The latest

By Lizzie van Dorp  The previous blog ‘Treatment of HIV/AIDS’ already outlined the types of antiretroviral medications available and briefly mentioned the possible risks of ART. The WHO recommends commencement of antiretroviral therapy for all seropositive individuals regardless of CD4 count and viral load. Chances of progression to AIDS and forward transmission diminish with antiretroviral therapy, while quality of life and life expectancy increases.1,2 Antiretroviral treatment...

By Tessa Lawson Tattersall  Presently, HIV has neither a cure nor a vaccine. However, highly effective treatment regimens can allow for long and healthy lives of people who have been diagnosed as HIV positive in locations where treatment is available and accessible1.Antiretroviral TherapyCurrently, treatment of HIV is in the form of antiretroviral therapy (ART), which uses a combination of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs that suppress the viral replication of HIV. ART allows the immune system to...

By Marissa van Hamersveld  Symptoms As described previously in our article ‘What is the difference between HIV and AIDS?’, upon infection with HIV people may experience a variety of nonspecific ‘flu like’ symptoms or do not experience any complaints. Typically, the symptoms occur within 4 weeks to several months after exposure. These flu like symptoms of fever, swollen lymph nodes, sore throat, rash, muscle aches, diarrhoea, headache and weight loss are called t...

By Jared Stern and Paula Cevaal  Since the first reports of AIDS in 1981, HIV and AIDS have among the general public primarily been known as a sexually transmitted infection(STI). Indeed, the majority of new HIV infections can be attributed to unprotected sex, as has been discussed in our previous blog post. In that case, HIV enters the body through the mucosal membrane or via micro tears that allow direct entry into the bloodstream. However, in the global HIV and AIDS response, it is essen...

By Jared Stern and Paula Cevaal  Globally, new HIV infections have been decreasing since the late 1990s and rates are currently sitting at 1.8 million infections each year – equating to 5000 new infections each day on top of the existing 37 million people living with HIV1. Although reductions in new HIV infections are certainly a commendable achievement, the current annual rate is far higher than the UNAIDS Fast-Track Cities target of 500,000 new infections per year by 20202. Addition...

HIV belongs to a class of viruses that are called Retroviruses. Retroviruses, like all other viruses, need a host cell to produce and replicate their own DNA to make more viruses. HIV replication is a complex process with several stages. These stages are called Attachment, Fusion, Reverse Transcription, Integration, Replication, Assembly and Maturation.In order to understand the HIV replication process, first we need to look into structure of HIV. HIV is a round ball shaped virus. The outer laye...

“One in 8 people living with HIV report having faced discrimination in health care settings. We must treat people equally with respect and dignity”, Michel Sidibe the executive director of UNAIDS was reported saying at the UNAIDS zero-discrimination panel discussion on the 1st March.Respect and dignity towards each other irrespective of gender, sex, religion and also HIV status is at the very heart of being a humane human being. One need only to look within one’s own circle of ...

Like many other viruses HIV also has the ability to mutate over time. Since the first discovery in 1980s, different types of HIV strains have been found and these strains have been classified into two main types called HIV-1 and HIV-2.On a genetic level HIV-2 is more than 55% different from HIV-1, leading to functional differences. HIV-1, which was the first discovered type, is the most widespread type accounting for 95% of all infections worldwide. HIV-2 is more commonly found in Western Africa...

This is a glossary that should help you to navigate all the expressions used on this blog.

By Anne Lips  Since the first appearance around 1980, there is no region of the world untouched by Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) /Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) 1,2. Over the past two decades, due to intense research and community involvement, great progress has been made in the understanding of HIV and AIDS 3,4.An HIV infection starts without any symptoms or ill-feeling.5 In the beginning, the progress of HIV is often very slow and there are only slight changes in the immu...