AIDS

Definition

 

AIDS is a collection of symptoms caused by infection with HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) that causes loss of immune system so that people with infectious diseases easily contracted. And in fact found that the cause of AIDS death is due to opportunistic infections and diseases not because of HIV infection itself.

 

Immunodeficiency is a condition in which a decrease or absence of the normal immune response. This situation may occur in the primary, which is generally caused by inherited genetic abnormalities, as well as secondary to other major diseases such as infection, chemotherapy treatment, sitostatika, radiation, drugs imunosupresan (suppress the immune system) or in old age and malnutrition (Malnutrition). AIDS, acquired immunodeficiency immunodeciency occur secondary syndrome caused by HIV infection. Immune deficiency can be seen from the levels of CD4 (less than 200) in the body.

 

Symptoms and Signs

 

Travel clinic HIV infection is divided into three phases namely, the acute phase which lasted for 3-12 weeks, latent stage / chronicle the progress of the first year until the seventh, and the stage of the crisis that occurred in the eighth to the eleventh.

 

Someone said to have AIDS if there is evidence of positive HIV test with appropriate checks and obtained at least two major symptoms and one minor symptom, and these symptoms are not caused by other conditions associated with HIV infection

Major symptoms:

- Body weight decreased more than 10% within 1 month 

- Prolonged diarrhea lasting more than one month 

- Prolonged fever for more than a month 

- Decreased consciousness and neurological disorders (nerve) 

- Dementia (decline in memory / memory) / HIV encephalopathy 

 

Minor symptoms:

- A cough settled more than a month 

- Generalized dermatitis is itchy 

- Shingles disease in several places and / or recurrent 

- Candidiasis orofaringeal - fungal disease in the oral cavity and esophagus 

- Generalized lymphadenopathy - Enlarged lymph nodes in all 

- Recurrent yeast infections in female genital 

 

Additional checks

 

To determine whether a person has been infected with HIV, can be performed several laboratory tests. Current inspection is often used antibody test, the test is easy to implement and low cost. If the antibody test was found positive results, then the examination should be repeated and if still positive tests confirmed by Western blot test. When the Western blot is not available, then tested positive result when the antibody test showed three positive results. Conversely, negative results could mean a person is not infected with HIV or are still in the window period.

 

Therapy

 

Therapy given to people with AIDS is a causal therapy (cause), supportive therapy to improve the general condition of patients, and treatment for opportunistic infections. As causal therapy provided antiretroviral (ARV). Indications of ARV provision is no evidence that the symptoms of HIV infection or HIV infection with CD4 tests (one of the body's immune system) under 200/mL. If CD4 tests can not be done, you can use a total lymphocytes examination. CD4 cell count 200/mL approximately equivalent to the total lymphocyte 1200sel/dL. ARVs are given by way of combination, it is based on clinical evidence to show that initiation of therapy using a combination of two or more drugs to give optimal results.

 

As long as the ARV, conducted clinical monitoring and laboratory. Monitoring of laboratory tests performed were hemoglobin (Hb), AST, ALT, bilirubin, CD4 and viral load. Successful therapy would improve clinical symptoms, increased CD4 and viral load. Effective therapy will show a decrease in viral load after therapy for 3-4 weeks. And some studies claim that 6 months of therapy in approximately 80% of AIDS patients who used antiretroviral drugs regularly can achieve undetectable state.