Zusammenfassung der Ressource
AIDS
- 1. About AIDS
- Collection of opportunistic
diseases associated with
immunodeficiency caused by
HIV virus infection
- About HIV virus
- retrovirus (genetic material is RNA)
- infects and destroys
cells of the body
immune system
- decrease T helper lymphocyte
- immune system becomes weak
- body is vulnerable to
opportunistic infection
- protein core has RNA and
two enzymes: protease &
reverse transcriptase
- viral RNA is converted to DNA &
combine with human chromosome
inside the whole cell
- 2. Transmission of HIV
- sexual intercourse
- infected blood or blood products
- haemophiliacs at higher risk
- contaminated hypodermic syringes
- mother to fetus across placenta
- mother to infant in breast milk
- 3. Symptoms of
- HIV infection
- flu-like symptoms --> symptomless
- AIDS
- opportunistic infections
- pneumonia
- tuberculosis
- cancer. e.g. skin cancer
- weight loss
- diarrhoea
- fever
- dementia (degenerative brain disease)
- 4. Treating HIV/ AIDS
- no cure for AIDS & no vaccine for HIV
- drug therapy - slow down
progress of AIDS
- ZIdovudine - binds to reverse
transcriptase & stop replication
of viral genetic material
- 5. Prevention
- education
- barrier methods. e.g. condoms
- contact tracing - identifying
people who are at risk
- needle exchange schemes
- heat treated to kill viruses