HIV/AIDs and STIs

GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO HIV/AIDS week one

Alwora A.
 OBJECTIVES
 Definition of terms
 Difference between HIV and AIDS
 Origin and History of HIV and AIDS
Definition of commonly used terminologies

 HIV
 Human Immunodeficiency Virus
 H – Infects only Human beings
 I – Immunodeficiency virus weakens the immune system and increases risk of infection
 V – virus that attacks the body

 AIDs
 Acquired Immunodeficiency Virus
 A – Acquired and not inherited
 I – Weakens the immune system
D – Creates deficiency of cd4+ cells in the immune system
S – Syndrome a group of illness taking place at the same time

Sexually Transmitted Diseases(STDs or Sexually Transmitted Infections STIs)_ A

disease that is transmitted during sexual contact between people. Examples include
gonorrhea , syphilis, herpes, HIV
Virus _ Disease causing agent that usually has either DNA or RNA but not both and is
smaller than a bacteria,(Retroviruses such as HIV has both DNA and RNA). Viruses need
cells in which to replicate
White Blood cells_ A type of blood cells whose primary function is to fight against
infections
Viral Burden_ Amount of HIV in the circulating blood
Sex _ genital contact between individuals
Infection _ Invasion of the body by disease causing agents.
Immunity _ protected from diseases
Immune system, _ A variety of cells and substances within the body that protects it from viruses,
bacteria, parasites and fungi
High Risk Behavior _ A term used to describe certain activities that increases the risk of
transmitting HIV. Examples include Unprotected sex, intimate blood contacts. They are often
referred to as unsafe activities
Positive test _ Finding that shows presence of HIV in the blood and person tested is assumed to
be infected and able to infect others
False positive test _ an erroneous test indicating infection present when its not
False negative test _ an antibody test for HIV that shows negative test even though the blood
sample sample contains the virus.
Exposure to HIV _ The condition of being physically near or unprotected from HIV virus,
presents the possibility of HIV infection.
Blood testing _ Extracting and examining small amount of blood to detect presence of disease
agents/ evidence of infection
Blood-blood contact _ Mixing together of blood from two people, principle way of transmitting
HIV through blood is sharing needles, blood transfusion, mother to child during birth or before
birth

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HIV AND AIDS

It can be easy to confuse HIV and AIDS. They are different diagnosis but they go hand in hand.
HIV is a virus that can lead to a condition called AIDS, also known as stage 3 HIV.
HIV is a virus that can lead to immune system deterioration while AIDs is a condition caused by
HIV
HIV infection can be diagnosed by a simple test
 On HIV transmission, the immune system produces antibodies against the
virus, a blood or saliva test detects those antibodies to determine if the virus is
present. Takes several weeks after transmission for HIV antibody test to come
positive.
 Another test looks for antigen which are proteins produced by the virus and
the test detects HIV just a few days after infection
 AIDS diagnoses is more complicated
 AIDs is late stage of HIV, and healthcare workers look for factors to determine
if HIV latency has progressed to stage 3 HIV. This includes counting the
number of cd4+ cells, a normal person without HIV has between 500-1200 CD4
cells. When the cells drop to 200, a person with HIV is considered to have Stage
3 HIV.
 Another factor includes the presence of opportunistic infections, which are
diseases caused by viruses, fungi, bacteria that would not make a person with
undamaged immune system sick.
 HIV doesn’t always produce symptoms
 HIV usually causes flue like symptoms about 2-4 weeks after transmission. The
immune system brings infection under control leading to a period of latency but
does not completely eliminate it.
 However after along period of time without antiretroviral therapy, a person may
develop AIDs and experience many symptoms associated with the condition
 Assignment 1
 Discus the differences in symptoms of HIV and AIDs
ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF HIV/AIDS

 HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS

 HIV is a lentivirus which is a class of virus that attack the immune system
 Lentiviruses are in turn a part of a larger group of viruses called retroviruses
 Lentivirus literally means slow virus _ takes adverse time to produce any
adverse effects in the body.
 The origin of HIV/AIDs has puzzles scientists ever since the illness came to
light in the early 1980s
 The first recognized case of AIDS occurred in the USA in early 1980S.Anumber
of gay men in New York and California suddenly began to develop rare
opportunistic infections and cancers that seemed stubbornly resistant to
treatment
 IN 1982 A group of cases among gay men in southern California suggested that the
cause of immunodeficiency was sexual and the syndrome was initially called GAY-
RELATED IMMUNE SYNDROME
 In 1983_ The center of disease control and prevention established that there is a direct
link between HIV and AIDs. It also established that
 HIV is transmitted through contact with blood , semen and vaginal fluids
 HIV could be passed from mother to child during pregnancy
BY the year 1995
1. Cases of HIV had been reported in various countries, in different continents and
was found in men, women and children
2. More cases were reported in populations that used drugs because of sharing needles
3. Almost 30000 case of deaths were reported as a result of HIV/AIDs
 4. There was no invention of effective drugs and the ones available had adverse effects.
By the year 2015
I. There were many effective ARVs that helped manage the HIV with less adverse
side effects and greatly reduced death related to HIV
II. Through UNAIDS prices of effective medication were reduced and made available
to the general population
III. HIV is now considered manageable with infected people living a healthy and
normal life
SIMIAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS
Researchers at the university of Alabama, announced that they had found a a type of
SIV that was almost identical to HIV.
 This particular strain was isolated from a group of chimpanzees knowns Pan
troglodytes. They concluded that wild chimps had been infected
simultaneously with two different SIVs that formed the third virus which
could be passed to other chimps and was capable of infecting humans with
HIV/AIDs.
THEORIES OF THE ORIGIN OF
HIV/AIDs
 THE HUNTER THEORY
 The most commonly accepted theory
 SIVcpz was transferred to humans as a result of chimps being killed and
eaten ,or their blood getting into cuts and wounds of the hunters.
 Normally the hunters body could have fought of the SIV, but in a few cases it
adapted the new human host and evolved into HIV.
 The fact that there were several different strains of HIV, each with a slightly
different genetic makeup, supports the theory , every time it passed from
chimpanzee to a man it would have developed in a slightly different way
within his body and hence produced a slightly different strain.
 THE ORAL POLIO VACCINE
THEORY

 Some people believe that HIV-1 evolved from accidental vaccine contaminations
and subsequent transmissions to African villagers
 In his book, The river, Edward Hooper suggested that HIV could be traced to the
testing of an oral polio vaccine called Chat, given to about 1 million people in
Belgium ,congo, Rwanda and Burundi in late 1950s.
 Hooper believes that the Chat was grown in kidney calls taken from local chimps
infected with SIV
 The vaccine was analyzed and in 2001 it was announce that no trace had been
found of either HIV or chimpanzee SIV.
 A second analysis confirmed that only Macaque monkey kidney cells, which
cannot be infected with HIV OR SIV were used to make Chat
 Furthermore, the oral administration of the vaccine would seem insufficient to
cause infection in most people(HIV/SIV needs to get directly in to blood
stream to cause infection- the lining of the mouth and throat generally acts as a
good barrier to viruses
 That fact that OPV theory accounts for just one of several different groups of
HIV suggests that transferals could have happened in other ways too and as
the fact that HIV could have existed in human beings before the vaccine trials
were ever carried out.
 This theory remains unproven
THE CONTAMINATED NEEDLE
THEORY
 this is an extension of the hunter theory
 In 1950s the use of disposable plastic needles became common around the
world as a cheap and sterile way to administer medicine.
 However in Africa the enormous amount of needles needed to give
inoculations and other medications would have been very costly
 It is likely that one syringe would have used to give multiple people injections
without sterilizing the needle
 This would have rapidly transferred viral particles from one person to another,
creating huge potential for the virus to mutate in each new individual it
entered
THE HEART OF DARKNESS THEORY

 This theory is also known as COLONIALSM THEORY

 A more recent theory based on the basic hunter premise but more thoroughly
explains how this infection could have led to an epidemic
 During the late 19th and 20th centaury, much of Africa was ruled by colonial
forces during which many were forced into labor camps where sanitation was
poor, food was scarce and physical demands were extreme
 Moore believes that these factors alone would have been sufficient to create
poor health in anyone, so SIV could have easily infiltrated the labor force and
taken advantage of there compromised immune system to become HIV
 The most likely possibility he says was a stray and perhaps cheap chimpanzee
with SIV that would have made a welcome extra source of food for the workers
 Many laborious would have been inoculated with unsterile needles against
diseases such as small pox and that many of the camps actively employed
prostitutes to keep the workers happy creating numerous possibilities of
onward transmission.
THE CONSPIRACY THEORY

• A highly believed yet without tangible facts theory

• It claims HIV was manmade and was created in the labs to eradicate a group of people.
Some think the targeted group is African while others think is the gay community
• They believe it was done under the US federal Special cancer virus program possibly
with the help of the CIA
• Some believe it was spread either deliberately or inadvertently to people all over the
world through the small pox inoculation program , or to gay men through hepatitis B
vaccine trials
• The theory has however been criticized as follows
• There was lack of genetic engineering available when AIDs first appeared in human
• It ignores the link between SIV and HIV
• Others believe it is a political conspiracy by the Russia to discredit and taint the image of USA by
blaming them for manufacture and spread of the Virus
DID HIV COME FROM AFRICA

 Given the evidence of all the different studies, it is likely that Africa was indeed
the continent where the transfer of HIV to humans first occurred
 Monkeys from Asia and south America have never been found to have SIV that
could have caused HIV in humans
 However who exactly spread the virus from Africa to America and beyond
remains a mystery .It is quit possible that the separate strains of the virus
could have been developing in a number of different countries years before the
first case was officially identified making it virtually impossible to trace once
single source