It spreads by unprotected sex, infected blood, shared needles, and from mother to baby in pregnancy, birth or breastfeeding.
A short flu-like illness may follow infection, then a long silent phase while the CD4 count slowly falls.
AIDS is the advanced stage, when the weakened immunity allows opportunistic infections and cancers such as Pneumocystis pneumonia, tuberculosis and Kaposi sarcoma.
The infection is followed by measuring the CD4 count and the amount of virus in the blood (the viral load).

Memory trick

HIV destroys CD4 helper T cells (spread by sex, blood, needles, mother-to-child): a brief flu-like illness, then a long silent CD4 decline; AIDS is the advanced stage with opportunistic infections (Pneumocystis, TB) and Kaposi sarcoma; monitor CD4 and viral load.

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🛡️ Immunology🟢 BasicHIV and AIDS

HIV and AIDS

Infection with a virus that attacks the immune system, leaving the body open to unusual infections and cancers.

Key points

HIV (the human immunodeficiency virus) infects and destroys the CD4 helper T lymphocytes that coordinate the immune response.
It spreads by unprotected sex, infected blood, shared needles, and from mother to baby in pregnancy, birth or breastfeeding.
A short flu-like illness may follow infection, then a long silent phase while the CD4 count slowly falls.
AIDS is the advanced stage, when the weakened immunity allows opportunistic infections and cancers such as Pneumocystis pneumonia, tuberculosis and Kaposi sarcoma.
The infection is followed by measuring the CD4 count and the amount of virus in the blood (the viral load).

Memory trick

All of General Medicine More Immunology