{"id":5077,"date":"2020-03-05T06:37:52","date_gmt":"2020-03-05T06:37:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/news\/?p=5077"},"modified":"2021-03-31T00:40:12","modified_gmt":"2021-03-30T19:10:12","slug":"what-is-hiv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/what-is-hiv\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is HIV?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Source:sciencealert.com<\/p>\n

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is an RNA-based infection responsible for a chronic and potentially life-threatening condition called acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS.<\/p>\n

In humans, the virus works by infecting and destroying a type of white blood cell called a helper\u00a0T cell (or T lymphocyte). This interferes with a person’s immune system, decreasing their ability to fight infection while increasing their risk of developing cancer. What’s more, the destruction of these lymphocytes can directly affect the body by causing swelling and tissue damage.<\/p>\n

The virus itself is rather fragile and easily broken down by oxygen and sunlight, limiting its spread to direct transmission, often through invasive contact with infected fluids. This means most people who are HIV positive acquired the virus when particles directly entered their own blood stream through broken skin, such as during via sexual intercourse or contaminated medical instruments.<\/p>\n

All in all, there are two versions of this virus, referred to as HIV-1 and HIV-2. While similar in structure and makeup, HIV-1 is behind 95 percent of cases, with HIV-2 mostly found among West African demographics.<\/p>\n

According to the\u00a0World Health Organisation, roughly 75 million individuals have been infected since the first recorded cases. Half of those have since passed away as a result, though mortality has been\u00a0decreasing since 2006\u00a0thanks to improved treatments prolonging lives.<\/p>\n

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