HIV/AIDS

1. HIV/AIDS All information has been provided by www.aids.gov

2. Outline • Worksheet: Pretest (T/F) • PowerPoint: Notes • Worksheets: T/F and Your Perceived Risks • Information Sheet: Sexual Activities According to Degree of Risk for Transmitting HIV (handout) • Videos: Voices-Positive Women and HIV or Pandemic: Facing AIDS All information has been provided by www.aids.gov

3. PREVALENCE • AIDS was first identified in 1981 among homosexual men and intravenous drug users in New York and California. • Shortly after its detection in the US, evidence of AIDS epidemics grew among heterosexual men, women, and children in sub-Saharan Africa. • AIDS quickly developed into a worldwide epidemic, affecting virtually every nation.

4. Worldwide more than 80% of all adult HIV infections have resulted from heterosexual intercourse. • About 40,000 new HIV infections occur in the US each year. • Almost 1 million people are living with the HIV infection or AIDS in the US today.

5. What is HIV? • HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. • This is the virus that causes AIDS. • HIV is different from most other viruses because it attacks the immune system. • The immune system gives our bodies the ability to fight infections. • HIV finds and destroys a type of white blood cell (T cells or CD4 cells) that the immune system must have to fight disease. All information has been provided by www.aids.gov

6. Where did HIV come from? • Scientists identified a type of chimpanzee in West Africa as the source of HIV infection in humans. • The virus most likely jumped to humans when humans hunted these chimpanzees for meat and came into contact with their infected blood. • Over several years, the virus slowly spread across Africa and later into other parts of the world. All information has been provided by www.aids.gov

7. How is HIV transmitted? • The most common ways that HIV is transmitted from one person to another are: • By having sex with an HIV-infected person • By sharing needles or injection equipment with a person who is infected with HIV • From HIV-infected women to their babies before or during birth • Through breast feeding All information has been provided by www.aids.gov

8. HIV can be found in body fluids, including: • blood • semen • vaginal fluids • breast milk • some body fluids sometimes handled by healthcare workers (fluids surrounding the brain and spinal cord, bone joints, and around an unborn baby) All information has been provided by www.aids.gov

9. HIV cannot be transmitted by casual contact. Here are the facts: • You cannot get HIV from: • Shaking hands or hugging a person with HIV/AIDS • Using a public telephone, drinking fountain, restroom, swimming pool, Jacuzzi, or hot tub • Sharing a drink • Being coughed or sneezed on by a person with HIV/AIDS • Giving blood • Mosquito bite All information has been provided by www.aids.gov

10. Abstaining from (not having) sex is the most effective way to prevent HIV transmission. • There are several ways to protect yourself or to prevent transmitting HIV if you choose to have sex: • Get tested for HIV and know the HIV status of yourself and your partner • Be faithful to your sexual partner • Use condoms or other latex barriers during vaginal, oral, and anal sex, and never reuse condoms or latex barriers All information has been provided by www.aids.gov

11. rapid weight loss dry cough recurring fever or profuse night sweats profound and unexplained fatigue swollen lymph glands in the armpits, groin, or neck diarrhea that lasts for more than a week white spots or unusual blemishes on the tongue, in the mouth, or in the throat pneumonia red, brown, pink, or purplish blotches on or under the skin or inside the mouth, nose, or eyelids memory loss, depression, and other neurological disorders Symptoms All information has been provided by www.aids.gov

12. How do I know if I have HIV? • The only way to know if you are infected is to be tested for HIV infection. • You cannot rely on symptoms to know whether or not you are infected. • Many people who are infected with HIV do not have any symptoms at all for 10 years or more. All information has been provided by www.aids.gov

13. Stages of an HIV infection. 1st Flu-like illness – usually happens 3-6 weeks after exposure to HIV, but can happen in just a few days. 2nd HIV (asymptomatic) – Many people go for years without any symptoms • Still is replicating • After years of replicating it weakens the immune system All information has been provided by www.aids.gov

14. Stages of an HIV infection. 3rd HIV symptomatic – Is characterized by symptoms discussed earlier • Signs of immune system failure • Usually occurs after CD4 cells drop to below 500 • May not occur till 12 years after infection 4th AIDS – last stage of infection All information has been provided by www.aids.gov

15. How does HIV cause AIDS? • HIV destroys the blood cell CD4 (T cells) • These are crucial to the normal functioning of the immune system. • When HIV infects a CD4 cell, it commandeers the genetic tools within the cell to manufacture new HIV virus. • The newly formed HIV virus then leaves the cell, destroying the CD4 cell in the process. All information has been provided by www.aids.gov

16. What is AIDS? • AIDS stands for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. • AIDS is the final stage of HIV infection. It can take years for a person infected with HIV, even without treatment, to reach this stage. • Having AIDS means that the virus has weakened the immune system to the point at which the body has a difficult time fighting infections. • When someone has one or more of these infections and a low number of T cells, he or she has AIDS. All information has been provided by www.aids.gov

17. Little more about CD4 cells • The average healthy person has between 500 & 1,400 CD4 cells per mm3 (Cubic Millimeter) of blood. • In a person infected with HIV, the virus steadily destroys CD4 cells over a period of years, diminishing the cells’ protective ability and weakening the immune system. • In HIV infected individuals, a CD4 cells drops to 200 cells per mm3 of blood a person is considered to have AIDS All information has been provided by www.aids.gov

18. Opportunistic Infections • As HIV attacks the human immune system, the immune system weakens over time and becomes more susceptible to opportunistic infections (OIs). • Opportunistic infections are generally illnesses that don’t make people with a healthy immune system sick or don’t occur as often. • There are many kinds of opportunistic infections, including other viruses, bacterial infections, and some types of cancers. • Even common colds can become more dangerous and the flu is considered a serious condition in persons with HIV/AIDS. All information has been provided by www.aids.gov

19. To name just a few, common HIV/AIDS related health issues include: • Tuberculosis (TB) • Hepatitis C • Cryptoccocal meninigitis • Pneumocystis carinii pneumosia (PCP) • Cryptosporidiosis (crypto) • Toxoplasmosis (toxo) All information has been provided by www.aids.gov

20. Living with HIV/AIDS • There is no cure for HIV or AIDS • HIV drugs can slow down the virus’s attack on the human immune system. • People with HIV/AIDS can now live healthier, longer lives. • While treatment has its benefits, it also has its risks, such as multiple side effects from HIV drugs and therapies, potential toxicity from drug treatments, as well as possible resistance of HIV to drugs over time. All information has been provided by www.aids.gov

21. To protect yourself, do not inject illicit drugs and remember these ABCs: • A=Abstinence • B=Be Faithful • C=Condoms All information has been provided by www.aids.gov

22. Who should be tested? • You are sexually active • You are uncertain about your sexual partner’s risk behaviors • You are male you has had sex with another male • Any of your male sexual partners has had sex with another male All information has been provided by www.aids.gov

23. You have shared needles and/or equipment to shoot drugs • You have had STI’s • You are a healthcare worker with direct exposure to blood on the job • You are now pregnant (testing is now mandatory nationwide for pregnant women) • You are a woman who want to make sure you are not infected before getting pregnant All information has been provided by www.aids.gov

24. Getting tested & Tests All information has been provided by www.aids.gov

25. What do tests look for? • Tests do not look for HIV in blood. • They look for antibodies produced by the body in an effort to fight HIV. • Antibodies can be detected anywhere from a few weeks until six months (very rare) • Average time is 25 days. All information has been provided by www.aids.gov

26. Western Blot • Test is more specific and can tell the difference between HIV antibodies and other antibodies • Used to confirm all other tests. • Rapid HIV Tests • A rapid HIV test usually produces results in less than two hours. • Home Test Kit • Testing involves pricking your finger, placing drops of blood on a treated card and mailing the card in for testing at a licensed lab. All information has been provided by www.aids.gov

27. OraQuick Advance Rapid HIV – 1 / 2 Antibody Test • March 26, 2004 • Oral Test • 20 Minutes • Benefits: • No waiting around • 30% Don’t show up to get results after 1-2 weeks All information has been provided by www.aids.gov

28. Pregnant Women in NJ • ALL pregnant women in the state of NJ are required to be tested for HIV in the early stages of pregnancy. • They are also required to get another HIV test during the 3rd trimester prior to delivery. All information has been provided by www.aids.gov

29. Treatments All information has been provided by www.aids.gov

30. What is HIV antiretroviral drug treatment? • It is not a cure, but it can stop people from becoming ill for many years. • The aim of antiretroviral treatment is to keep the amount of HIV in the body at a low level. • This stops any weakening of the immune system and allows it to recover from any damage that HIV might have caused already. All information has been provided by www.aids.gov

31. What is combination therapy? • Taking two or more antiretroviral drugs at a time is called combination therapy. • If only one drug was taken, HIV would quickly become resistant to it and the drug would stop working. • Taking two or more antiretrovirals at the same time vastly reduces the rate at which resistance would develop, making treatment more effective in the long term. All information has been provided by www.aids.gov