•AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

•AIDS is a serious condition that weakens the body's immune system, leaving it unable to fight off illness.

•AIDS is the last stage in a progression of diseases resulting from a viral infection known as the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV or AIDS virus).

•The diseases include a number of unusual and severe infections, cancers and debilitating illnesses, resulting in severe weight loss or wasting away, and diseases affecting the brain and central nervous system.

Introduction

IntroductionThere is no cure for HIV infection or AIDS nor is

there a vaccine to prevent HIV infection.

However, new medications not only can slow the progression of the infection, but can also markedly suppress the virus, thereby restoring the body�s immune function and permitting many HIV-infected individuals to lead a normal, disease-free life.

Signs and symptomsHIV infection has four basic stages: incubation

period, acute infection, latency stage and AIDS.

The initial incubation period upon infection is asymptomatic and usually lasts between two and four weeks.

The second stage, acute infection, lasts an average of 28 days and can include symptoms such as fever, lymphadenopathy (swollen lymph nodes), pharyngitis (sorethroat), rash, myalgia (muscle pain), malaise, and mouth and esophageal sores.

Signs and symptoms

The latency stage, which occurs third, shows few or no symptoms and can last anywhere from two weeks to twenty years and beyond.

AIDS, the fourth and final stage of HIV infection shows as symptoms of various opportunistic infections.

Transmission Sexual The majority of HIV infections are acquired through

unprotected sexual relations.

Blood products In general, if infected blood comes into contact with

any open wound, HIV may be transmited.

Mother-to-child The transmission of the virus from the mother to the child

can occur in utero (during pregnancy), intrapartum (atchildbirth), or via breast feeding.

Multiple infection Unlike some other viruses, infection with HIV does not

provide immunity against additional infections, in particular, in the case of more genetically distant viruses.

Preventions• Avoid unprotected sex use Condoms.

• Dispose used Needles and Blades.

• Avoid unchecked Blood before transfusion.

• Check for possibility of transfer from mother to child.

DiagnosisScreening for HIV infection is most commonly done

by testing blood for HIV antibodies.

A newer test, the Orasure test, involves collecting secretions between the cheek and gum and evaluating them for HIV antibodies.

Orasure is essentially as accurate as a blood test, and, because it doesn't involve a needle stick, it is favored by many individuals.

Finally, a new urine test available for screening, although if the test is positive, blood tests need to be performed for confirmation of the presence of HIV.

Home Diagnosis ProcessIn 1996, a home HIV blood test became available to the

public.

These home kits are available in pharmacies and by mail.

The kit contains a few sharp tools called lancets, a piece of blotting paper marked with a unique identification number and a prepaid return envelope with a protective pouch.

After pricking the finger with the lancet, a few drops of blood are blotted onto the paper, sealed into the envelope and sent to the address on the envelope.

In about a week, the person calls a toll-free number to get the results of the test.

Treatment

Anti-HIV (also called antiretroviral) medications are used to control the reproduction of the virus and to slow or halt the progression of HIV-related disease.

When used in combinations, these medications are termed Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART).

HAART combines three or more anti-HIV medications in a daily regimen, sometimes referred to as a "cocktail".

Anti-HIV medications do not cure HIV infection and individuals taking these medications can still transmit HIV to others

Treatment Protease Inhibitors (PIs), such as

lopinavir/ritonavir (Kaletra), disable protease, a protein that HIV needs reproduce itself.

When HIV uses an Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors instead of a normal building block, reproduction of the virus is stalled.

Note

Not everyone who has been infected with HIV develops AIDS.

Very rarely, some individuals can be infected with HIV yet maintain normal immune function and general good health even after 20 years of infection.