At the Mountain (ATM)

THE BRAIN The blood-brain barrier prevents ARVs from easily accessing the tissues.The brain provides a protected reservoir for HIV,where the virus developes brain mutation that allow it to become more virulent against the central nervous system.   BONE MARROW HIV can hide inside multipotent hematopoetic progenter cells in the bone marrow,presenting a challenge for efforts at eradication.HPCs are a type of stem cells that gives rise to multiple type of blood cells. THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM CNS can potentially act as a viral reservoir of HIV. However, the majority of this studies were performed in absence of combination of antiretroviral therapy.CNS cells have unique molecular mechanism to surpress viral replication and induce latency which include increased expression of dominant negative transcription factors and suppressive epigenetic factors.There is also evidence of continued inflammation in patients lacking a CNS viral load, suggesting the production and activity of vira...

Infection Women may at greater risk of being infected with HIV during sex because the fragile tissues if the vagina can tear slightly during sex and let the virus enter the body. The vagina also has a high surface area that can be exposed to the virus, thus increasing risk of infection. Similarly anal tissues are also fragile and prone to tearing slightly during sex. Women are at higher risk of infection via alnal sex than vaginal sex with an infected man. Forced sex, trasactional sex and marriage to much older men increases women's risk of infection in many places in the world. Having multiple sex partners can also increase the risk of exposure to the virus that causes the disease. Injection drugs is another way HIV can be acquired bu women. Signs and symptoms of HIV/AIDS in women 1.Vaginal yeast infection The infections can be morr severe and difficult to treat in women with HIV infection than in other women. Yeast infection can also be chronic in women with HIV, which mea...

HIV is a retroviral virus. It replicates in the body in the CD4 cells. Those infected with the virus receive treatment known as Anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs). Most individuals infected with HIV respond to this treatment. However, some of the infected persons possess HIV strains that are DRUG-RESISTANT. DRUG RESISTANCE is caused by changes (mutations) in the genetic material of HIV. Most drug-resistance mutations are associated with high level resistance to efavirenz or nevirapine. Drug resistance is when the HIV virus continues to multiply or replicate despite the use of treatment (ARVs). CAUSES OF DRUG RESISTANCE Here are the two main causes of drug resistance; Failure to take medication correctly and skipping doses. The administration of ARVs has very clear and strict instructions thus failure to follow this could to low drug levels in the bloodstream hence HIV could replicate with more drug resistant mutations. Inability of the infected body to absorb the prescribed drugs effect...

Hiv remains one of the worlds most signigicant public health challenges, particulary in low and middle-income countries. As a result of recent advances in access to anti-retroviral therapy, HIV positive people now live longer and healthier lives. ARV'S prevent onward transmissions of HIV. HIV was 1st discovered by a scientist in 1983 after doctors in Los Angeles and New York began reporting rare types of pneumonia and cancer among gay patients. According to some reasearch centers people between the ages of 13 to 24 today account for just over one in five HIV  diagnosis. Over 80% of these cases occur in gay or bisexual males and over half of them are African-American. Infact black, gay and bisexual men have a higher HIV rate than other countries in the world. Black people, in general have a high risk of hiv infection than any other racial or ethnic group and mostly occured in sub-saharan Africa. Homosexuals or more sexually active gays are recommended to be tested for HIV once a ...

The Basics Of HIV Prevention Prevention-is the option for poeple who don't have HIV but who are at high risk of becoming infected with HIV. PrEp -involves taking a specific HIV medicine everyday.PrEp should always be combined with other prevention such as condoms. How HIV Is Spread Through- blood semen -pre-seminal fluids -Rectal fluids and vaginal fluids. Preventive HIV Vaccine -Is given to poeple who are not infected with HIV ,with the goal of preventing HIV infection  in feature Preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV -pregnant women with HIV receive medicine during pregnancy and child birth prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV.ln some situstions , awoman with HIV may have a scheduled essrean delivery to prevent mother_to -child transmission of HIV during delivery .Babies born to women with HIV receive HIV medicine 4to 6 weeks. Preventing mother-to-child Transmission of HIV after birth -To breast milk,after childbirth do babies born to women with HI...

HIV is a virus that attacks cells in the immune system, which is our body’s natural defence against illness. The virus destroys a type of white blood cell in the immune system called a T-helper cell, and makes copies of itself inside these cells. T-helper cells are also referred to as CD4 cells. As HIV destroys more CD4 cells and makes more copies of itself, it gradually weakens a person’s immune system. This means that someone who has HIV, and isn’t taking antiretroviral treatment, will find it harder and harder to fight off infections and diseases. If HIV is left untreated, it may take up to 10 or 15 years for the immune system to be so severely damaged that it can no longer defend itself at all. However, the rate at which HIV progresses varies depending on age, general health and background. Maurice Muendo

Interpersonnel communication and counseling (IPC/C) : people accessing HIV- related services e.g (VCT treatment for STIs) may be under a great deal of psychosocial stress, fearing family or community stigmatization if they are diagnosed HIV positive . In this context the quality of client provider communication is critical. Services providers must avoid judgmental attitudes, Keep confidentiality listen carefully encourage client communication respond to questions clearly and be as supportive as possible. Empathy is one of the strongest qualities a provider can have.  Programs can improve the communication skills of providers by giving clear expectations of provider performance for interaction with clients : training providers in client centered, facilitative communication, both pre- and in service providing and training them in the use of job aids to stimulate and reinforce communication on key issues monitoring and providing constructive feedback on their performance and mon...

     THE GENETICS OF HIV                     The HIV Genome     The genome of HIV is a meager gene content which is enough to direct all aspects of the HIV structure and functions.The genome contains three major structural genes called GAG, ENV and POL.     GAG provides the code for the building blocks of  p17(matrix protein )and p24 (capsid shell).     ENV provides the code for the two envelopes, glycoproteins, gp120 andandand Andy gp41.     The POL gene provides the code for three enzymes: reverse transcriptase which helps to transcribe RNA into DNA, protease which cleans viral polypeptide chains into usable proteins and integrase which facilitates the insertion of the viral DNA into the host DNA.     The genome further contains six other genes.These smaller genes code for proteins that regulate HIV replication.     Both ends of the HIV genome are "...

ORINALITY OF HIV/AIDS Scientific have traced the origin of HIV back to chimpanzees and Simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) an HIV-like virus that attacks the immune of monkeys and apes. SIVcpz (a strain of chimpanzees SIV) likely jumped to humans when hunters in Africa ate infected chimps or the chimps’ infected blood got into the wounds of the hunters. Normally, the hunter’s body would have fought off SIV, but a few occasion the virus adapted itself within its new human host and became HIV-1. There are four main groups of HIV strains that is M, N, O and P(The most studied strain in HIV is HIV-1 Group M, which is the strain that has spread throughout the world and responsible for the vast majority of HIV infection today.) Researchers believe the first transmission of SIV to HIV occurred in 1920 in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 1960s, HIV spread from Africa to Haiti (the ‘B’ subtype of HIV-1 of strain M had made its way. At this time, many Haitian professionals who ...

MOST COMMON OPPORTUNISTIC INFECTIONS FOR PEOPLE LIVING WITH AIDS 1)Invasive cervical cancer This is a cancer that starts within the cervix ,and then spreads to other parts of the body.High risk HPV is estimated to cause all cervical cancer cases.HPV is sexually transmitted ,but not only through penetrative sex ,it can be transmitted through skin to skin contact,such as penile to vulvar contact and other sexuall contact for which people do not use condoms.Women with Hiv infection are at a higher risk of developing cervical cancer due to the lower number of CD4 cells in their bodies. 2)Coccidioidomycosis This illness is caused by the fungus coccidiodides immitis.It is commonly acquired by unhalling fungal spores,which can lead to pneumonia that is sometimes called desert fever. 3)cryptosporidiosis,chronic intestinal This diarrheal disease is caused by the protozoan parasite cryptosporidium .Symptoms include abdominal cramps and severe chronic waterly diarrhea.Cryptosporidium is com...