Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome or hiv/253657?iL=true" >AIDS is a condition that is caused by the Human Immuno Deficiency Virus or HIV which leads to serious destruction and loss of a person?s ability to fight with a infection. In few years slowly a person?s immune system will be unable to fight against infections and various infective agents will conquer over the immune system easily and a person will face a numerous complications due to that.

 

All the infections which will occur only in the immunocompetent state of the body are known as opportunistic infections and will lead to endless complications. Now a days due to several new advances in the treatment mean life of a patient can be improved. Also 5 year survival rates have improved significantly. There are two species of HIV namely HIV-1 and HIV-2 and each has multiple subtypes.HIV-2 carries a slightly lower risk of transmission and HIV-2 infection progresses more slowly to acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). As it causes less-aggressive infection than a specific property of the virus itself. Persons infected with HIV-2 generally have a lower level of virus in the body than people with HIV-1; greater viral load is associated with more rapid progression to AIDS in HIV-1 infections.

 

Phases of HIV Infection

There are three phases of HIV infection -

Acute seroconversion

During this phase, the infection is established, and a proviral reservoir develops. This reservoir consists of persistently infected cells, typically macrophages, and appears to steadily release virus. Seroconversion may take a few weeks, up to several months. Symptoms during this time may include fever, flulike illness, lymphadenopathy, and rash and develop in approximately half of all people infected with HIV.

 

Asymptomatic HIV infection

In this stage there are few or no signs or symptoms for a few years to a decade or more. Virus continues multiplication during this time, and the immune response against the virus is effective and vigorous. In some patients, persistent generalized lymphadenopathy is an outward sign of infection.  

 

AIDS

After damage to the immune system in a manner that a person is predisposed to opportunistic infections it is believed that the HIV has progressed and patient has developed AIDS. The following are complications associated with AIDS –

 

• Candidiasis of bronchi, trachea, or lungs
• Esophageal  Candidiasis
• Invasive Cervical cancer
• Disseminated or extrapulmonary Coccidioidomycosis
• Cryptococcosis, extrapulmonary
• Chronic intestinal Cryptosporidiosis
• Cytomegalovirus disease
• Cytomegalovirus retinitis
• Encephalopathy
• Chronic ulcerative Herpes simplex associated with bronchitis, pneumonitis, or esophagitis
• Disseminated or extrapulmonary Histoplasmosis
• Chronic intestinal Isosporiasis
• Kaposi sarcoma
• Burkitt Lymphoma
• Immunoblastic Lymphoma
• Lymphoma
• Disseminated or extrapulmonary Mycobacterium avium complex or Mycobacterium kansasii infection,
• Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection
• Disseminated or extrapulmonary Mycobacterium infection with other species or unidentified species,
• Pneumocystis pneumonia
• Recurrent Pneumonia
• Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy
• Recurrent Salmonella septicemia, recurrent
• Toxoplasmosis of the brain
• Wasting syndrome due to HIV infection