Tuesday, January 14, 2014

HIV and immune system

HIV ailment has a well-documented progression. If you are infected with HIV and don’t get treatment, HIV will eventually overwhelm your immune system—and this will lead to your being diagnosed with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
Here’s what typically happens:
Acute Infection: Within 2-4 weeks after infection with HIV, you can experience an acute disorder, which is often described as “the worst flu ever.” This is called intense retro viral syndrome (ARS) or prime HIV infection and it’s the body’s natural response to the HIV infection.
During this interval of infection, great amounts of virus are being produced in your body. The virus uses CD4 cells to replicate and destroys them in the process. Because of this the CD4 count can fall rapidly. Eventually your vaccinated reaction will begin to carry the level of virus in your corpse invest in down to a plain called a viral set point, which is a relatively stable plane of virus in your body. At this point, your CD4 count begins to increase, but it may not return to infection levels.
Some people progress through this phase faster than others. It is important to remember that you are still able to transmit HIV to others during this phase.
Toward the middle and end of this period, your viral load begins to rise and your CD4 cell count begins to drop. As this happens, you may begin to have constitutional symptoms of HIV as the virus levels increase in your body.
AIDS: As the number of your CD4 cells begins to fall below 200 cells per cubic millimeter of blood (200 cells/mm3), you will be diagnosed as having AIDS. (Normal CD4 counts are between 500 and 1,600 cells/mm3.) This is the stage of infection that occurs when your immune system is badly damaged and you become vulnerable to opportunistic infections. Without treatment, people who are diagnosed with AIDS typically survive about 3 years. Once someone has a dangerous opportunistic infection, life-expectancy falls to about 1 year. Good drug for your immune system Combivir. Combivir is an antiviral medication containing a combination of lamivudine and zidovudine. Combivir is used to treat HIV, which causes the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

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