HIV 常識 (ZT)

剛剛看到有報道謝雨欣藥物過敏長了一身紅包，不知道為什麽讓我突然想起了HIV (澄清一下，我不是說她得了這病。)。 在google上搜索了一下關於HIV的symptoms。看了一下，覺得AIDS還是挺可怕的。幸好，我從來是有那個心沒那個膽去亂搞的人，AIDS 潛伏期可以那麽長(十年)，真可怕。做人要學會潔身自愛。

HIV Symptom Free Period

Becoming infected with HIV and becoming sick from AIDS are two different events. For most people, it takes many years from the times omeone is infected with HIV to the time that they develop symptoms of AIDS. Some people get sick sooner and others stay well longer,especially with treatment. However, there is almost always a significant period of time after infection when an HIV-positive individual will have no symptoms at all -- often 10 years or more.

Keeping in mind the two separate events (becoming HIV-infected vs.actually developing AIDS) can help you to remember that there are also two separate time periods when someone may show symptoms related to HIV-infection.

HIV Early Symptoms

What are the early symptoms of HIV/AIDS?

Many people do not develop any symptoms when they first become infected with HIV. Some people, however, get a flu-like illness within three to six weeks after exposure to the virus. This illness, called Acute HIV Syndrome, may include fever, headache, tiredness, nausea, diarrhoea and enlarged lymph nodes (organs of the immune system that can be felt in the neck, armpits and groin). These symptoms usually disappear within a week to a month and are often mistaken for another viral infection.

During this period, the quantity of the virus in the body will be high and it spreads to different parts, particularly the lymphoid tissue. At this stage, the infected person is more likely to pass on the infection to others. The viral quantity then drops as the body's immune system launches an orchestrated fight.

More persistent or severe symptoms may not surface for several years, even a decade or more, after HIV first enters the body in adults, or within two years in children born with the virus. This period of "asymptomatic" infection varies from individual to individual. Some people may begin to have symptoms as soon as a few months, while others may be symptom-free for more than 10 years. However, during the"asymptomatic" period, the virus will be actively multiplying, infecting, and killing cells of the immune system.

Once HIV enters the human body, it attaches itself to a White Blood Cell (WBC) called CD4. Also, called T4 cells, they are the main disease fighters of the body. Whenever there is an infection, CD4 cells lead the infection-fighting army of the body to protect it from falling sick. Damage of these cells, hence can affect a person's disease-fighting capability and general health.

After making a foot hold on the CD4 cell, the virus injects its RNA into the cell. The RNA then gets attached to the DNA of the host cell and thus becomes part of the cell's genetic material. It is a virtual takeover of the cell. Using the cell's division mechanism, the virus now replicates and churns out hundreds of thousands of its own copies.These cells then enter the blood stream, get attached to other CD4 cells and continue replicating. As a result, the number of the virus in the blood rises and that of the CD4 cells declines.

Because of this process, immediately after infection, the viral load of an infected individual will be very high and the number of CD4, low. But, after a while, the body's immune system responds vigorously by producing more and more CD4 cells to fight the virus. Much of the virus gets removed from the blood. To fight the fast-replicating virus,as many as a billion CD4 cells are produced every day, but the virus too increases on a similar scale. The battle between the virus and theCD4 cells continues even as the infected person remains symptom-free.

But after a few years, which can last up to a decade or evenmore, when the number of the virus in the body rises to very highlevels, the body's immune mechanism finds it difficult to carry on with the battle. The balance shifts in favour of the virus and the person becomes more susceptible to various infections. These infections are called Opportunistic Infections because they swarm the body using the opportunity of its low immunity. At this stage, the number of CD4 cellsper millilitre of blood (called CD4 Count), which ranges between 500 to1,500 in a healthy individual, falls below 200. The Viral Load, the quantity of the virus in the blood, will be very high at this stage.

Opportunistic infections are caused by bacteria, virus, fungiand parasites. Some of the common opportunistic infections that affect HIV positive persons are: Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC),Tuberculosis (TB), Salmonellosis, Bacillary Angiomatosis (all caused bybacteria); Cytomegalovirus (CMV), Viral hepatitis, Herpes, Humanpapillomavirus (HPV), Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML)(caused by virus); Candidiasis, Cryptococcal meningitis (caused byfungus) and Pneumocystis Carinii pneumonia (PCP). Toxoplasmosis.Cryptosporidiosis (caused by parasites). HIV positive persons are alsoprone to cancers like Kaposi's sarcoma and lymphoma.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC), Atlanta has listed aseries of diseases as AIDS-defining. When these diseases appear, it is a sign that the infected individual has entered the later stage of HIV infection and has started developing AIDS. The progression of HIVpositive persons into the AIDS stage is highly individual. Some people can reach the AIDS stage in about five years, while some remain disease free for more than a decade. Measurement of the viral load and the CD4count helps a doctor in assessing an infected person's health condition.

HIV Symptoms Welcome to hiv symptoms.org, comprehensive HIV information site. Providing HIV symptoms information is the main focus of thissite but there is a lot more information here on HIV and AIDS.

Please note that the only way to make sure whether you have HIV or AIDS is HIV testing for HIV infection. Please don'trely on HIV symptoms to know whether or not you are infected with HIV. There is a possibility that you don't show any ofthe HIV symptoms but can still be infected with HIV/AIDS.



Just to summarize, following are the main HIV symptoms:

1. Rapid weight loss
2. Dry cough
3. Recurring fever or profuse night sweats
4. Profound and unexplained fatigue
5. Wollen lymph glands in the armpits, groin, or neck
6. Diarrhea that lasts for more than a week
7. White spots or unusual blemishes on the tongue, in the mouth, or in the throat
8. Pneumonia
9. Red, brown, pink, or purplish blotches on or under the skin or inside the mouth, nose, or eyelids
10. Memory loss, depression, and other neurological disorders
    

Later Symptoms of HIV

Following are the later symptoms of HIV:

• Lack of energy
• Weight loss
• Frequent fevers and sweats
• A thick, whitish coating of the tongue or mouth (thrush) thatis caused by a yeast infection and sometimes accompanied by a sorethroat
• Severe or recurring vaginal yeast infections
• Chronic pelvic inflammatory disease or severe and frequent infections like herpes zoster
• Periods of extreme and unexplained fatigue that may be combined with headaches, lightheadedness, and/or dizziness
• Rapid loss of more than 10 pounds of weight that is not due to increased physical exercise or dieting
• Bruising more easily than normal
• Long-lasting bouts of diarrhoea
• Swelling or hardening of glands located in the throat, armpit, or groin
• Periods of continued, deep, dry coughing
• Increasing shortness of breath
• The appearance of discoloured or purplish growths on the skin or inside the mouth
• Unexplained bleeding from growths on the skin, from mucous membranes, or from any opening in the body
• Recurring or unusual skin rashes
• Severe numbness or pain in the hands or feet, the loss of muscle control and reflex, paralysis or loss of muscular strength
• An altered state of consciousness, personality change, or mental deterioration
• Children may grow slowly or fall sick frequently. HIV positive persons are also found to be more vulnerable to some cancers.