“Living with HIV in 2016 in North America”
Fever, sore throat and body rash. These are the first symptoms of one of the biggest hazards of XXI age for humankind, often fatal syndrome, causing many diseases like some types of cancer, pneumonia, tuberculosis and many others. The talk, of course, is about acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, caused by HIV virus. Only in the United States of America there are more than 1.2 million people infected with the HIV virus, but what is worse, about 12,8% of them, are not aware of it (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2015). All in all, nowadays people can control the progress of the syndrome and even maintain their immune system healthy, which leads to normal life and more often to death of the old age. There are many antiretroviral therapies which allow people with AIDS to prevent a virus from spreading across their body by inhibiting virus enzymes during the key points of its life cycle.
HIV is a type of retrovirus, its genetic material is made of RNA and it uses reverse transcriptase to produce DNA from it in the process called reverse transcription. After this, a virus can produce his own proteins in the translation of DNA process (Madigan, M. T., Martinko, J. M., and Bender, K. S. 2014). In a case of HIV virus, it binds itself to white blood cells, called CD4 cells because they contain CD-4 protein receptors which HIV detects, then injects its RNA into the cell through the cell membrane. After penetration stage, the virus is starting his reverse transcription, it is transcribing RNA into DNA, and then using integrase, which is an HIV enzyme, it catalyses insertion of viral DNA into the genetic material of a host cell. After this stage, HIV is starting his replication, it uses the machinery of CD4 cell to create viral proteins chain, which will be assembled into another copy of the virus. At this stage, HIV is immature, which means, that it is still non-infectious and not ready to spread across the human body, to change this state, HIV releases protease, the enzyme that activates virus and makes a mature form of it which is infectious (Neamati 2011).
HIV attacks a human immune system and disarm its first line of defence by entering into white blood cells, especially to ones that fight with the virus, and destroying them in HIVs reproduction process. That’s why human immunology system can’t fight with HIV. It is important to diagnose HIV infection as fast as it is possible to start treatment immediately. It is hard to diagnose HIV in its early stage because it has long clinical latency, which means that it may remain for a long time in a human body without producing symptoms, approximately 10 years after infection, first serious problems occur, but it depends on a case (Aids.gov 2016). Infected people may not even be aware of a danger, as I mentioned in the introduction, first visible AIDS symptoms may not vary much from fever. That’s why it is hard to diagnose HIV infection at its early stage.
In United states of America, it is illegal to not inform a sexual partner about having HIV, there are strict laws which say that everyone with AIDS disease is obliged to inform partner about it. If someone would not do it and will spread the virus or will expose others to HIV, criminal penalty would be imposed. It is a good way to prevent from spreading the virus, everyone has to be aware of the danger which HIV causes. In the USA there are many campaigns that help people in better understanding AIDS disease like ‘Let’s Stop HIV Together’ or ‘Start Talking. Stop HIV’ (Avert.org 2016)
HIV can spread in numerous ways, very often while transferring the blood, through semen, while having sex with an infected person, or through sharing an infected needle. In the United States, the main way of spreading HIV is having sex with an infected partner (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2016). There are many ways in which people can lower the risk of getting HIV infection, for example, wearing a condom and limiting the number of sexual partners, knowing partner’s HIV status, checking sterility of injection equipment. However, this virus is very vulnerable to outside conditions, it can’t survive in the open air without a host. There is small amount of HIV in saliva of the infected, but unless the second person has a wound in their mouth, there is very low risk of transmitting HIV to someone kissing, and there is no chance to spread the virus through air, by shaking hand or giving a hug someone with AIDS (San Francisco AIDS Foundation 2016).
The main treatment in North America for AIDS is antiretroviral therapy (ART), it does not cure AIDS, but it helps to control its symptoms. There are many antiretroviral drugs that inhibit replication process of a human immunodeficiency virus. Lowering the amount of virus in the body allows the immune system to recover and fight with other diseases and infections. ART therapy combines many drugs that have to be taken every day, mostly in the form of a pill, in a different order, to prevent HIV from becoming resistant to these drugs. They are mainly affecting key enzymes in HIV life cycle, integrase, reverse transcriptase, protease, which prevent the virus from spreading across the body. There are also medicines that inhibit fusion of the virus and cell called fusion inhibitors. Medicaments that are used in this therapy are so effective, that HIV can remain in clinical latency state for many years, allowing the infected person to live his normal life (Miller, Teri 2004).
There is act called „National HIV/AIDS strategy for the United States”, which was released in July 2010 by a White House, which contains numbers of actions that USA government is taking to fight with AIDS and prevent from spreading HIV between people. In the United States of America, everyone with AIDS disease and insurance has access to life-extending health care and proper treatment. If someone is not insured, the government is helping to fund treatment, there are also foundations which help to provide funds for their therapy (White House 2010).
Living with AIDS is no longer a death sentence, especially in North America, there are plenty of ways to fight with HIV. People have proper health care, and they are not left alone with their disease. AIDS can’t be fully treated yet, but can be controlled it in many ways, nowadays people don’t have to die because of this disease, in North America, where government support everyone with HIV, there are a lot of actions taken to raise the life length and comfort of living of HIV victims.
References
Aids.gov (2016) Stages of HIV Infection. [online] Available at: https://www.aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/just-diagnosed-with-hiv-aids/hiv-in-your-body/stages-of-hiv/ [Accessed 17 Nov. 2016].
AIDSinfo (2016) The Basics of HIV Prevention | Understanding HIV/AIDS | AIDSinfo. [online] Available at: https://aidsinfo.nih.gov/education-materials/fact-sheets/20/48/the-basics-of-hiv-prevention [Accessed 17 Nov. 2016].
AIDSinfo (2016) The HIV Life Cycle | Understanding HIV/AIDS | AIDSinfo. [online] Available at: https://aidsinfo.nih.gov/education-materials/fact-sheets/19/73/the-hiv-life-cycle [Accessed 17 Nov. 2016].
Avert.org (2016) HIV and AIDS in the United States of America (USA) | AVERT. [online] Available at: http://www.avert.org/professionals/hiv-around-world/western-central-europe-north-america/usa [Accessed 17 Nov. 2016].
Madigan, M., Martinko, J. and Parker, J. (2003) Brock biology of microorganisms. 15th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall/Pearson Education.
Miller, Teri (2004) Healthcare Traveler (p36-43) – Antiretroviral therapy & HIV.
National HIV/AIDS strategy for the United States (2010) 1st ed. [Washington, D.C.]: White House Office of National AIDS Policy.
Neamati, N. (2011) HIV-1 integrase. 1st ed. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley.
Niaid.nih.gov (2016) Types of HIV/AIDS Antiretroviral Drugs | NIH: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. [online] Available at: https://www.niaid.nih.gov/diseases-conditions/types-hivaids-antiretroviral-drugs [Accessed 17 Nov. 2016].
San Francisco AIDS Foundation. (2016). How is HIV / AIDS transmitted? – San Francisco AIDS Foundation. [online] Available at: http://sfaf.org/hiv-info/basics/how-is-hiv-transmitted.html [Accessed 17 Nov. 2016].