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| == '''HIV''' == | | == '''HIV''' == |
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| HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. It is the virus that can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS, if not treated. Unlike some other viruses, the human body can’t get rid of HIV completely, even with treatment. So once you get HIV, you have it for life. | | HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. It is a retrovirus virus that damages the cells in the immune system and weakens the ability to fight everyday infections and disease. Copied into DNA, HIV is inserted into the genome of the infected cell thanks to integrases. To replicate and diffuse himself it attacks the body’s immune system, specifically the CD4 cells (T cells), which help fight off infections. As soon as HIV enters an individual, it accumulates in these cells and forms reservoirs of latent viruses in a few days or even hours. These reservoirs persist for life. |
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| HIV attacks the body’s immune system, specifically the CD4 cells (T cells), which help the immune system fight off infections. Untreated, HIV reduces the number of CD4 cells (T cells) in the body, making the person more likely to get other infections or infection-related cancers. Over time, HIV can destroy so many of these cells that the body can’t fight off infections and disease. These opportunistic infections or cancers take advantage of a very weak immune system and signal that the person has AIDS, the last stage of HIV infection.
| | No cure currently exists, but HIV can be controlled by using antiretroviral therapy or ART. It is a combination of antiretroviral drugs to maximally suppress the HIV virus and stop the progression of HIV disease. Before the introduction of ART in the mid-1990s, people with HIV could progress to AIDS in just a few years. Today, someone diagnosed with HIV and treated before the disease is far advanced can live nearly as long as someone who does not have HIV.[https://www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics/overview/about-hiv-and-aids/what-are-hiv-and-aids] |
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| No effective cure currently exists, but with proper medical care, HIV can be controlled. The medicine used to treat HIV is called antiretroviral therapy or ART. If taken the right way, every day, this medicine can dramatically prolong the lives of many people infected with HIV, keep them healthy, and greatly lower their chance of infecting others. Before the introduction of ART in the mid-1990s, people with HIV could progress to AIDS in just a few years. Today, someone diagnosed with HIV and treated before the disease is far advanced can live nearly as long as someone who does not have HIV.[https://www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics/overview/about-hiv-and-aids/what-are-hiv-and-aids] | |
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| =='''Disease : AIDS'''== | | =='''Disease : AIDS'''== |
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| AIDS stands for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. It is the most severe phase of HIV infection. People with AIDS have such badly damaged immune systems that they get an increasing number of severe illnesses, called opportunistic infections. | | AIDS is the ultimate stage of infection with the human immunodeficiency virus. The word AIDS stands for for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. People with AIDS get an increasing number of severe illnesses, called opportunistic infections, because of there damaged immune system. |
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| This is the stage of HIV infection that occurs when your immune system is badly damaged and you become vulnerable to opportunistic infections. When the number of your CD4 cells falls below 200 cells per cubic millimeter of blood (200 cells/mm3), you are considered to have progressed to AIDS. (In someone with a healthy immune system, CD4 counts are between 500 and 1,600 cells/mm3.) You are also considered to have progressed to AIDS if you develop one or more opportunistic illnesses, regardless of your CD4 count.
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| Without treatment, people who progress to AIDS typically survive about 3 years. Once you have a dangerous opportunistic illness, life-expectancy without treatment falls to about 1 year. ART can be helpful for people who have AIDS when diagnosed and can be lifesaving. Treatment is likely to benefit people with HIV no matter when it is started, but people who start ART soon after they get HIV experience more benefits from treatment than do people who start treatment after they have developed AIDS.
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| People living with HIV may progress through these stages at different rates, depending on a variety of factors, including their genetic makeup, how healthy they were before they were infected, how much virus they were exposed to and its genetic characteristics, how soon after infection they are diagnosed and linked to care and treatment, whether they see their healthcare provider regularly and take their HIV medications as directed, and different health-related choices they make, such as decisions to eat a healthful diet, exercise, and not smoke.[https://www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics/overview/about-hiv-and-aids/what-are-hiv-and-aids]
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| </StructureSection> | | </StructureSection> |