Sign in or 
Share this
fmz, jdl,fs,xw
HIV/AIDS
Definition
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS or Aids) is a collection of symptoms and infections resulting from the specific damage to the immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in humans,[1] and similar viruses in other species (SIV, FIV, etc.). The late stage of the condition leaves individuals susceptible to opportunistic infections and tumors. Although treatments for AIDS and HIV exist to decelerate the virus's progression, there is currently no known cure. HIV, et al., are transmitted through direct contact of a mucous membrane or the bloodstream with a bodily fluid containing HIV, such as blood, semen, vaginal fluid, preseminal fluid, and breast milk.[2][3] This transmission can come in the form of anal, vaginal or oral sex, blood transfusion, contaminated hypodermic needles, exchange between mother and baby during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding, or other exposure to one of the above bodily fluids.
Research Contents
Our research is as follows:
Resource 9: http://www.cadre.org.za/
This is an organisational website detailing the group's research of responses to AIDS/HIV in Africa. They don't just research on physical treatments for the disease, they focus on strategies and policies to help stop the spread of HIV as well. They do lots of indepth qualitative and quantitative research on the deadly disease. (JDL)
Resource 10: http://www.bentham.org/chivr/index.htm
This is an information news website on the dangers of AIDS/HIV, a published science journal that documents current research techniques and the latest discoveries in the line of HIV/AIDS research. The publication is called "Current HIV research", in which experts from all fields contribute studies and research that will aid in discovering more about HIV/AIDS. (JDL)
Transmission
HIV is a fragile virus. It cannot live for very long outside the body. As a result, the virus is not transmitted through day-to-day activities such as shaking hands, hugging, or a casual kiss. You cannot become infected from a toilet seat, drinking fountain, doorknob, dishes, drinking glasses, food, or pets. You also cannot get HIV from mosquitoes.
HIV is primarily found in the blood, semen, or vaginal fluid of an infected person. HIV is transmitted in 3 main ways:
HIV also can be transmitted through blood infected with HIV.
Preventing Transmission
Your risk of getting HIV or passing it to someone else depends on several things. Do you know what they are? You might want to talk to someone who knows about HIV. You can also do the following:
Symptoms
It is not possible to reliably diagnose HIV infection or AIDS based on symptoms alone.
People living with HIV may feel and look completely well but their immune systems may nevertheless be damaged. It is important to remember that once someone is infected they can pass on HIV right away, even if they feel healthy.
As time passes without effective treatment, HIV weakens an infected person's immune system, making them much more vulnerable to opportunistic infections. These infections are caused by germs that are around us all the time but which can normally be fought off by a healthy immune system. Once HIV has broken down the body's defences, such infections can take hold and produce any of a wide range of symptoms - some of them very severe. Certain cancers also become more common when the immune system is weakened.
Such symptoms are, however, not caused directly by HIV, and they can't by themselves be interpreted as definite signs of HIV infection or AIDS. A diagnosis of AIDS requires signs of severe immune deficiency, which cannot be explained by any factor except HIV. This generally requires an HIV test.
The only way to know for sure whether a person is infected with HIV is for them to have an HIV test.
Treatment
Since 1996, new medical treatments have been developed that can prevent or cure some of the illnesses associated with AIDS, though they cannot cure AIDS itself. Various factors, including your genetic makeup, can influence the time between HIV infection and the development of AIDS.
Ongoing treatment for HIV includes regular appointments with your doctor to monitor the amount of virus in your blood (viral load) and CD4+ cell counts. This is done with blood tests taken every 3 to 4 months that show how much virus is in your blood and how it is affecting your immune system. The results of these tests will help monitor your infection and help you make decisions about starting antiretroviral drugs.
Antiretroviral medicines. Because HIV is a certain type of virus called a retrovirus, the drugs used to treat it are called antiretroviral medcine powerful medicines control the virus and slow progression of HIV infection, but they do not cure it. You need to take these medicines exactly as your doctor prescribes.
HAART. The current recommended treatment for HIV is a combination of three or more medicines. This regimen of medicines is called highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).
Victims
Most researchers believe that HIV originated in sub-Saharan Africa during the twentieth century; it is now a pandemic, with an estimated 33.2 million people now living with the disease worldwide.As of January 2006, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization (WHO) estimate that AIDS has killed more than 25 million people since it was first recognized on June 5, 1981, making it one of the most destructive epidemicsrecorded history. In 2005 alone, AIDS claimed an estimated 2.4–3.3 million lives, of which more than 570,000 were children. A third of these deaths are occurring in sub-Saharan Africa, retarding economic growth and destroying human capital. Antiretroviral treatment reduces both the mortality and the morbidity of HIV infection, but routine access to antiretroviral medication is not available in all countries. HIV/AIDS stigma is more severe than that associated with other life-threatening conditions and extends beyond the disease itself to providers and even volunteers involved with the care of people living with HIV.
Concluding Statements
Today thousands of people live with HIV/AIDS with many of them leading productive and happy lives thanks to the advances in treatment and medications available that help to boost the immune system which thus delays the onset of severe illnesses.
Support systems are present in most countries in the world for HIV/AIDS victims to count on too.
The information found here on our uir-rawkz, wetpaint page, has been sourced from various websites as mentioned under our Resource section.
The range of resources, from organisational websites, news articles, journals and forums, has given us a deeper understanding of our group's research topic.
We have also learnt more about the treatments for HIV/AIDS that are available today.
Additionally, we have put the lessons learnt during our UIR lectures to good use through this exercise and are now able to effectively use search engines, meta search engine and subject directories, while accurately evaluating resources for their credibility according to various specifications like accuracy, currency, usability and etc.
Bibliography
British Broadcasting Corporation (2000). "Nigerian doctor finds HIV cure." Retrieved January 10, 2008, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/740523.stm
Our group’s research topic, “Discuss the Developments in AIDS Research” will enlighten all four of us on progress in the field of medicine in regards to the fatal virus. But what is AIDS in the first place?
Definition
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS or Aids) is a collection of symptoms and infections resulting from the specific damage to the immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in humans,[1] and similar viruses in other species (SIV, FIV, etc.). The late stage of the condition leaves individuals susceptible to opportunistic infections and tumors. Although treatments for AIDS and HIV exist to decelerate the virus's progression, there is currently no known cure. HIV, et al., are transmitted through direct contact of a mucous membrane or the bloodstream with a bodily fluid containing HIV, such as blood, semen, vaginal fluid, preseminal fluid, and breast milk.[2][3] This transmission can come in the form of anal, vaginal or oral sex, blood transfusion, contaminated hypodermic needles, exchange between mother and baby during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding, or other exposure to one of the above bodily fluids.
Research Contents
Our research is as follows:
HIV/AIDS Transmission
HIV/AIDS Symptoms
HIV/AIDS Treatment
HIV/AIDS Victims
HIV/AIDS Concluding Statements
Resources
Resource 1: http://www.aidsalliance.org/ http://www
This is an organistaion website which shows mainly the latest news of AIDS/HIV from all around the world.This organisation is mostly on how they are doing their part to help the victims of AIDS/HIV all around the world. The news provided from this website are very useful for the development of AIDS/HIV. (FS)
Resource 2: http://www.avert.org/aids.htm
This is an organisation website. It gives clear explanation on the common questions from people such as 'does kissing spread AIDS?' and many more. Many answers can be gathered from here instead of from the others. Everything on HIV/AIDS can be found here! It can serve as a one-stop station for research on HIV/AIDS. (FS)
Resource 3: http://health.yahoo.com/hiv-symptoms/human-immunodeficiency-virus-hiv-infection-symptoms/healthwise--hw151445.html
This website allows me to know more about the symptoms of AIDS, and there are 3 stages for this. They are namely, 'Initial Stage', 'Established Stage' and 'Late Stage'. There are different types of symptoms of each stage. Please feel free to go into this website and see various stages and symptoms of AIDS. (XW)
Resource 4: http://health.yahoo.com/hiv-living/human-immunodeficiency-virus-hiv-infection-prevention/healthwise--hw151458.html
This is a subset of the main website, this teaches us how to prevent us from AIDS. You can keep from getting HIV by avoiding behaviours that might result in contact with infected blood, semen, or vaginal fluids. The best way to not being infected with HIV, is not to have any sex before your marriage. If you really want to have sex with your partner, it is best to use protected safe sex. This can protect both parties from getting any disease or harm.For additional information, can go to this website mentioned below: http://www.aids.gov/. (XW)
Resource 5:http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/
The CDC website is a government organisational website. It has several other sub-topics about communicable diseases. The section about HIV/AIDS in particular is a means of working with the community to help control the epidemic. This fits in line with the organisational mission of helping to maintain the standards of public health. The HIV/AIDS section of the website comes replete with latest news updates about the disease, an FAQ, basic information about HIV/AIDS and recommendations and guidelines as well. It is a comprehensive and reliable organisational web resource which has given me a clearer view on things like the origin of HIV/AIDS (the site comes with high quality diagrams and pictures to aid understanding).
Resource 6: http://aids.about.com/od/newlydiagnosed/a/hivsymptom.htm
This resource comes from the information database, About.com. The information about HIV/AIDS on this site is highly reliable as the articles featured are written by experts in the relevant fields. For instance, the pages about HIV/AIDS was written (and still is being updated) byMark Cichocki RN a HIV/AIDS nurse specialist who has developed and contributed to many online health education sites, providing written HIV/AIDS education material for many organizations locally and across the country. (FMZ)
His write-up about Treatment, and New Treatments available are especially insightful.
"Thanks to the work of thousands of HIV scientists, there are new medication options coming onto the market all the time. Fewer pills to take each day; fewer side effects; fewer doses each day; all the work of clinical trials and the researchers developing new drugs. These resources explain how clinical trials work and what new medications are in the pipeline." (FMZ)
Resource 7: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/740523.stm
This is a organisational resource from an online news portal, BBC. This resource has given me a glimpse into the lives of Nigerians - a country on the verge of a HIV outbreak in the year 2000. Despite the article coming from the BBC's archives from the year 2000, it has given me an insight as to how people are desperately looking for a cure to HIV. Like the Nigerian doctor mentioned in the article. The resource in total, was an objective one from a trustworthy source. (FMZ)
HIV/AIDS Symptoms
HIV/AIDS Treatment
HIV/AIDS Victims
HIV/AIDS Concluding Statements
Resources
Resource 1: http://www.aidsalliance.org/ http://www
This is an organistaion website which shows mainly the latest news of AIDS/HIV from all around the world.This organisation is mostly on how they are doing their part to help the victims of AIDS/HIV all around the world. The news provided from this website are very useful for the development of AIDS/HIV. (FS)
Resource 2: http://www.avert.org/aids.htm
This is an organisation website. It gives clear explanation on the common questions from people such as 'does kissing spread AIDS?' and many more. Many answers can be gathered from here instead of from the others. Everything on HIV/AIDS can be found here! It can serve as a one-stop station for research on HIV/AIDS. (FS)
Resource 3: http://health.yahoo.com/hiv-symptoms/human-immunodeficiency-virus-hiv-infection-symptoms/healthwise--hw151445.html
This website allows me to know more about the symptoms of AIDS, and there are 3 stages for this. They are namely, 'Initial Stage', 'Established Stage' and 'Late Stage'. There are different types of symptoms of each stage. Please feel free to go into this website and see various stages and symptoms of AIDS. (XW)
Resource 4: http://health.yahoo.com/hiv-living/human-immunodeficiency-virus-hiv-infection-prevention/healthwise--hw151458.html
This is a subset of the main website, this teaches us how to prevent us from AIDS. You can keep from getting HIV by avoiding behaviours that might result in contact with infected blood, semen, or vaginal fluids. The best way to not being infected with HIV, is not to have any sex before your marriage. If you really want to have sex with your partner, it is best to use protected safe sex. This can protect both parties from getting any disease or harm.For additional information, can go to this website mentioned below: http://www.aids.gov/. (XW)
Resource 5:http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/
The CDC website is a government organisational website. It has several other sub-topics about communicable diseases. The section about HIV/AIDS in particular is a means of working with the community to help control the epidemic. This fits in line with the organisational mission of helping to maintain the standards of public health. The HIV/AIDS section of the website comes replete with latest news updates about the disease, an FAQ, basic information about HIV/AIDS and recommendations and guidelines as well. It is a comprehensive and reliable organisational web resource which has given me a clearer view on things like the origin of HIV/AIDS (the site comes with high quality diagrams and pictures to aid understanding).
Resource 6: http://aids.about.com/od/newlydiagnosed/a/hivsymptom.htm
This resource comes from the information database, About.com. The information about HIV/AIDS on this site is highly reliable as the articles featured are written by experts in the relevant fields. For instance, the pages about HIV/AIDS was written (and still is being updated) byMark Cichocki RN a HIV/AIDS nurse specialist who has developed and contributed to many online health education sites, providing written HIV/AIDS education material for many organizations locally and across the country. (FMZ)
His write-up about Treatment, and New Treatments available are especially insightful.
"Thanks to the work of thousands of HIV scientists, there are new medication options coming onto the market all the time. Fewer pills to take each day; fewer side effects; fewer doses each day; all the work of clinical trials and the researchers developing new drugs. These resources explain how clinical trials work and what new medications are in the pipeline." (FMZ)
Resource 7: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/740523.stm
This is a organisational resource from an online news portal, BBC. This resource has given me a glimpse into the lives of Nigerians - a country on the verge of a HIV outbreak in the year 2000. Despite the article coming from the BBC's archives from the year 2000, it has given me an insight as to how people are desperately looking for a cure to HIV. Like the Nigerian doctor mentioned in the article. The resource in total, was an objective one from a trustworthy source. (FMZ)
Resource 8: http://www.sfaf.org/aids101
"Today there are medical treatments that can slow down the rate at which HIV weakens the immune system and that can prevent or cure some of the illnesses associated with advanced HIV disease. As with other diseases, early detection offers more options for treatment and preventive care." (FMZ)
Resource 9: http://www.cadre.org.za/
This is an organisational website detailing the group's research of responses to AIDS/HIV in Africa. They don't just research on physical treatments for the disease, they focus on strategies and policies to help stop the spread of HIV as well. They do lots of indepth qualitative and quantitative research on the deadly disease. (JDL)
Resource 10: http://www.bentham.org/chivr/index.htm
This is an information news website on the dangers of AIDS/HIV, a published science journal that documents current research techniques and the latest discoveries in the line of HIV/AIDS research. The publication is called "Current HIV research", in which experts from all fields contribute studies and research that will aid in discovering more about HIV/AIDS. (JDL)
Transmission
HIV is a fragile virus. It cannot live for very long outside the body. As a result, the virus is not transmitted through day-to-day activities such as shaking hands, hugging, or a casual kiss. You cannot become infected from a toilet seat, drinking fountain, doorknob, dishes, drinking glasses, food, or pets. You also cannot get HIV from mosquitoes.
HIV is primarily found in the blood, semen, or vaginal fluid of an infected person. HIV is transmitted in 3 main ways:
- Having sex (anal, vaginal, or oral) with someone infected with HIV
- Sharing needles and syringes with someone infected with HIV
- Being exposed (fetus or infant) to HIV before or during birth or through breast feeding
HIV also can be transmitted through blood infected with HIV.
Preventing Transmission
Your risk of getting HIV or passing it to someone else depends on several things. Do you know what they are? You might want to talk to someone who knows about HIV. You can also do the following:
- Abstain from sex (do not have oral, anal, or vaginal sex) until you are in a relationship with only one person, are having sex with only each other, and each of you knows the other’s HIV status.
- If both you and your partner have HIV, use condoms to prevent other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and possible infection with a different strain of HIV.
- If only one of you has HIV, use a latex condom and lubricant every time you have sex.
Symptoms
It is not possible to reliably diagnose HIV infection or AIDS based on symptoms alone.
People living with HIV may feel and look completely well but their immune systems may nevertheless be damaged. It is important to remember that once someone is infected they can pass on HIV right away, even if they feel healthy.
As time passes without effective treatment, HIV weakens an infected person's immune system, making them much more vulnerable to opportunistic infections. These infections are caused by germs that are around us all the time but which can normally be fought off by a healthy immune system. Once HIV has broken down the body's defences, such infections can take hold and produce any of a wide range of symptoms - some of them very severe. Certain cancers also become more common when the immune system is weakened.
Such symptoms are, however, not caused directly by HIV, and they can't by themselves be interpreted as definite signs of HIV infection or AIDS. A diagnosis of AIDS requires signs of severe immune deficiency, which cannot be explained by any factor except HIV. This generally requires an HIV test.
The only way to know for sure whether a person is infected with HIV is for them to have an HIV test.
Treatment
Since 1996, new medical treatments have been developed that can prevent or cure some of the illnesses associated with AIDS, though they cannot cure AIDS itself. Various factors, including your genetic makeup, can influence the time between HIV infection and the development of AIDS.
Ongoing treatment for HIV includes regular appointments with your doctor to monitor the amount of virus in your blood (viral load) and CD4+ cell counts. This is done with blood tests taken every 3 to 4 months that show how much virus is in your blood and how it is affecting your immune system. The results of these tests will help monitor your infection and help you make decisions about starting antiretroviral drugs.
Antiretroviral medicines. Because HIV is a certain type of virus called a retrovirus, the drugs used to treat it are called antiretroviral medcine powerful medicines control the virus and slow progression of HIV infection, but they do not cure it. You need to take these medicines exactly as your doctor prescribes.
HAART. The current recommended treatment for HIV is a combination of three or more medicines. This regimen of medicines is called highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).
Victims
Most researchers believe that HIV originated in sub-Saharan Africa during the twentieth century; it is now a pandemic, with an estimated 33.2 million people now living with the disease worldwide.As of January 2006, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization (WHO) estimate that AIDS has killed more than 25 million people since it was first recognized on June 5, 1981, making it one of the most destructive epidemicsrecorded history. In 2005 alone, AIDS claimed an estimated 2.4–3.3 million lives, of which more than 570,000 were children. A third of these deaths are occurring in sub-Saharan Africa, retarding economic growth and destroying human capital. Antiretroviral treatment reduces both the mortality and the morbidity of HIV infection, but routine access to antiretroviral medication is not available in all countries. HIV/AIDS stigma is more severe than that associated with other life-threatening conditions and extends beyond the disease itself to providers and even volunteers involved with the care of people living with HIV.
Concluding Statements
Today thousands of people live with HIV/AIDS with many of them leading productive and happy lives thanks to the advances in treatment and medications available that help to boost the immune system which thus delays the onset of severe illnesses.
Support systems are present in most countries in the world for HIV/AIDS victims to count on too.
The information found here on our uir-rawkz, wetpaint page, has been sourced from various websites as mentioned under our Resource section.
The range of resources, from organisational websites, news articles, journals and forums, has given us a deeper understanding of our group's research topic.
We have also learnt more about the treatments for HIV/AIDS that are available today.
Additionally, we have put the lessons learnt during our UIR lectures to good use through this exercise and are now able to effectively use search engines, meta search engine and subject directories, while accurately evaluating resources for their credibility according to various specifications like accuracy, currency, usability and etc.
Bibliography
About (2008). "The symptoms of HIV." Retrieved January 10, 2008, fromhttp://aids.about.com/od/newlydiagnosed/a/hivsymptom.htm
Avert (2008). "Facts about AIDS and HIV." Retrieved January 29, 2008, fromhttp://www.avert.org/aids.htm
Avert (2007). "HIV and AIDS in Africa." Retrvied November 26, 2007, fromhttp://www.avert.org/aafrica.htmAvert (2008). "Facts about AIDS and HIV." Retrieved January 29, 2008, fromhttp://www.avert.org/aids.htm
Bentham Science Publishers (2008). "Current HIV research." Retrieved December 12, 2007, fromhttp://www.bentham.org/chivr/index.htm
British Broadcasting Corporation (2000). "Nigerian doctor finds HIV cure." Retrieved January 10, 2008, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/740523.stm
Centre for Aids Developement and Research (2007). "HIV/AIDS communication in selected African countries: Interventions, responses and posibilities." Retrieved December 12, 2007, from
Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (2007). "HIV." Retrieved January 20, 2008, from
https://ncadistore.samhsa.gov/catalog/facts.aspx?topic=3
https://ncadistore.samhsa.gov/catalog/facts.aspx?topic=3
Yahoo Health (2005). "Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infection Symptoms." Retrieved November 26, 2007, from http://health.yahoo.com/hiv-symptoms/human-immunodeficiency-virus-hiv-infection-symptoms/healthwise--hw151445.html
Yahoo Health (2005). "Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infection Prevention." Retrieved Novmber 26, 2007, from
Sans Francisco Aids Foundation (2007). "What is AIDS, HIV and HIV Disease?" Retrieved December 31, 2007 fromhttp://www.sfaf.org/aids101
|
uirwiki |
Latest page update: made by uirwiki
, Mar 7 2008, 2:25 AM EST
(about this update
About This Update
Rename
- uirwiki
No content added or deleted. - complete history) |
|
More Info: links to this page
|
| Started By | Thread Subject | Replies | Last Post | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonathan_Dax_Lim | Practical 7 e-learning week | 0 | Jan 17 2008, 7:47 PM EST by Jonathan_Dax_Lim | ||
|
Thread started: Jan 17 2008, 7:47 PM EST
Watch
Resource 1: http://www.cadre.org.za/
This is an organisational website detailing the group's research of responses to AIDS/HIV in Africa. They don't just research on physical treatments for the disease, they focus on strategies and policies to help stop the spread of HIV as well. They do lots of indepth qualitative and quantitative research on the deadly disease. Resource 2: http://www.bentham.org/chivr/index.htm This is an information news website on the dangers of AIDS/HIV, a published science journal that documents current research techniques and the latest discoveries in the line of HIV/AIDS research. The publication is called "Current HIV research", in which experts from all fields contribute studies and research that will aid in discovering more about HIV/AIDS. |
|||||
| xIaOweI85 | Practical 7 E learning week | 0 | Jan 15 2008, 12:10 PM EST by xIaOweI85 | ||
|
Thread started: Jan 15 2008, 12:10 PM EST
Watch
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/417506
This is a website on HIV Drug Development. |
||||
| xIaOweI85 | Practical 7 E learning week | 0 | Jan 15 2008, 12:06 PM EST by xIaOweI85 | ||
|
|
Thread started: Jan 15 2008, 12:06 PM EST
Watch
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV
This website tells us more about what is HIV. How can it be transferred and their classification. |
||||
Showing 3 of 6 threads for this page
- view all
