I. What is AIDS?
The full name of AIDS is Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (Acquired lmmuno Deficiency
Syndrame (AIDS) is the phonetic name of the acronym in English. It is a chronic infectious disease caused by HIV infection. HIV destroys the human immune system, causing the human body to lack resistance to various pathogens and manifesting complex immunodeficiency diseases, and in severe cases, various opportunistic infections and even malignant tumors. The natural course of the disease has a high mortality rate, although in the last 20 years, the application of drug therapy to suppress HIV has made AIDS a chronic infectious disease that can be controlled. However, no effective drug has been developed to cure AIDS, and there is no effective vaccine for prevention. AIDS has been listed as a Class B infectious disease in China, so the task of preventing the global spread of AIDS is still extremely difficult.
2.What are the causes of AIDS?
1.Biological factors
HIV is a single-stranded RNA virus, which lacks proofreading function in the process of replication and is highly susceptible to mutation. The diversity of the virus is its outstanding feature.
2.Epidemiological factors
(1) Source of infection HIV carriers and AIDS patients.
(2) Transmission routes ① Sexual transmission including heterosexual sex and male homosexual sex; ② Intravenous drug injection; ③ Mother-to-child transmission; ④ Injection or importation of contaminated blood products.
C. How many stages of AIDS are there? What are its clinical manifestations?
AIDS usually goes through three stages: the acute infection stage, the asymptomatic HIV infection stage, and the AIDS stage.
In the early stage of infection, the symptoms are mild and often neglected and mismanaged. About 70% of infected people have symptoms similar to infectious mononucleosis or influenza, mainly fever, sore throat, muscle pain, joint pain, diarrhea, night sweats, weight loss, swollen lymph nodes and skin papules, hives, etc. After 2 to 3 weeks, the symptoms return to normal, and the HIV antibody test is usually negative during this period, which is called “window”. window”.
The “asymptomatic HIV infection period”, also known as the incubation period, lasts 8 to 10 years. It is also often overlooked. The most common symptoms are ulcers or erosions of the oral mucosa, easy to catch a cold, easy to get tired, and swollen superficial lymph nodes.
IV. What are the symptoms of AIDS?
Patients who enter the AIDS stage mainly show swollen lymph nodes all over the body starting from the neck, armpit, groin, etc.; fever above 38℃ for more than 3 months; diarrhea; difficulty in breathing; weight loss of more than 10% in about 3 months; anorexia, rash, oral erosion, herpes zoster and various opportunistic infections, etc. To summarize, the main manifestations are as follows.
1.General symptoms
Persistent fever, malaise, night sweats, and persistent widespread generalized lymph node enlargement. Especially, the enlarged lymph nodes in the neck, axilla and groin are more obvious. Weight loss can be more than 10% and up to 40% within 3 months, and patients are particularly thin.
2.Respiratory symptoms
Long-term cough, chest pain, dyspnea, and blood in sputum in severe cases.
3.Gastrointestinal symptoms
Decreased appetite, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and in severe cases, blood in the stool. Drugs usually used to treat digestive tract infections are not effective against this diarrhea.
4.Nervous system symptoms
Dizziness, headache, unresponsiveness, mental retardation, mental abnormalities, convulsions, hemiplegia, dementia, etc.
5.Skin and mucous membrane damage
Herpes simplex, herpes zoster, oral and pharyngeal mucosal ulcers, Candida albicans infection, itchy rash-like papules on the skin and refractory eczema Kapozi’s disease, etc.