Aids (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome)

AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome)

Definitions

AIDS is a collection of symptoms caused by infection with HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) that cause loss of immunity of the body so easily infected with the disease. And in fact found that the cause of AIDS patients died because of disease infection is opportunistic and not due to infection by HIV itself.

Immunodeficiency circumstances where there is a decrease or absence of normal immune response. This condition can occur in the primary, which is generally caused by a genetic aberration that is revealed, and the secondary result of other major diseases such as infection, chemotherapy treatment, sitostatic, radiation, drugs immunosuppressant (the body’s immune system) or in old age and malnutrition (The lack of nutrition). AIDS, Acquired immunodeciency syndrome occurs secondary immunodeficiency caused by HIV infection. The lack of immunity the body can be seen from the CD4 level (less than 200) in the body.

Symptoms and Signs

Travel clinic HIV infection divided into three phases, namely, the acute phase lasts for 3-12 weeks, the latent / chronicles the progress of the first year to seven, and the crisis that occurred in the year to eight to eleven.

A person is said to have suffered from AIDS, when HIV-positive test indicates the appropriate examination and obtained at least two major symptoms and one minor symptom, and symptoms is not caused by other conditions associated with HIV infection

Major symptoms:

• Body weight decreased more than 10% in 1 month
• Diarrhea that lasts more prolonged than a month
• Cold-drawn more than one month
• The decline in awareness and interference neurologist (nerve)
• Dementia (decrease memory / memory) / HIV encephalopathy

Minor symptoms:

• Coughing settle more than one month
• Dermatitis generalist the itch
• The disease herpes zoster on the place and / or repeated
• Candidacies orovaringeal – Diseases fungus on the mouth cavity and throat
•  Limphadenopaty generalist – big in all gland limfe
• Recurring fungus infection on the genitals of women

Additional inspections

To find out if someone has been infected with HIV, can be done several laboratory examination. Examination at this time that is often used antibody tests; the test is easily implemented and low cost. If the antibody test results found a positive, then the examination should be repeated and if still positive confirmation test is done with the Western Blot test. If Western Blot is not available, then the result is declared positive if the antibody test showed three positive results. Conversely, a negative result may mean someone is not infected with HIV or are still in the window period.

Therapy provided in the therapy of AIDS is causal (cause), supportive therapy to improve the patient’s general condition, and therapy for infection opportunistic. As a causal given antiretroviral therapy. Antiretroviral therapy is indicative of the existence of evidence of HIV infection or with symptoms of HIV infection with CD4 inspections (one of the body’s immune system) under 200/ml. If CD4 examination cannot be done, can be used lymphocyte total examination. CD4 200/ml approximately equivalent to lymphocyte total 1200sel/dl. Antiretroviral therapy given way combination, this is based on clinical evidence indicates that the initiation of therapy using a combination of two or more antiretroviral therapy provide optimal results.

During the antiretroviral therapy, monitoring is done and the clinical laboratory. The laboratory that conducted the examination is hemoglobin, SGOT, SGPT, billirubin, CD4 and viral load. Therapy is successful will improvement in clinical symptoms, increased CD4 and viral load. Effective therapy that will show a decrease in viral load after therapy for 3-4 weeks. And some research says that in the 6 months therapy about 80% of AIDS patients who regularly use antiretroviral therapy circumstances can achieve undetectable.