Any person will perceive the immunodeficiency virus found in his blood as a death sentence.

Until recently, this was the case, but treatment in the early stages of HIV with antiretroviral drugs can not only prolong life, but also to some extent restore the patient’s immune system.

What kind of disease is this?

Human immunodeficiency virus is a viral disease that very slowly and gradually destroys the body's immune system. As a result, it weakens so much that it cannot protect itself from secondary infections and tumor diseases. In the later stages, the patient develops fungal, bacterial, viral and oncological diseases that are difficult to treat. This condition is called acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The virus originally appeared in West Africa, but has now spread throughout the planet. Information about the structure, routes of transmission and vital activity of the virus did not help to create drugs that completely cure the disease, so every year the number of people infected with HIV and people with AIDS is growing in the world.

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Possible routes of infection

HIV infection can be transmitted:

• during unprotected sexual intercourse;
• when using someone else's syringes and needles;
• by transfusion of contaminated blood;
• from an infected mother to a child during pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding;
• when blood or scratched human mucosa comes into contact with blood, semen, breast milk and other biological secretions of the patient;
• when using improperly sterilized piercing and tattoo instruments;
• when using someone else's toothbrush or razor with minimal blood residue.

HIV is not believed to be transmitted through sweat, saliva, tears, urine or feces. This is explained by the fact that you can become infected when a minimum dose of the virus enters the bloodstream and damaged mucous membranes. For example, to become infected with HIV, all it takes is a drop of blood placed on the end of a sewing needle. The same amount of virus is contained in 4 liters of saliva, and it is too difficult to consume such a volume.

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How to recognize HIV in the early stages

All people are afraid of the thought of possible HIV infection. Therefore, the question often arises: “How does HIV manifest in the early stages?” After all, it is still possible to treat the disease at the very beginning, but then the immune system is completely destroyed. As a result, it is not HIV itself that kills a person, but other diseases that the immune system is not able to fight. How to recognize HIV in the early stages? There are few signs that allow this to be done. It is almost never possible to determine HIV infection by early external signs.

Each of them is similar to the manifestations of common viral diseases - influenza, ARVI, rotavirus or enterovirus infection:

1. Unreasonable severe fatigue. Chronic fatigue can signal a huge number of diseases, including HIV infection. Don't panic if you feel constantly tired even after a normal night's rest. Take note of this. If you feel a complete loss of energy for several weeks or months, you still need to undergo a comprehensive examination to rule out HIV.
2. Muscle and throat pain, headache and chills are signs of flu and colds. However, all of them can also signal the activation of HIV.
3. Swollen tonsils in the throat and enlarged, painless lymph nodes in the neck, groin and armpits are characteristic of a systemic disease. With HIV, the cervical lymph nodes swell more than the inguinal and axillary ones. To understand and find out the diagnosis, an examination is necessary.
4. Nausea, vomiting and diarrhea may accompany the initial stages of HIV infection. If any of the signs persist for 1-3 weeks, it is worthwhile.
5. Sores in the mouth and genitals. If this symptom appears in combination with the signs of HIV listed above, you should be wary. Especially if you have not previously suffered from similar skin problems.

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HIV does not appear immediately; it can “sleep” in the body for a long time or develop very unnoticed. The incubation period depends on the strength of the person’s immune system; it can range from several weeks to 10 years. In some patients, HIV leads to the development of AIDS within 10-12 years if left untreated.

Clinical manifestations of HIV infection are divided into several stages. The first stage of the disease occurs at least 2-6 weeks after HIV infection. The following features are characteristic of this period:

1. Some enlargement of the lymph nodes in the neck, armpits and groin. Swollen lymph nodes are firm and painless.
2. Sore throat and swollen tonsils.
3. Chills and elevated body temperature (37.5-38 0 C).
4. Diarrhea.
5. A pinpoint rash, as with rubella (occurs in half of the cases).
6. Rare cases of meningitis and meningoencephalitis.

At an early stage, HIV infection may not manifest itself in any way, so a person does not know about the development of a terrible disease for a long time. However, people almost always attribute the listed symptoms to a cold, flu or poisoning, thereby depriving themselves of the chance to prolong their life.

The second stage of HIV infection occurs after acute manifestations have subsided. It lasts for 3-10 years, the disease almost does not manifest itself or these are very vague signs:

• joint pain;
• muscle pain;
• night sweats;
• weakness and increased fatigue;
• frequent diarrhea;
• problems with coordination of movements;
• frequent exacerbations of herpes infection;
• systematic rise in body temperature;
• persistent dry cough;
• dramatic weight loss in a couple of months.

In the early stages, women with HIV experience menstrual irregularities: intermenstrual bleeding, irregular cycles, painful periods or their absence. It is believed that HIV infection can provoke hormonal imbalances in the body. Inflammatory diseases of the genital organs in infected women are difficult to cure. In addition, the risk of developing cervical cancer increases several times. Men with HIV infection do not experience hormonal changes. The symptoms of the immunodeficiency virus in children have their own characteristics. Newborns with HIV often have diarrhea and suffer from recurring infections. Infected children under 2 years of age are characterized by frequent bacterial infections, stunted growth and body weight, enlarged lymph nodes, fever, pneumonia, infectious diseases of the skin and mucous membranes.

Children over 2 years of age infected with HIV suffer from digestive disorders, intractable pneumonia and viral infections, as well as candidiasis of the mucous membranes and skin.

The third stage of HIV infection begins with the development of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Without treatment, AIDS begins 3-10 years after infection. The patient’s immunity cannot cope with anything; the person is tormented by endless fungal, bacterial, viral and protozoal infections. Along with this, HIV encephalopathy, HIV dementia, tuberculosis, cervical cancer, Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Kaposi's sarcoma, etc. are quite common in AIDS patients. The patient has enlarged lymph nodes, a feverish state and a temperature of about 38-40 0 C.

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HIV Treatment Trends

Scientists around the world are struggling with the problem of treating HIV, but have not yet found a means to completely cure patients. Treatment regimens only slow down the progression of the disease and slightly improve the quality of life. Finding out that you have HIV is a huge stress, so the patient needs constant psychological support from psychologists and psychiatrists, as well as from their own family and friends. Not everyone can cope with the situation. In this regard, such people require a gentle protective psychological regime. At the same time, active therapy with antiretroviral drugs is carried out. HIV patients require constant medical supervision for early detection and treatment of secondary diseases.

In 2010, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended starting treatment for HIV-infected patients when CD4 cell counts are below 350/mm3. However, new WHO research confirms that early initiation of HIV treatment leads to better results. They insist that patients should be given antiretroviral drugs as early as 500 CD4 cells/mm³ or below. This makes treatment safer and more affordable. In addition, early therapy reduces the number of viruses in the blood. This reduces the risk of transmitting HIV to others.

Regarding infected children, WHO insists on the need for antiretroviral therapy for all children under 5 years of age, regardless of CD4 cell count. The same applies to HIV-positive pregnant and lactating women, married couples where only one of the partners is infected. WHO recommendations have not changed regarding the provision of antiretroviral treatment to all HIV patients with active tuberculosis or hepatitis B.

More than 20 years ago, an epidemic of the most terrible and incomprehensible viral disease of our time - AIDS - began in the world. Its contagiousness, rapid spread and incurability earned the disease the fame of the “plague of the twentieth century.”

History of origin

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), is a fatal disease for which there is currently no cure.

Some scientists believe that the HIV virus was transmitted from monkeys to humans around 1926. Recent research suggests that humans acquired the virus in West Africa. Until the 1930s, the virus did not manifest itself in any way. In 1959, a man died in the Congo. Later research by doctors who analyzed his medical history showed that this may have been the first case of death from AIDS recorded in the world. In 1969, the first cases of the disease with symptoms of AIDS were recorded among prostitutes in the United States. Then doctors did not pay much attention to them, considering them a rare form of pneumonia. In 1978, symptoms of the same disease were found among homosexual men in the United States and Sweden, as well as among heterosexual men in Tanzania and Haiti.

It was only in 1981 that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that a new disease had been identified among young gay men in Los Angeles and New York. About 440 carriers of the HIV virus have been identified in the United States. About 200 of these people died. Since most of the patients were homosexuals, the new disease was called “Gay Related Immuno Deficiency (GRID)” or “A Gay Cancer.”

On June 5, 1981, an American scientist from the Center for Disease Control, Michael Gottlieb, first described a new disease that occurs with deep damage to the immune system. A thorough analysis led American researchers to the conclusion of the presence of a previously unknown syndrome, which in 1982 received the name Aquired Immune Deficiency Syndrom (AIDS) - acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). At the same time, AIDS was called the disease of four “Hs”, in capital letters of the English words - homosexuals, hemophiliacs, Haitians and heroin, thereby highlighting risk groups for the new disease.

Immune deficiency (decreased immunity), from which AIDS patients suffered, was previously encountered only as a congenital defect of premature newborns. Doctors found that in these patients, the decrease in immunity was not congenital, but was acquired in adulthood.

In 1983, the French scientist Montagnier established the viral nature of the disease. He discovered a virus in a lymph node removed from an AIDS patient, calling it LAV (lymphadenopathy associated virus).

On April 24, 1984, the director of the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland, Dr. Robert Gallo, announced that he had found the true cause of AIDS. He managed to isolate the virus from the peripheral blood of AIDS patients. He isolated a retrovirus called HTLV-III (Human T-lymphotropic virus type III). These two viruses turned out to be identical.

In 1985, it was discovered that HIV is transmitted through body fluids: blood, semen, and breast milk. In the same year, the first HIV test was developed, on the basis of which the USA and Japan began testing donated blood and its preparations for HIV.
In 1986, Montagnier's group announced the discovery of a new virus, which was named HIV-2 (HIV-2). A comparative study of the genomes of HIV-1 and HIV-2 showed that, in evolutionary terms, HIV-2 is far removed from HIV-1. The authors suggested that both viruses existed long before the modern AIDS epidemic. HIV-2 was first isolated in 1985 from AIDS patients in Guinea-Bissau and the Cape Verde Islands. Studies have shown that diseases caused by HIV-2 and HIV-1 are independent infections, since there are differences in the characteristics of the pathogens, clinical picture and epidemiology.

In 1987, the World Health Organization approved the name of the causative agent of AIDS - “human immunodeficiency virus” (HIV, or in the English abbreviation HIV).

In 1987, the WHO Global Program on AIDS was established and the World Health Assembly adopted a global strategy to combat AIDS. In the same year, the first antiviral drug, azidothymidine (zidovudine, retrovir), was introduced into the treatment of patients in a number of countries.

It must be emphasized that HIV and AIDS are not synonymous. AIDS is a broader concept and means immunity deficiency. This condition can occur as a result of a variety of reasons: chronic debilitating diseases, exposure to radiation energy, in children with defects in the immune system and in elderly patients with involution of immune defense, certain medications and hormonal drugs. Currently, the name AIDS is used to refer to only one of the stages of HIV infection, namely its manifest stage.

HIV infection is a new infectious disease, which before the discovery of its causative agent was called acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). HIV infection is a progressive anthroponotic infectious disease, with a blood-contact mechanism of infection, characterized by specific damage to the immune system with the development of severe immunodeficiency, which is manifested by secondary infections, malignant neoplasms and autoimmune processes.

Source HIV infection is a person with AIDS or an asymptomatic carrier of the virus. The main mechanism of infection transmission is blood contact. The disease is transmitted through sexual contact, especially homosexual; from an infected mother to a child during pregnancy through the placenta, during childbirth, during breastfeeding from mother to fetus; through razors and other sharp objects, toothbrushes, etc. HIV epidemiologists do not admit the existence of airborne and fecal-oral transmission routes, since the release of HIV from sputum, urine and feces is very insignificant, and the number susceptible cells in the gastrointestinal and respiratory tract.

There is also an artificial route of transmission: during therapeutic and diagnostic manipulations through the penetration of the virus through damaged skin, mucous membranes (transfusion of blood and its preparations, transplantation of organs and tissues, injections, operations, endoscopic procedures, etc.), artificial insemination, when administering drugs intravenously, performing various types of tattoos.

The risk group includes: passive homosexuals and prostitutes, who are more likely to suffer damage to the mucous membranes in the form of microcracks. Among women, the main risk group is drug addicts who inject drugs intravenously. Among sick children, 4/5 are children whose mothers have AIDS, are infected with HIV, or belong to known risk groups. The second place in frequency is occupied by children who have undergone blood transfusions, the third place is taken by patients with hemophilia, medical personnel who have professional contact with the blood and other biological fluids of HIV-infected patients.

The immunodeficiency virus can exist in the human body for ten to twelve years without showing itself in any way. And many people do not pay due attention to the initial signs of its manifestation, mistaking them for symptoms of other, at first glance, not dangerous diseases. If the treatment process is not started on time, the final stage of HIV - AIDS occurs. The immunodeficiency virus can become the basis for the development of other infectious diseases. Along with the risk of developing AIDS, the risk of other infectious diseases also increases.

Symptoms

The last stage - AIDS - occurs in three clinical forms: onco-AIDS, neuro-AIDS and infectious-AIDS. Onco-AIDS is manifested by Kaposi's sarcoma and brain lymphoma. Neuro-AIDS is characterized by various lesions of the central nervous system and peripheral nerves. As for infectious AIDS, it is manifested by numerous infections.

As HIV progresses to its final stage - AIDS - the symptoms of the disease become more obvious. People are increasingly being affected by various diseases, such as pneumonia, pulmonary tuberculosis, herpes virus and other diseases called opportunistic infections. They are the ones that lead to the most severe consequences. At this time, the immunodeficiency virus becomes a serious disease. It happens that the patient’s condition is so serious that the person is not even able to get out of bed. Such people most often are not even subject to hospitalization, but are at home under the care of people close to them.

Diagnostics

The main method of laboratory diagnosis of HIV infection is the detection of antibodies to the virus using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Treatment

At the present stage of medical development, there is no medicine that can completely cure this disease. However, with timely initiation of HIV treatment, it is possible to postpone for a long time the transition of the immunodeficiency virus to the development of AIDS, and therefore prolong a more or less normal life for the patient.

Treatment regimens have already been developed that can significantly slow down the development of the disease, and since the infection lasts a long time in most cases, we can hope to create effective therapeutic agents during this time.

Many people ask the question: What is AIDS? This is the final stage of the disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus - HIV (see photo below). Thus, from the above we can conclude that there is a difference between these two concepts.

HIV and AIDS: what's the difference

So, how is HIV different from AIDS? The difference is that the first abbreviation denotes the name of the virus - the cause of the disease, and the second - the disease itself, manifested in the form of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. These two concepts should not be confused, as they are not identical!

What is HIV infection

HIV infection is a disease caused by. This virus contains two identical RNA molecules, each of which contains complete genetic information. An important feature of the causative agent of AIDS is pronounced lymphotropism, especially towards “helper” T-lymphocytes. A definite relationship has been identified between the virus and histocompatibility antigens of the HLA system.

The stages of the HIV replication cycle are shown in the figure below.

Specific interaction of the virus on the surface of the cell membrane (1) with subsequent penetration into the cell (2); synthesis of a DNA copy of the RNA genome of the virus using reverse transcriptase (3); the transition of virus-specific DNA from the cytoplasm of the infected cell to its nucleus (4) and the integration of virus-specific DNA into the genome of the host cell (5); assembly and budding of newly formed particles (6).

Under the influence of viral gene expression products, the host cell undergoes degeneration or neoplastic transformation. The listed cytopathic effects are an important feature of HIV infection and are not typical for most retroviruses. The cytopathic effect of the infectious agent is associated with the presence of a virus-specific transactivating factor.

How HIV is transmitted from person to person

The human immunodeficiency virus is isolated in almost all body fluids: from saliva to cerebrospinal fluid. It is found directly in brain tissue, lymph nodes, bone marrow cells and skin. But, despite the vastness of localizations, HIV can be transmitted from person to person only through blood and semen. Therefore, the common question among the population “is HIV transmitted through saliva” can only be answered in the negative.

Infection in the vast majority of cases occurs through sexual contact through homo- and heterosexual contact. Transmission of the virus is possible through transfusion of whole blood, red blood cells and plasma. Most cases of AIDS in children are associated with congenital transmission from a sick mother to the child, as well as with transplacental infection. A number of cases of the disease are caused by transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus through intramuscular, intravenous and subcutaneous injections, medical scarifications or tattoos.

HIV risk groups

• Homosexuals
• Bisexuals
• People who use drugs
• Patients with hemophilia
• Prostitutes
• Children from mothers with AIDS
• Patients with sexually transmitted diseases

The key mechanism for the various disorders of the cellular and humoral immune system in HIV is that the AIDS virus primarily affects T-helper cells as a result of its cytopathic action as an etiological factor.

The main manifestations of dysfunction of the immune system in AIDS are presented below.

Immune system disorders due to human immunodeficiency virus

1. Decreased total number of circulating lymphocytes
2. A decrease in the number of T-helpers and a change in the content of T-suppressors, leading to a decrease in the ratio of T-helpers/T-suppressors in AIDS - less than 1; normal - about 2
3. Reduced delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction Reduced production of lymphokines
4. Increased levels of serum immunoglobulins and circulating immune complexes
5. Functional disorders of monocytes/macrophages: reduced chemotaxis, spontaneous increase in the production of interleukin-1 and prostaglandin E 2
6. High serum titer of altered acid-labile alpha-interferon

The incubation period of HIV before the appearance of the first symptoms and the development of manifest forms of AIDS can be quite long and depends on the route and nature of infection, the size of the infectious dose of the pathogen, as well as other factors contributing to the reproduction of the virus in the body.

On average, the incubation period is 12-15 months, with fluctuations from 2 weeks to 2-4 or more years.

A shorter incubation period is observed with homosexual and parenteral routes of infection and in children born from sick parents.

Antibodies to HIV can be detected as early as 2-8 weeks after infection, but the seronegative period sometimes extends to 6 or more weeks.

Depending on the characteristics of the symptoms, the course of the infectious process in AIDS can be:

• asymptomatic,
• clinically pronounced
• rapidly progressing.

First symptoms of HIV

The first symptoms of AIDS are:

• Fever for up to 1 month or more
• Generalized lymphadenopathy
• Loss of body weight (by 10% or more)
• Long-term (at least 2 months)
• Anemia
• Opportunistic infections:
  • :
    • generalized candidiasis,
    • herpetic infection,
    • Kaposi's sarcoma,
  • cytomegalovirus and bacterial infections,
  • tuberculosis
• HIV-associated CNS lesions:
  • dementia,
  • myelopathy,
  • peripheral neuropathy,
  • aseptic meningitis
• Pneumocystis pneumonia
• Laboratory indicators:
  • lympho- and leukopenia,
  • thrombocytopenia,
  • erythropenia,
  • signs of deficiency of humoral and cellular immunity

Diagnosis of HIV infection

For serological diagnosis of HIV infection, primarily enzyme immunoassay methods have been used. Two modifications of this method have been developed in Russia. A common disadvantage of enzyme immunoassay methods for AIDS research is the fairly high frequency of false-positive reactions. They are due to the very nature of this particular disease, in which the breakdown of cells affected by the virus is accompanied by the release of various cellular antigens into the blood, to which antibodies are produced. A positive AIDS enzyme immunoassay is a primary screening test and must be confirmed by immunoblotting.

Immunoblot for HIV

The meaning of the immunoblot is as follows:

The purified virus is destroyed with detergent, its proteins are separated by gel electrophoresis, and then transferred to nitrocellulose strips. The reaction is carried out by immersing the strip with the virus protein in the test serum diluted in a buffer solution, adding an antibody conjugate to human immunoglobulins, washing, setting up and recording the enzymatic reaction.

The immunoblot reaction for AIDS is quite specific, since after separation of proteins by electrophoresis, each of them occupies a strictly defined place depending on its molecular weight.

The Institute of Immunology of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the Russian Federation has developed a highly sensitive and safe test system “Peptoscreen”, based on the use of synthetic antigens to antibodies against the virus.

When using any diagnostic AIDS tests, in order to increase the reliability of positive test results for the presence of antibodies to HIV, it is advisable to repeat the reaction with the same reagents or additionally carry out a parallel reaction under identical conditions.

During the initial examination of risk groups, as well as in the absence of dynamic data, the test results obtained cannot yet reliably indicate the absence or presence of AIDS. Primary positive results require increased attention when conducting a repeated in-depth study of a sick or suspected donor, including epidemiological, immunological and clinical methods.

Examination of the population and donors for diagnosing HIV infection is the most important, but not the only one, but rather the first link in the overall system of monitoring the spread of the disease and identifying individuals who are sources of infection.

HIV treatment

Groups of drugs for antiretroviral therapy of AIDS (photo clickable)

Treatment of HIV patients should be carried out in a hospital, followed by clinical observation and periodic hospitalization. An AIDS patient must be informed of the diagnosis and warned of criminal liability for infecting others.

Those who are infected but not sick are subject to periodic (at least once a quarter) re-examination to identify the dynamics of the infectious process and the possible detection of symptoms of AIDS in active form or, conversely, recovery.

Persons with antibodies to the human immunodeficiency virus, in whom viral expression is not detected, should be re-examined at least once every 6-10 months. They must be warned that they cannot be blood donors.

The list of drugs for antiretroviral therapy for human immunodeficiency virus is presented in the photo above.

The combination of medications and the frequency, as well as the duration of their doses, should be determined exclusively by the doctor!

Is HIV curable or not?

This question worries many, especially those infected with AIDS. Unfortunately, despite the achievements of scientists in the development of drugs for antiretroviral therapy of human immunodeficiency virus, there is still no medicine that can cure HIV. AIDS can only be put into remission, but the body cannot be rid of it.

Infection is possible through unprotected sex, the birth and feeding of a child by an HIV-infected mother, and especially through the use of medical instruments containing contaminated blood particles.

Pathogenesis is caused by the destruction and death of immunocompetent cells due to the development of the immunodeficiency virus in them. Over time, the virus infects more and more lymphocytes, their number rapidly decreases, and the person becomes unprotected against any opportunistic (conditionally pathogenic) microflora.

A previously unknown HIV infection has spread throughout the world at tremendous speed and caused pandemics in many countries. This epidemic has already claimed millions of human lives, although the first case of a previously unknown disease was registered in the middle of the last century, and the pathogen was isolated only in the 80s of the last century.

It is believed that an infectious agent that previously only affected monkeys has become the human immunodeficiency virus by mutating and “jumping” the species barrier.

One of the features of the development of HIV is the slow rate of spread of the infectious process within the human body, which is due to the high frequency of genetic changes in the pathogen itself. Today, 4 types of virus are known, some of which are highly pathogenic, while others do not play a special role in the development of the disease. The most aggressive is HIV-1.

From the moment the infection enters the body until the appearance of tangible signs of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, an average of about 10 years passes, if no treatment is carried out, that is, without active influence on the pathogen. This does not mean that in 10 years a person will die, just that his immune system becomes defenseless, so it is advisable to avoid all kinds of infections that cause severe complications of the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. In addition, pathogenic microbes that previously existed under the control of the immune system become uncontrollable and contribute to the poisoning and intoxication of the body.

Today, quite effective drugs have been developed that are involved in the treatment of HIV infection, capable of restraining the development of pathology and maintaining the immune system in working order for years and decades.

Secondary (opportunistic) diseases develop, causing deaths.

Seronegative window

HIV infection is characterized by a long latent period and the absence of pronounced symptoms of the disease. At this time, pathogens can only be detected by chance - during laboratory tests for other ailments, when antibodies to the human immune virus appear in the blood.

Moreover, due to the delayed recognition of the infectious agent by the defense system, infection is not detected immediately, but only after several weeks. This is the so-called seronegative window period. If you take an HIV test at this time, the answer will be negative. But in fact, the virus is already multiplying and a person is quite capable of infecting another person with it.

Epidemiology of HIV infections

Source of infection: HIV-infected person in all stages of the disease.

Possible infection at home:

• when using one razor, toothbrush, washcloth;
• for pedicure, manicure, shaving, deep sexual kisses with bites;
• when carrying out piercing, tattoos, circumcision, acupuncture.

Risk groups: drug addicts, homosexuals, medical workers, infected sexual partners, patients with viral hepatitis B, C, D, hemophilia.

How is HIV infection spread?

The spread and widespread spread of HIV infection is mainly due to the increase in the number of drug users. Neither the infection of infants by a sick mother, nor accidental infection during medical procedures, nor any other reasons can compare with the unsterile syringes of drug addicts. In second place (40%) is infection during unprotected sexual intercourse.

Today, hundreds of thousands of people with HIV infection are registered in Russia (according to various sources, from 200 to 800 thousand). The statistics are so vague because the infection is very hidden and the picture is constantly changing.

The dangerous virus is found in almost all body fluids, but in different quantities. HIV is not transmitted through saliva, sweat, or tears. Sufficient amounts for infection are found only in blood and semen. Household transmission of HIV infection practically does not occur, since the pathogen is not persistent in the external environment and dies when heated and dried out. But the entry of infected blood into the bloodstream of a healthy person in 95% of cases is fraught with the development of the disease.

Sexual contacts do not always lead to infection. The greatest danger is unprotected (without using a condom) anal sex, since there is a higher risk of damage to the mucous membranes.

HIV is not transmitted through swimming pools, food, mosquito bites, dishes, clothing, handshakes, sneezing and coughing. An insignificant fraction of the percentage of probable infection occurs through kissing, since theoretically there is the possibility of bleeding and open wounds on the mucous membranes of those kissing.

Symptoms and manifestations of HIV infection

The insidious immunodeficiency virus is a very silent and secretive enemy. Having entered the body, it practically does not show itself for a long time. In response to an unfamiliar infection, after a week or a month, a slightly elevated temperature, an unknown allergy in the form of mild urticaria, a slight inflammation of the lymph nodes, which usually goes unnoticed, or a flu-like condition, may appear. But these mild symptoms disappear after 10-20 days.

True, then, with the gradual increase in HIV infection, the lymph nodes, in which the largest number of immune cells are concentrated, become dense and enlarged, but painless, and the process of destruction of the body’s defense system deliberately continues - a year, two, three or ten... Until the presence of suppressed and weak cellular immunity becomes a clear and obvious factor.

How does this manifest itself?

First of all, opportunistic infections rear their head: herpetic rashes constantly appear, fungal flora in the mouth causes stomatitis, candidiasis worsens in the genital area, previously dormant inflammatory processes in various organs often recur...

Later, third-party, accidentally encountered infections begin to stick: ARVI, tuberculosis, salmonellosis, etc.

Asymptomatic onset accounts for about half of cases.

The second half of those infected with HIV may experience signs of developing an acute fever.

Against the background of a low-grade fever, the throat and head begin to ache, pain in the muscles and eyes also appears, appetite decreases, nausea and diarrhea develop, and rashes of unknown origin appear on the skin.

These signs of an acute disease last a couple of weeks, and then the disease becomes asymptomatic and has no clinical manifestations.

In rare cases, HIV infection can start violently, causing a sharp and lightning-fast deterioration in the general condition.

Suspicion of HIV infection

If a person has:

• a fever of unknown origin persists for a week;
• in the absence of inflammatory processes, the axillary, inguinal, cervical and other lymph nodes enlarge and lymphadenopathy does not go away within several weeks;
• prolonged diarrhea (diarrhea) is observed;
• thrush (candidiasis) develops in the mouth;
• extensive herpetic rashes appear on the body;
• body weight inexplicably decreases, that is, a reason to suspect the introduction of the human immunodeficiency virus into the body.

A picture of illness painted by a virus

The human immunodeficiency virus is dangerous because it selects macrophages and monocytes for residence and reproduction.

Macrophages are a type of white blood cells involved in eliminating various pathogenic flora eaters that enter the human body. These are very important cells - they are “eaters” of infection. Macrophages are produced by the bone marrow, but not indefinitely: the reserve supply can be depleted, and macrophages themselves are mortal.

Monocytes are a group of cells of the immune system from the category of leukocytes and their main task is to cleanse tissues of pathogens. And the cunning immunodeficiency virus makes its way inside these defenders. It is not difficult for him to do this: he is tens of times smaller than such large cells. Cells of the immune system become a reservoir for the virus. Instead of destroying the infection, they promote its reproduction.

This happens because the innate immune system does not know how to timely and effectively identify this new virus for it, so a quick specific response of lymphocytes does not occur. Without a drug system to contain it, HIV infection quite effectively destroys lymphocytes, and their lack ultimately becomes the destruction of the entire immune system.

Diagnosis of HIV infections

Diagnosis based on:

• passport data (membership of risk groups, profession);
• medical history - the sequence of development of the disease;
• complaints - unmotivated fever, cough, diarrhea, weight loss, damage to mucous membranes and skin;
• epidemiological history - presence of parenteral interventions, use of psychotropic drugs;
• clinical examination - examination of the skin, mucous membranes, anus, genitals, condition of nails, hair (fungal infection, hair loss). Lymph nodes of all groups are larger than 1 cm, painless, and decrease in size in the 5th stage. Dyspnea at rest, respiratory failure. Pain behind the sternum, stool - 15-20 times, liver, spleen enlarged. Candidiasis of the genital tract, candilomas;
• analysis of laboratory tests - detection of antibodies to the virus. It takes from 25 days to 3 months for antibodies to develop. Blood for ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay), if 2 positive results, then the blood is examined in an immunoblotting reaction. In case of doubtful results and for examination of pregnant women and children, the PCR method is used;
• immunological studies: determination of CD4 and CD8, an increase in immunoglobulins of all classes develops;
• OAK - leukopenia, lymphocytosis, monocytosis, with secondary lesions leukocytosis, increased ESR;
• X-ray examination, ultrasound, EEG, endoscopy, CT, nuclear magnetic resonance imaging.

Differential diagnosis is carried out with bronchial or pulmonary candidiasis, intestinal cryptosporidiosis, disseminated histoplasmosis, cryptococcal meningoencephalitis, cerebral toxoplasmosis, cytomegalovirus chorioretinitis, malignant lymphomas, infectious mononucleosis, adenoviral infection, leukemia, rubella, iers iniosis.

Blood test for HIV infection

Early diagnosis of HIV is extremely important, as it allows you to start treatment on time, improve the effectiveness of therapy, and thus prolong the life of patients until the prescribed time frame.

A blood test for HIV infection is recommended when planning pregnancy, preoperative preparation, sudden weight loss of unknown cause, casual sexual contact without barrier contraception, and in some other cases. This analysis is free and is carried out regardless of the person’s place of residence.

If a person is suspected of being infected with the immunodeficiency virus, a special enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is performed to show the presence of antibodies to HIV infection. PCR analysis will show the presence of the virus 2-3 weeks after infection.

If the virus is detected, the result is called positive; if the virus is not present, the result is called negative. In some individual cases the result is called doubtful. When receiving positive results, doctors, as a rule, double-check the data with an additional test (immunoblotting) to ensure 100% accuracy.

Today there are already test systems capable of detecting both antibodies and antigens of HIV infection, which significantly reduces the period of the hidden “window” and allows diagnosing the disease in the acute period.

No special preparation is required before donating blood for HIV infection. Typically, doctors only recommend doing this in the morning on an empty stomach, since for reliability it is required that at least 8 hours pass between eating and drawing blood.

Blood is taken from a vein, and the results will be known in 5-10 days.

Who is at higher risk of contracting HIV?

At risk:

• drug addicts who share a non-sterilized syringe;
• homosexuals having unprotected sex;
• persons practicing anal sex without using a condom;
• people with other sexually transmitted diseases;
• children of infected mothers.

What and how is HIV treated?

To date, there are no drugs that can eliminate the immunodeficiency virus from the human body.

All scientific developments have only reached the level that made it possible to create drugs that can slow down the development of infection, stop the progression of the disease and thus prevent the disease from progressing to the AIDS stage.

This is a huge achievement as it allows HIV-infected people to live a normal life. If the chosen medications are quite effective for a given person, if he takes them regularly and according to the prescribed regimen, if he does not lead an antisocial lifestyle, then, according to doctors, damage to health is actually caused only by the natural causes of aging.

Unfortunately, theoretical calculations are not always confirmed by practice, since the virus mutates, and a new treatment regimen has to be selected. This takes some time, and during this period HIV continues to do its dirty work of destroying the immune system. After a year or two, the new scheme becomes ineffective, and you have to start all over again. When selecting all medications, doctors have to take into account the patient’s possible individual intolerance, side effects of medications, and concomitant diseases.

There is no point in listing all the names of medications here - there are dozens of them, and only a few are suitable for a particular person. This depends on the degree of infection, the severity and duration of the disease and many other factors.

In our country, after studying the activity and stage of infection, determining the viral load (the number of viruses per unit of blood), the following are used for treatment:

• retrovir (zidovudine) together with other drugs. Retrovir monotherapy is prescribed only to pregnant women in order to minimize the risk to the fetus. Side effects of the drug - impaired hematopoiesis, headache, liver enlargement, muscular dystrophy;
• Videx (didanosine) - after treatment with retrovir in combination with other drugs. Side effects - pancreatitis, peripheral neuritis, diarrhea;
• hivid - in case of intolerance or ineffectiveness of previous treatment. Side effects - neuritis, stomatitis;
• nevirapine, delavirdine - with disease progression. Side effects - papular rash;
• saquinavir - in late stages of the disease. Side effects - headache, diarrhea, increased blood sugar;
• ritonavir, indinavir, nelfinavir and other antiretroviral drugs.

The treatment also uses symptomatic drugs that eliminate the manifestations of opportunistic infections: antimicrobial, antiviral, antifungal, and antitumor drugs.

The main thing that infectious disease specialists never tire of reminding is that it is necessary to lead a correct lifestyle in order to strain as little as possible and strengthen the immune system as much as possible, to which HIV infection has already caused irreparable damage. Healthy sleep, alternating exercise and rest, giving up bad habits, exercising, eating right, avoiding stressful situations, avoiding long exposure to the sun, etc. are an indispensable condition for effectively inhibiting HIV infection.

And in addition, constant (2-4 times a year) monitoring of health status by a specialist.

Antiretroviral therapy for HIV infection

Medical science tirelessly studies the effectiveness of new drugs, which are improved year by year. Despite promising results, HIV infection cannot be eradicated, although doctors hoped to defeat it back in the last century. The fact is that viruses can remain latent in immune cells for a long time. Without taking antiretroviral drugs, the infection can flare up again at any time. In other words, a sick person is forced to take appropriate medications constantly.

In this case, treatment reduces the viral load (that is, the number of pathogens in the blood) to a level where transmission of the virus to partners does not occur. In addition, with active antiviral treatment, pathogen mutation does not occur. However, in some cases, the virus still acquires resistance (resistance) to the drug.

Why is this happening? Partly due to the lack of discipline of patients, because it is sometimes necessary to follow treatment regimens absolutely precisely. If the intervals between taking the medicine are too long, or if they are not taken on an empty stomach, but with food, the concentration of the active substance in the blood decreases and the most persistent viruses have the opportunity to mutate (change). This is how HIV strains arise that cannot be treated.

If today it is not possible to completely rid the body of the virus with medication, then scientists are also working on a parallel task - to develop drugs that will be effective for a long time.

Now an HIV-infected person is forced to take pills according to a strictly defined and strict schedule several times a day and in quite large quantities. How much more convenient it would be to have long-acting medications so that you could limit yourself to taking the medicine once a day or even a week. This would be a huge breakthrough, and achieving such a result is quite possible.

Long-acting agents are being developed.

Opportunistic infections accompany HIV infection

Doctors call opportunistic infections those whose pathogens live almost constantly in the human body. They are opportunistic pathogens. This means that strong immunity keeps the process of their reproduction under control and does not allow the number of microbes to cross the line beyond which the disease occurs.

When the immune system is weakened, that is, when the number of cells that destroy an opportunistic infection decreases, this system stops working. Therefore, HIV-positive people are powerless to overcome the simplest diseases, which in ordinary people often go away on their own even without treatment.

Hence the conclusion: it is necessary to carry out preventive measures and promptly eliminate factors that provoke the exacerbation and proliferation of pathogenic microflora.

Thus, the prevention of tuberculosis is carried out by an annual test (Mantoux test) that is mandatory for all HIV-infected people. If the reaction to tuberculin administration is negative, anti-tuberculosis drugs are prescribed for a year. Prevention of pneumonia is carried out with biseptol and other means, since this disease, when the immune system is weakened, often takes a very severe course, giving generalized forms (with the spread of infection from the primary focus throughout the body), fraught with the occurrence of sepsis.

Intestinal infections can last a very long time, threatening a person with dehydration and numerous complications. The candida fungus, which constantly lives on the mucous membranes of many healthy people, causes severe candidiasis in HIV-infected people not only in the oropharynx, but also in the genitals. In later stages, candidiasis can affect the bronchi and lungs, as well as the digestive tract.

Another type of fungal infection - cryptococci - with the progression of HIV infection causes meningitis - inflammation of the meninges. There is also pulmonary cryptococcosis, which causes hemoptysis.

Herpes infection is extremely painful when the immune system is weakened. Rashes occur not only on the lips, but also on the mucous membranes of the genital organs, as well as around the anus. They do not heal for a long time and constantly recur, causing deep skin lesions.

Almost all HIV-infected people at a late stage of the disease have hepatitis B, which is also accompanied by the hepatitis D virus. Hepatitis B does not cause serious complications, but D can cause irreparable harm to the body.

Cryptococcal meningitis

In HIV-infected people, without treatment of the underlying infection, inflammation may begin to develop in the brain tissue and meninges. Most often in such cases, cryptococcal meningitis occurs. Cryptococci cause this complication in every tenth AIDS patient.

Cryptococci are not microbes, as you might think, but fungi, the spores of which enter the human respiratory tract with a current of air, and then enter the central nervous system through the circulatory system. In addition to the brain, cryptococci can cause pathogenic processes in the skin, lungs, liver and other organs and systems. Foci of inflammation occur only when obvious signs of immunodeficiency appear.

Cryptococcal meningitis often makes itself felt with acute fever and headache; much less often, symptoms of trouble are observed in the gastrointestinal tract. If an inflammatory focus occurs in the parenchyma (the main functioning tissue) of the brain, the patient may experience seizures.

Diagnosis of cryptococcal brain damage is quite difficult. To detect the pathogen in order to determine the causes of the disease, it is sometimes necessary to do a biopsy of inflammatory foci in the brain.

Such meningitis is treated with antifungal agents. However, if mental disorders develop against the background of meningitis, the disease becomes protracted, since the infection does not respond well to systemic antimycotic therapy. What is the HIV-dementia complex?

Dementia is a neurological disorder, degradation of the intellectual sphere of the individual, and progressive dementia of a person.

How are HIV and dementia related, and why are they able to form a complex?

Dementia is characterized by many indicators: a person’s ability to perceive the outside world weakens, the ability to process incoming information is lost, and the adequacy of responding to surrounding circumstances is impaired.

But what does this have to do with decreased immunity? The connection is direct. The fact is that HIV-infected cells release a toxin that destroys neurons. They cause irreparable damage to the latter. Metabolic encephalopathy occurs - a degenerative disease of the brain. A very serious complication of a viral infection that affects a quarter of people with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

Without appropriate treatment with antiretroviral drugs, dementia progresses to such an extent that the person not only begins to have difficulty communicating, but may also completely lose touch with the outside world. Gradually but steadily, behavioral changes such as apathy, memory loss, deterioration in concentration, impaired coordination of movements, etc. develop. Mental abnormalities significantly complicate everyday life. Over time, the patient loses most of his skills, often losing the ability to care for himself.

HIV dementia is treated with a complex of antiretroviral drugs along with anti-depressants and antipsychotics.

HIV infection and childbirth

HIV-infected women can give birth to either a sick or a healthy child. This depends on the viral load, that is, on how much of the pathogen is in the mother’s blood. Pregnant women infected with the virus have a harder time enduring this difficult period in a woman’s life, moreover, they risk losing the child, unable to bear it.

Every fourth woman infected with HIV, even after preventive preparation for childbirth and treatment during pregnancy, runs the risk of giving birth to a baby with immunodeficiency. Moreover, in 5-10 cases, infection occurs in utero, in 15% of cases - during childbirth. In the future, the child may become infected through breastfeeding.

All pregnant women with the immunodeficiency virus undergo delivery through surgery (caesarean section), and the newborn is fed artificial formula. These activities significantly reduce the risk of infant HIV infection.

When a baby is born to a mother infected with the immunodeficiency virus, it is impossible to immediately say whether he is healthy or also infected. The fact is that the mother passes on her own antibodies to HIV to the newborn with her blood. To accurately determine whose antibodies these are, the mother’s or the child’s, it takes quite a long time: maternal antibodies disappear from the baby’s blood approximately a year and a half after birth.

Therefore, all children born to HIV-positive women are closely monitored by pediatricians. When the baby turns 15 months old, he undergoes a detailed blood test. If there are no antibodies to the infection, then the child is healthy.

Immunodeficiency contributes to the appearance of tumors

The immune system largely controls the process of occurrence and development of tumors, both benign neoplasms and malignant types (sarcoma, lymphoma, etc.).

When the immune system is weakened, vascular tumors (Kaposi's sarcoma) often appear, which look like purple nodules that rise above the surface of the skin. They appear first on open areas of the body exposed to sunlight, but later they can metastasize to the lungs and digestive tract.

Lymphomas are tumors of the lymph nodes, but can appear in different parts of the spinal cord and brain. The development of lymphomas is accompanied by acute fever, weight loss and epileptic seizures.

Neoplasms in patients at a late stage of development of HIV infection, during the development of immunodeficiency syndrome, are very difficult to treat, therefore they grow quickly and rapidly metastasize.

How to live as an HIV-infected person?

When a person learns about a positive test result for HIV infection, he panics. This is, without a doubt, a powerful blow to the psyche. And although the doctor will tell you that there are effective medications, if you follow the rules for taking them, you can live a very ordinary life, this information does not relieve depression. It will take a lot of time until a person understands that life continues even in the presence of a destructive virus in the body.

Strict rules of behavior have been developed for all HIV-infected people. First of all, this concerns the strict implementation of the recommendations given by the doctor regarding drug effects.

• You will have to follow a diet to support the functioning of the liver, which has an additional burden. Water must be thoroughly disinfected. Fruits and vegetables, if they are to be consumed raw, must not only be washed, but also peeled. The greens are washed with boiled water.
• Of course, it is necessary to immediately give up bad habits.
• From now on, all sexual contacts must occur exclusively with the use of a reliable condom.
• Viral diseases, even influenza and common acute respiratory viral infections, must be carefully avoided. People with immunodeficiency cannot always receive preventive vaccinations; in particular, the use of live vaccines is prohibited.
• Communication with animals should be carefully considered: a pet can bring an infection from a walk. In any case, you should always wash your hands after touching your pet. You have to think about how to reduce the likelihood of stressful situations occurring.
• Moderate physical activity has a positive effect on immune status.
• And of course: regular visits to the doctor from now on become both a necessity and the norm.

Pneumocystis pneumonia - a disease associated with HIV infection

Pneumocystis pneumonia is a dangerous disease that occurs in people with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. This is one of the opportunistic infections, the development of which is characterized by a pathological weakening of the body's defenses. Doctors call such diseases AIDS indicators.

The most dangerous thing about this type of pneumonia is that it can lead to a generalized infectious process and capture all systems with inflammatory processes.

The causative agent of pneumocystis in the lungs, in contrast to pneumonia caused by bacteria, is a microorganism that occupies an intermediate position between fungi and microbes. Researchers call pneumocystis microorganisms of uncertain systematic position.

Pneumocystis enter the human body with a current of air, where they live in the status of a conditionally pathogenic microflora. The source of the pathogen is a sick person who releases the infectious agent when coughing and sneezing.

In healthy people, their development and excessive proliferation are restrained by immune cells. But when the immune response is suppressed, the pathogens become sharply activated, their number during the incubation period from thousands turns into hundreds of millions and billions, which causes the disease.

The severity of the disease is explained by the fact that even after correct, active and long-term treatment, complete restoration of the lung tissue does not occur, since pneumocystis clears the field for colonization by antibiotic-resistant strains of other microorganisms. It has been proven that cysts contribute to an increase in the contamination of the respiratory tract with pathological microflora with an expanded species composition.

In severe forms of immunodeficiency, pneumocystis inhabit the bone marrow, heart muscle, kidneys, joints and many other organs.

More than 90% of cases of Pneumocystis pneumonia occur in people in whose blood the number of T-lymphocytes is reduced to a level of 200 per 1 μl. In AIDS patients, the disease at the first stage does not cause any noticeable symptoms, but over time a prolonged increase in temperature appears: 40 degrees or above for several months. The person suffers from cough and shortness of breath, and the symptoms of respiratory failure gradually progress.

Pneumocystis pneumonia is treated with strong antibacterial drugs of the latest generation, but in a third of patients it still relapses.

HIV-infected women can pass pneumocystis to their fetus.

To prevent the occurrence of Pneumocystis pneumonia in people with immunodeficiency, a drug course of suppression of opportunistic microflora is carried out. However, such measures are effective only while taking medications, so AIDS patients carry out such chemoprophylaxis throughout their lives.

AIDS - advanced stage of HIV infection

When the number of lymphocytes in the blood decreases to a critical level, an advanced stage of HIV infection occurs - acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). At this stage, a person can die from any infection caused by opportunistic microorganisms.

There are two stages of AIDS, which are characterized by loss of body weight. If! a person loses weight by 10% compared to the initial weight, this is the first stage, if more - the second.

At the first stage, a person constantly experiences damage to the skin and mucous membranes with a fungal infection, shingles appears, pharyngitis, otitis, sinusitis replace each other or develop all together, the gums bleed, and the body is covered with a hemorrhagic rash.

At the second stage, many more serious infectious diseases join the existing symptoms. These are tuberculosis, toxoplasmosis, pneumonia and others. In addition, neurological disorders appear.

If pneumonia is very severe...

In severe cases of acute pneumonia, adequate treatment of the patient can only be carried out in a hospital. Here, if necessary, he will undergo detoxification, for example, hemodez or reopolyglucin, and will be prescribed drugs that help normalize the condition.

For concomitant diseases and corresponding symptoms, cardiac, diuretic, painkillers, and tranquilizers may be needed. It is easier to administer oxygen therapy in a hospital.

If a patient develops complications, he is transferred to the intensive care unit.

In some cases, the inflammatory process in the lungs may be accompanied by cardiovascular failure, disorders of the blood coagulation system, renal-liver failure, acute respiratory failure, which require enhanced medical care using special equipment.

Due to the fact that patients with acute pneumonia experience vitamin deficiency, which is aggravated by antibacterial therapy, patients need vitamins C, A, P and group B. Most often in these cases they are administered by injection rather than orally.

When body temperature normalizes and symptoms of intoxication disappear, the patient with pneumonia changes the antibacterial therapy regimen, and physical therapy and physiotherapy are introduced into the recovery period. Diathermy (heating with high-frequency currents), inductothermy (exposure to a high-frequency magnetic field), microwave therapy (microwave treatment) and UHF therapy (Ultra-high frequency currents are used) are used.

Chest massage is almost always prescribed. In order to prevent pneumosclerosis, electrophoresis with drugs is performed.

Short question - short answer

Why is it necessary to take such a huge number of pills?

Monotherapy for HIV infection quite quickly ceases to bring results, since the virus mutates and does not respond to treatment. Only a combined treatment regimen, including 3 antiretroviral drugs simultaneously, is quite effective. It reduces the progression of HIV infection by 80%.

The doctor thinks that I need to take medications to maintain hepatocytes. Is this additional load good for the body?

People diagnosed with HIV infection should take special care of their liver health. And the point is not only that it is in this organ that important substances are synthesized that help strengthen the immune system, but also because it decomposes and removes medications that patients are forced to take for life. Unfortunately, these drugs have strong side effects, are toxic to hepatocytes and contribute to their destruction. Liver health is usually supported not by drugs, but by dietary supplements and herbal complexes.

How much does the number of leukocytes in the blood decrease as immunodeficiency progresses?

In healthy people, there are from 600 to 1500 special immune cells (T lymphocytes) in every cubic microliter of blood. Without treatment at different stages of HIV infection, their number gradually decreases. When this figure drops to 200 T-lymphocytes per 1 cubic microliter of blood, doctors diagnose acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. People with severe immunodeficiency are at high risk of developing severe diseases, against which conventional treatment regimens are powerless.

The doctor says that my immunity is low. What is this - HIV?

Most likely no. Many conditions can significantly reduce the level of immunity in adults. Among the causes are exhaustion and radiation exposure, toxic poisoning and metabolic disorders, and many chronic diseases. But only viral infection with the causative agent of human immunodeficiency is a diagnosis of HIV and, without treatment, leads to AIDS.

Why does the doctor change my immunodeficiency medications so often?

HIV infection is treated with three types of drugs that have different effects on the processes of viral replication, in particular, they block the enzymes necessary for the reproduction of the pathogen. However, viruses quickly become accustomed to a particular medication. Literally after six months of treatment with one drug, they create new strains, causing the drug to cease to be effective and require replacement.

Antibodies to the HIV virus were detected in the blood. What does this mean and could it be an error?

The detection of antibodies to the immunodeficiency virus in a person’s blood indicates that the immune system is familiar with this pathogen and it has been introduced into the body. The infection may not make itself felt with obvious signs; it may lie dormant in immune cells. False-positive test results can occur if a person has cancer or an autoimmune disease.

How can you suspect yourself of being infected with HIV?

There are no strictly specific symptoms for HIV, so even official diagnosis cannot rely on external signs, not to mention self-diagnosis. Data on the presence of the HIV virus are based solely on laboratory tests and modern research methods. You shouldn’t look for non-existent symptoms on your own; you just need to donate blood for HIV. Timely detection of the virus is the key to ensuring that, with proper treatment, the infection will not develop into AIDS.

Hepatitis due to HIV infection

Chronic hepatitis often occurs against the background of decreased immunity. The inflammatory process in the liver is characterized by extensive damage to hepatocytes.

Most often, the disease is caused by viruses type D, C, and herpes. Some medications used to treat immunodeficiency also contribute to the development of this type of disease.

The essence of the pathological process comes down to a violation of the body's immunoregulation, which is often manifested by the presence of pronounced systemic (extrahepatic) lesions.

The disease takes a protracted course, and inflammation does not stop even several months after the start of treatment.

Immunodeficiency causes the era of candidiasis to flourish

Candidiasis is caused by fungi of the genus Candida. These are single-celled yeast-like plants that live in the soil, on vegetables and fruits, and can settle on human skin and in the epithelial cells of the mucous membranes of the mouth and genitals.

This circumstance explains the frequent relapses, the multiplicity of pathogenic foci, and the chronic course of candidiasis.

If, with candidiasis, the oral mucosa becomes bright red and is covered with whitish films, the doctor diagnoses candidal stomatitis. When the tongue is affected by a fungus, it is candidal glossitis, and the well-known jam is candidiasis of the corners of the mouth. Female thrush, in which curdled white discharge is found on the mucous membrane of the genital organs, is also a manifestation of decreased immunity.

Rashes that are localized throughout the body and limbs have various forms, most often it is lichen, eczema, erythema, seborrhea, urticaria, etc. In this case, a person feels a sharp deterioration in well-being: not only a headache, but also disruptions in the functioning of the heart may appear. vascular system. Chronic stress, mental overstrain, vitamin deficiency, uncontrolled treatment with antibiotics, etc. contribute to the emergence of such undesirable consequences.

A typical symptom of this disease is itching and a burning sensation, which can sometimes be felt even in places where the skin has no external damage.

Treatment of extensive processes on the skin is carried out with antifungal agents (Diflucan, Nizoral, etc.); for local lesions, external agents are sometimes sufficient - lubrication with alcohol solutions followed by the application of antifungal ointment (nystatin, levorin, travogen, pimafucin, mycozolon, travocort etc.). But when the process becomes chronic, it is not possible to manage with external agents alone; complex antimycotic therapy is necessary. Chronic candidiasis is treated with antibiotics and antimycotics, combining these drugs with immunostimulating therapy.

Systemic agents for candidiasis are prescribed strictly according to indications, because their use is associated with the risk of side effects. They are quite toxic to the body, and they are taken for a long time, many months. Therefore, before prescribing a medicine, the doctor weighs the benefits and harms in order to minimize the risk.

Especially when prescribing mycotics, one should be wary of concomitant liver and kidney diseases and previously detected drug allergies.

Systemic antimycotic therapy is not prescribed to pregnant and nursing mothers.

Chronic candidiasis of smooth skin and mucous membranes is caused not only by reduced immunity, but also by an allergic predisposition to candida.

Shingles is a consequence of decreased immunity

Shingles is caused by a type of herpes virus (varicella zoster virus), the same one that causes the well-known fever on the lips. But if on the lips blisters and then crusts occupy only a few square millimeters, then on the smooth skin of the body herpes causes much more extensive lesions and much more severe pain. This is a very common phenomenon that develops as a complication during the development of immunodeficiency.

Re-activation of the herpes virus is characterized by the appearance on the skin of ribbon-like red blisters and spots, localized along the nerve trunks, most often intercostal on one side of the body, but any part of the body can be affected. The fact is that this viral pathology is associated with the autonomic nervous system - the pathogen is localized in the nerve ganglia. The bubbles soon burst, and crusts appear in this place.

Mostly adults get sick when their body's defenses decrease. At the same time, the rashes stay on the skin for a long time, are widespread and bright in nature, go deep into the epidermis, severely affect the subcutaneous layer, which indicates the beginning of a difficult process. This pathology resolves with the formation of scars and is characterized by frequent relapses.

The pain syndrome associated with herpes zoster can be either mild or severe. Sometimes a real burning sensation occurs even before the rash appears; it is especially painful at night or under the influence of any irritants - cold, light, touch, etc. Other characteristic symptoms include headache, which worsens when the position of the head changes. Also, the disease is often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, and general weakness, which indicates general intoxication of the body.

Due to the fact that nerve cells are affected in this type of disease, the skin loses sensitivity along the course of the lesion. Severe herpetic toxicosis most often requires hospitalization of the patient, where individual antiviral therapy is selected, since against the background of a sharp decrease in immunity, not all antiherpes drugs can be used. Herpes associated with HIV infection causes long-term pain, which is difficult and briefly relieved with painkillers.

In complex therapy, drugs are used to normalize the activity of the nervous system, in particular sedatives. For cerebral disorders, medications are prescribed that correct the functioning of the central nervous system. The use of ultraviolet irradiation, the use of high-frequency currents, barotherapy and other methods of physiotherapy also have a good effect.

Hygiene plays a special role in the treatment process: the skin should be dry and clean. To sweat less, you should not wear synthetic underwear or tight clothes. It is not advisable to use ointments and creams containing antibiotics, as they can cause irritation.

Friends, almost every week when examining drug treatment patients, HIV infection is detected. Reactions to the diagnosis vary. For some, it is perceived as a death sentence, others immediately run to register with an infectious disease specialist and begin treatment, others simply wave their hand. So, what to do if you are diagnosed with HIV infection?

Since the 80s of the last century, when the general public learned about the existence of such a disease as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, the topic of HIV and AIDS has been one of the most discussed, at the same time taboo and misunderstood by the general population.

Due to the characteristic first cases of the disease, in the minds of most people it is firmly associated with drug addiction, prostitution and homosexuality. In fact, not only the category of sex workers (“commercial sex workers”) are susceptible to HIV; there are many more ways of infection. Increasingly, the virus is transmitted sexually and from sick parents to children.

VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR EVERYONE!

If it so happens that you cannot rule out that you have become infected with HIV, taking antiretroviral drugs should be started within the first two hours after an emergency, but no later than 72 hours. At any time of the day or night, run to the pharmacy and buy: Azidotimidine (Zidovudine)! The initial dose for patients weighing 70-80 kg is 200 mg 6 times a day; the optimal dose is 0.5-1.5 g/day. Contact an infectious disease specialist as soon as possible!

Receiving such a terrifying diagnosis literally cuts the ground from under a person’s feet, because, as Monty Python sings, “no one waits for the Spanish Inquisition.”

Are you afraid that you have become infected with HIV?

Remember: the incubation period lasts at least 1-2 weeks, and on average - three months. Therefore, start being examined no earlier than two weeks from the moment of suspected infection. You need to be monitored for a whole year!

The hardest thing is to accept the fact of your illness. A person who did not use drugs, did not engage in promiscuity, and was not prone to perversion cannot understand why he was so terribly punished.

It is necessary to understand that HIV is a disease like any other viral disease. Embrace the new you!

At first, the person is simply stunned and crushed, he may fall into severe depression, try to separate himself, isolate himself from the world, and cease to lead a social life. This is a normal reaction, but it is very important that it does not turn into a protracted, severe depression from which there may be no way out.

The next reaction is anger, rage and irritation. A person can consider his life over. In fact, the lack of awareness of the population about what HIV is often leads to cases of suicide in such a state of shock.

Only over time does a person understand that HIV is not a death sentence.

He is infected, but not sick, since the human immunodeficiency virus can live in the body for years and even decades without showing its presence in any way.

As is the case with many other dangerous viruses, the carrier is potentially dangerous, but if basic rules are followed, it poses no threat to people around you. And with the use of special medications, he can lead an ordinary human life with minimal restrictions.

It may take a lot of time and effort to accept one’s own diagnosis, but a person must cope with his misfortune. HIV is an infection, but not a death sentence. It does not always develop into AIDS. If an infected person is surrounded by a loving family and true friends, he has a much better chance of coping with the problem faster and it is easier to survive the period of adaptation.

HIV and AIDS are not the same thing

The worst thing in this situation is to be left alone with your problem. Therefore, if professionals offer you psychological help, you should not refuse it. Sometimes a complete stranger can suggest as many useful things as no other friend or relative can do. And for an outsider it is often easier to fully reveal your soul.

A person infected with HIV feels helpless in the face of the disease because he does not know how to resist it. Only after talking with a specialist can you fully understand this and understand that life has not ended, it continues, albeit with certain restrictions.

Professional help will help you organize your life in a new way. They will be able to clearly explain to a person what he should really be afraid of and what is pure fiction. There are many myths about HIV, and the task of a professional psychologist is to convey comprehensive medical information to the infected person.

There is no need to panic if you become infected; some people who are diagnosed with HIV never develop AIDS.

This is the main thing that a person must understand - he is a carrier of the infection, but not yet sick. And if he behaves correctly, he himself will not get sick, and he will not infect anyone around him.

It is important to know!

There are AIDS indicator diseases. If one of these diseases is detected, get tested for HIV immediately! This:

• candidiasis;
• Kaposi's sarcoma under 60 years of age;
• brain lymphoma under 60 years of age;
• CNS toxoplasmosis;
• Pneumocystis pneumonia.

How to communicate with friends and family if you have HIV

The situation with HIV infection is akin to the saying “A friend is a friend in need.” There is no need to judge those who refuse to communicate with you - unhappy people are simply afraid. Understand and forgive them. The more valuable it will seem to you to communicate with someone who stayed close to you and began to support you in every possible way.

At first, a lot of patience and forbearance will be required from loved ones, because any person with such news will be under the influence of severe stress. Some people experience it within themselves, silently, while others will need an outlet of energy. If your family tries to put themselves in your place, they will be able to understand irritation and aggression and will not become indignant or offended.

How to tell your child you have HIV

If a family man is sick, he will inevitably face the most difficult question - what to do with the children. We are not talking about their physical protection from possible disease. All infected people will be told first of all about the rules of behavior in everyday life and society.

Parents will have to solve a difficult dilemma - whether to tell their children about what happened to their father or mother, why it happened, and what to be afraid of.
Here it is impossible to give an unambiguous recommendation “for all occasions.” Everyone will decide for themselves what to do and say. But we can recommend not telling anything if the children are small - they will not understand, and even they may unwittingly give out information that you would prefer to keep secret.

Whether to trust such important and painful information to older children is also a difficult question. The answer to this largely depends on how internally mature and responsible your child is. If you are confident in his reaction, there is no point in hiding. If the relationship with the children is strained, and they can use the information received as blackmail of their parents (and this happens), then in this case it is worth remaining silent.

The same should be done if the child has a fine mental organization, is fragile and sensitive. When he grows up, he will know everything, but now such knowledge can poison his childhood and young years.

Is there a cure for HIV infection?

Although many people think that HIV is a fatal disease, it is possible and necessary to be treated for it.

The development of the virus can take many decades. There are already medications that prevent the reproduction and spread of the human immunodeficiency virus. By taking them, you can significantly inhibit the functioning of the infection and prevent it from developing to the level of disease.

Treatment must be accompanied by a change in attitude towards one’s own life. Usually, when people get sick, they realize the value of life and its short duration. It’s good if along with this comes the realization that you have a chance to live it the way you want. In order for the time allotted to you to be maximum, you need to try to use all available chances. These include special treatment, giving up bad habits, social and physical activity, a positive attitude, and careful attention to your diet and daily routine.

This does not mean that you should live only according to the strictest routine, as when preparing an athlete for the Olympics. Yes, there will be certain restrictions in your life, but they would arise if you had any severe or systemic disease, such as tuberculosis, diabetes or hepatitis. You need to perceive your condition only as a potential threat, and continue to live like an ordinary person. And specific restrictions are just a responsible attitude towards others and one’s own well-being.

Proper nutrition for HIV infection

A virus dormant in the body of an infected person is a time bomb. He will wait for his “light hour”, and our task is not to let him wait for this.

To do this, you will also have to carefully monitor your diet.
"We are what we eat." The body affected by the virus must resist it. This requires a strong immune system. Since he will be the first to be affected by HIV, our goal is to strengthen him with all our might.

Doctors will prescribe medications for these purposes, but you will have to review your diet yourself.

Food of artificial origin, prepared foods, freeze-dried products, and canned food should be completely removed from the menu. All of them contain unnecessary “chemistry”, which has a detrimental effect on the immune system and the overall resistance of the body.
In order for the body to be able to resist the attacks of the virus, it needs high-quality, fresh, healthy and natural food. You may have to learn how to cook again, because if you are infected with HIV, it is equally harmful to be overweight or underweight. Therefore, food should not just be high in calories and well digestible. It must be balanced.

Your doctor will tell you more about choosing a diet, but general recommendations suggest that not only vegetables and fruits will benefit, but also high-quality meat, sea fish and seafood, of course, in the absence of an allergic reaction to them.

Ideally, there should be a certain diet. No one will be able to demand meals as in a hospital or sanatorium, that is, strictly according to the clock. But it is still advisable to observe a certain order, as is the case for completely healthy people.

You also need to monitor the quality of your food. It should contain a sufficient amount of vitamins and minerals, valuable amino acids, a balanced ratio of fats, proteins and carbohydrates.

In your diet, you should avoid foods that are too fatty, smoked and fried, giving preference to healthier cooking methods - boiling, baking, steaming. But no one says that you need to completely deprive yourself of the joy of life and the pleasure of eating ice cream, cake, smoked ribs or kebab with pickled mushrooms. However, it should remain in the rank of a delicacy, that is, used occasionally, then such food will bring pleasure and will not cause harm.

Compliance with food intake “disciplines” the body and regulates all its functions, makes it stronger and stronger, which means it contributes to resistance to any infections, including HIV.

How to change your lifestyle if you have HIV?

How to continue living if you are diagnosed with HIV infection? A correct, healthy lifestyle is important for any person. If such a dangerous infection as the human immunodeficiency virus enters your life against your will, the correct daily routine begins to play a huge role.

The virus can lie dormant for years if it is not given the opportunity to break free. But as soon as the body weakens, the disease has a chance to develop. Therefore, it is vital for an infected person to be able to resist infection. And for this you need to strengthen your health in every possible way.

The way this is achieved is nothing new. It consists of the following actions:

1. Hygiene of soul and body. A psychologically healthy environment helps reduce stress, which, as we know, is the root cause of all diseases. A clean body resists infection, which also increases the chance of long-term health.
2. Sports activities. It can be anything, any activity you like - from regular walking and cycling to swimming and visiting a fitness club. Sport strengthens muscles, strengthens the immune system, and improves the production of endorphins - the hormones of happiness. If a person feels strong and strong, it is much easier for him to resist any diagnosis. But it’s worth remembering that you are not required to set Olympic records, and overwork leads to a decrease in the body’s resistance and defenses.
3. Daily regime. The human body is designed in such a way that it gets used to a certain order, so eating, waking up and going to bed at a constant time interval is good for health. When a person gets used to a certain order, his body also regulates and synchronizes all its functions. And this has a positive effect on overall well-being and stamina.
4. Staying outdoors and getting enough exercise. The scourge of our time, which greatly weakens the body and negatively affects health, is a sedentary lifestyle. We sit at work, sit or lie at home, we even prefer to move while sitting - in our own car or by public transport. This weakens the body and has a bad effect on health. Just as often we find ourselves in a stuffy, unventilated room. Air-conditioned air is characterized by a lack of oxygen, so walks in the park, near the sea or a body of water are extremely useful and can affect a person’s overall well-being and mood.
5. Having a hobby, interest or any exciting activity. Having learned about his condition, any person will experience a severe shock, from which it will be quite long and difficult to recover. In this case, people who have obligations and attachments in this world recover much easier and return to normal life faster. Any hobby will help - collecting, creating models, favorite pets, love of travel and much more. Some people, having learned about their diagnosis, strive to do things that they previously did not have the time, energy or means to do. Dance lessons, Japanese language courses or bead embroidery - it doesn’t matter what exactly might captivate you, the main thing is that there is an outlet in your life that will allow you to relax and forget about your diagnosis.

Yes, now you belong to the category - “PLHIV” - in medical language this is “Persons living with HIV”. But HIV is not a death sentence, it’s just an infection, yes, it is dangerous and threatens death, but we are all mortal and risk our lives every hour and every second. No matter how difficult it is, you can live with such a diagnosis, because there are much more terrible diseases. There are simply too many prejudices and superstitions associated with this virus, which is why such a diagnosis is perceived as so tragic. But any person has the strength to resist the disease, especially if his loving family and true friends are with him. Life will go on if you want it to. You have the power to do everything to not let the virus overcome you. And if you are diagnosed with HIV infection, you know what to do: LIVE!