Symptoms of HIV/AIDS

Top Ten Symptoms of HIV/AIDS
1. Depression
2. Diarrhea
3. Thrush- yeast-like fungi commonly found in the normal flora of the mouth, skin, intestinal tract, and vagina, which can become clinically infectious in immune-compromised persons
4. Weight Loss
5. Lipodystrophy (Fat redistribution syndrome)
6. Sinus infection
7. Fatigue
8. Nausea and Vomiting
9. Lactic Acidosis- lactic acid builds up in the body due to the destruction of mitochondria, the powerhouse of the cell.
10. Peripheral Neuropathy- burning and tingling of the feet and hands


First, please do not to rely on the HIV symptoms as stated in this post to establish whether or not you are infected with the HIV virus, because these symptoms are similar to symptoms of many other diseases. The primary symptoms are actually flu-like symptoms. The best way to know whether you are positive or not is to have an HIV test done.

• Primary HIV Infection
  fever
  headache
  pain in the limbs
  sore throat
  swollen lymph nodes
  fatigue
  loss of appetite
  diarrhea
  skin rash

• Asymptomatic HIV Infection
  In this phase, which can last 8 to 9 years, there are no symptoms at all. Nevertheless, in this period of time the HIV virus is reproducing itself and keeps destroying the immune cells.

• Symptomatic HIV Infection
  long-lasting swollen lymph nodes
  permanent night sweat
  long-lasting diarrhea
  persistent fever
  severe weight loss
  fungal diseases
  dermatitis
  dry cough and breathlessness
  chronic fatigue

Are you HIV positive?

HIV or human immunodeficiency virus is a retrovirus which causes AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome). It actually belongs to lentivirus which is sometimes called as "slow virus" due to the long incubation period. It can take 7 to 12 years .

HIV is transmitted by:
-unprotected sex
-use of contaminated needles or syringe
-needle pricks for health care workers
-blood transfusion of an infected blood or blood products.
-perinatal or vertical transmission (pregnant woman to her fetus during pregnancy, delivery)
-organ donation from patients infected with HIV
-There are no documented cases of HIV being transmitted by tears or saliva, but it is said that it may be possible to be infected with HIV through oral sex or in rare cases through deep kissing, especially if you have open sores in your mouth or bleeding gums

What are the Ways to Diagnose Whether I'm Positive or Not?
When HIV infection takes place, anti-HIV bodies are produced but they are not detected immediately. This is called the "window" effect.
Basically, two most common ways of screening and confirming for HIV are:

1. ELISA- Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (screening)
2. Western Blot --confirmatory test

AIDS vaccine: is there still hope?

AIDS may not be curable, but at least it’s preventable.

Safe sex practices, monogamous relationships, universal precautions for health care providers, and avoid sharing unsterilized needles/syringes for IV injections, and such are safety precautions in order to avoid acquiring this dreadful malady.

However, recent studies have led to a promising vaccine---the AIDS vaccine.
This AIDS vaccine is a two-shot injection designed to fight against HIV infection a different way – it triggers the body’s cell-mediated immune responses rather than relying solely on HIV antibodies.

I've watched from one of the health news in our school about this AIDS vaccine, and I've thought that if this vaccine would proved to be successful, 27 years of struggling against AIDS would at last come to an end.

The irony is, researchers still fail to understand how exactly our body defends against HIV. And the absence of this vital information may perchance suggest that any vaccines or medications aiming to trigger immune responses may actually be based on blind hypotheses.
It’s a complicated puzzle that even 33 million current cases of AIDS worldwide still can’t give us the missing pieces.

Meanwhile large-scale trial for AIDS vaccine was dropped recently. Dr Anthony Fauci, NIAID director, cancelled the test phase of the Partnership for AIDS Vaccine Evaluation or Pave after Merck’s previous trial proved to be unsuccessful.

If one can remember, last September, the Merck (pharmaceutical company) suspended its trials of the Ad5 vaccine, which aimed to lower the viral load in the bloodstream. The results of the trial suggested that the vaccine may have unintentionally increased HIV risk among subjects who were exposed to blood or semen infected with HIV.

So far, it was said that the best way to test whether the vaccine is indeed helpful or not is by first trying it out on a smaller, more focused study rather than going on large-scale.

Slowly, but surely right?=D