HIV and AIDS Question Box  Box is for:  Questions you are too embarrassed to ask  Questions not appropriate for whole class  Anonymous questions  I will answer in class if appropriate  Signed questions  I will answer in class if appropriate  **will not identify who asked the question**  OR I will answer it privately as appropriate

AIDS  Acquired  Immune  Deficiency  Syndrome  A collection of symptoms and diseases one gets during the last stage of a fatal disease that destroys a person’s immune system

HIV  Human  Immunodeficiency  Virus  Attacks the human immune system and is believed to cause the fatal disease AIDS  ONLY humans can contract the HIV virus (no animals)

Alive vs. Dead  Viruses are not alive  Do not have cells  Cannot turn food into energy  Need host to activate  Viruses are not exactly dead either  Have genes  Can reproduce  Evolve through natural selection

HIV and AIDS Statistics  HIV has spread to 70 million people, and has killed 30 million  HIV will spread to an estimated 40 million people over the next 10 years  17.8 million children have lost one or both parents to AIDS

 The World Health Organization reports that AIDS is now the leading single cause of death worldwide for people ages 15 to 59.  Young people under the age of 25 are estimated to account for half of all new HIV infections worldwide.

 Among year olds, 64% of people who are infected with HIV are female  50% of adults estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS are women  Every hour, 50 young women are newly infected with HIV Maps- The global picture

Immune System  3 parts  Physical barriers to germs  Example: skin  Innate immune system  Attacks and destroys outside invaders that get into the blood stream  Acquired immune system  Trained to identify and kill particular invaders  Either through vaccine or previous exposure

Immune System Team  Helper T-Cell  APC (Antigen-presenting cells)  B Cells  Macrophages  Killer T Cells

Immune System Team Players  Helper T-Cell  Quarterback  Tells the “team” what to do from the moment the infection is identified  APC (Antigen-presenting cells)  Patrolling the body  Find a virus- mark it (antibody), gobble them up, then signal that the body is under attack (mobilize the other players)

Immune System Team  B Cells  Latch on to virus and prevent it from replicating  Macrophages  Scavengers that find and kill virus particles marked “invaders” by the B cells  Killer T Cells  Finds the body cells that has been infected by virus (and now is a virus producing machine) and kills the cell to prevent the virus from spreading Immune System: Start 2:50

Immune System Response  Usually takes a few days for immune system to kill the flu or cold  Once virus is eliminated, some B and T cells change into memory cells in case the same virus comes back  Allows for quick response and elimination

How HIV impacts the immune system  Attacks the “quarterback” of the immune system- Helper T Cells  By doing this, it disrupts the ENTIRE immune response  HIV hides itself in the Helper-T Cell behind sugars  Rarely can other cells tell the difference between a normal Helper-T Cell and an HIV infected Helper-T Cell  these people who have these cells are immune to HIV

The War Begins….

HIV’s army grows…..  Once the HIV virus penetrates the Helper-T Cells, it turns the Helper-T Cell into an HIV factory  Replicates itself billions of times per day  At this point, the body senses an attack  Many people experience flu-like symptoms, sometimes with a rash, two to three weeks after infection

Immune system starts to build its army up and prepare for battle...  The body reacts by producing billions of healthy Helper-T Cells and Killer-T Cells  At this point, HIV can be detected through a blood test  Both HIV and Healthy Helper-T Cells are being produced at a VERY fast rate, which allows for large armies on both sides of the battle to form

Let the battle begin…. and continue…  HIV and the healthy Helper-T Cells can battle for up to 10 years  During this time, the person will feel totally healthy  Since there are no symptoms, the person might not know they have HIV and might unknowingly spread the virus HIV Virus- Stop 2:52

When HIV turns into AIDS  AIDS is diagnosed based on how many Helper-T cells are found in blood  Normal Adult: between 400 and 1600 Helper-T cells in a cubic mm of blood  Non-symptomatic HIV: between 500 and 600 Helper-T cells  AIDS: Helper-T cells count below 200

AIDS  Helper-T cell level is VERY low, so the immune system can no longer fight off any kid of infection  A person will not die from AIDS  They will die from opportunistic infection  Virus, bacteria, infection, or fungus  Examples: Pneumonia or cancer  This is because the immune system can no longer fight

 Without treatment, people with AIDS usually survive for up to three years  There are anti-retroviral medications available for people diagnosed with HIV and/or AIDS to help them healthy and prevent illness

Universal Precautions  Protecting yourself and others from infection by behaving as is everyone is infected with HIV  No blood-to-blood contact  No unprotected sexual contact

Methods of HIV Transmission  Unprotected sexual contact  Sharing of needles  Transmission from pregnant mother to baby

Myths of HIV Transmission  HIV is NOT transmitted by:  Telephones  Shaking hands/touching  Doorknobs  Work/School Environments  Donating blood  Sharing eating utensils  Sharing toilets

Universal Precautions for Infection Control  Wear latex gloves  Wear mask  Wear a gown  Avoid skin punctures  Wash hands and contaminated areas

Why cant we create a vaccine for HIV?  HIV rapidly mutates  Faster than any other viruses  Many different types exist  The body cannot get rid of it naturally  Rarely can the body produce effective antibodies  These people would be immune to HIV **Currently have many trials being conducted around the world in hopes of creating a vaccine**

Types of vaccines currently in development  Preventative Vaccines  Goal is to prevent HIV from infecting HIV negative individuals  The hope is that these vaccines could be given to everyone  Just like polio  This would make transmission of HIV virtually impossible

Types of vaccines currently in development  Therapeutic HIV vaccines  Boost the immune systems for HIV-positive individuals  Slow HIV spreading inside the body  This would increase the amount of time between when the person is infected with HIV and when it get to the point of AIDS

REMINDER  The best way to prevent the transmission of HIV is to follow UNIVERSAL PRECAUTIONS:  No blood-to-blood contact  No unprotected sexual contact