Welcome to Punjabkesari.com Health & Fitness

Introduction

Prevention, Treatment and Control of HIV Infection

Information for HIV infected persons

Health Education

Timetable of Events

Introduction

Preventing the spread of HIV requires a comprehensive strategy that includes effective, sustained health education and health promotion programs. The goal of these programs is to reduce the risk of individuals becoming infected with HIV or, if already infected, infecting others.

Prevention, Treatment and Control of HIV Infection

Vaccine development is difficult because :

HIV mutates rapidly

HIV is not expressed in many cells that are infected

HIV is not completely cleared by the host immune response after primary infection.

HIV isolates show a marked variation, especially in the envelope antigens-variability that probably promotes the emergence of neutralization-resistant mutants

Lack of an appropriate animal model for HIV.

Chimpanzees are the only animals that are susceptible to HIV.

Novel methods are under investigation :

Soluble form of CD4 has been made by recombinant DNA techniques and is being studied as a viral blocking agent. As CD4 is the HIV receptor on cells, soluble CD4 may inhibit HIV from infecting cells; may block gp120-mediated events, such as cell fusions and may serve as a targeting signal to direct cytotoxic agents to HIV-infected cells.

Gene therapy approach are being developed that are designed to achieve "intracellular immunization," ie., genetically alter target cells to make them resistant to HIV.

Control measures :

To avoid epidemic spread of HIV it is important to educate the people about eliminating the high risk factors.

All blood donors should be tested for HIV antibody.

Myths to be dispelled about HIV

HIV is not spread by -

Sharing meals with an HIV +ve patient

Exposures to sneezing, coughing, or other casual contacts.

Information for HIV infected persons

Almost all persons will remain infected for life and will develop the disease.

Asymptomatic patients may also transmit HIV to others.

Infected person should not donate blood, plasma, body organs, other tissues, and sperm.

Infection of spreading to others occurs by sexual intercourse (vaginal or anal), by oral genital contact or by sharing needles.

The use of condom by infected person can reduce transmission of the virus, though prevention is not absolute

Toothbrushes, razors, and other items that could become contaminated with blood should not be shared.

Seropositive women are at increased risk of acquiring AIDS, and if they become pregnant their offspring are at high risk of acquiring AIDS.

After accidents that result in bleeding, contaminated surfaces should be cleaned with household bleach freshly diluted 1:10 in water.

Devices that have punctured the skin, eg, hypodermic and acupuncture needles, should be steam-sterilized by autoclaving before reuse or should be safely discarded.

Infected person should inform to medical or dental care providers that they are seropositive, so that appropriate precautions taken to prevent transmission to others.

Seropositive health care professionals who perform invasive procedures or have skin lesions should take precautions to protect patients from the risk of infection.

Children with positive tests should be allowed to attend school, since casual person-to-person contact of school children poses no risk. But a restricted environment is advisable for children who lack control of their body secretions, has biting behavior, having oozing lesions.

Dental instruments should be heat sterilized between patients. Whenever possible, disposable needles and equipments should be used.

Health Education

Any sexual intercourse with infected patient should be protected by a condom

Do not share unsterile needles or syringes

Women having potentially exposed should seek HIV antibody testing before becoming pregnant and, if the test is positive, should consider avoiding pregnancy.

HIV seropositive pregnant women should do an abortion to avoid seropositive child birth.

Timetable of Events

1954 - currently, the earliest date that a person is thought to have died of an AIDS type syndrome. The victim was a young rent-boy in New York.

1959 - The earliest that a person in the UK is thought to have had the virus - a sailor from Manchester.

1981 - 20 cases of Kaposi's Sarcoma appeared in young men NOT of Middle Eastern origin (where the condition is more       common). The individuals were found to have damaged immune systems.

1983 - The Pasteur institute in Paris isolated a virus in the lymph glands of an individual thought to have the 'new' virus -       they called the virus lymphadenopathy associated virus (LAV).

1984 - Robert Gallo in the USA isolated a retrovirus and antibodies that matched a virus in people with AIDS - HIV had       been finally 'discovered'.

Punjabkesari .com Home \| Feedback


	Health & Fitness