HIV/AIDS:
AIDS is the abbreviation for acquired immune deficiency syndrome, and is caused by a virus known as the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV. Treatment of HIV patients involves trying to slow or stop the virus from spreading in the body's cells and treating or preventing diseases that develop when a person's immune system has been damaged by the virus.
Cause: AIDS develops when HIV attacks and destroys certain types of cells that are part of the immune system. The immune system consists of all those cells, tissues, and substances that protect the body from infection by foreign bodies, such as bacteria. The primary methods of transmission are through sexual contact or exposure to blood or blood products.
Symptoms: First signs of HIV include the onset ofAcute Retroviral Syndrome -- a group of symptoms that include fever, fatigue, muscle aches, loss of appetite, upset stomach, weight loss, skin rash, headache, and swollen lymph nodes. A latency period of up to 10 years can follow before AIDS dramatically diminishes the patient’s white-blood cells, leaving them vulnerable to potentially lethal opportunistic infections and cancer.
New cases: 4.1 million in 2005
Deaths: 2.8 million deaths in 2005
Sources
World Health Organization on HIV/AIDS
General FAQs on HIV/AIDS
Official website for Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Read more about communicable diseases in the current Monday Developments issue!
