Human Disease And Immunity Research Project: AIDS And Tuberculosis

AIDS

Explain Human Disease and Immunity Research Project.

The “Acquired Human Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)” is a disease caused by the “Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).” The HIV is a virus that gradually destroys the body’s defense mechanism i.e. the immune system of the human body. This virus destroys the T-helper cell and undergoes replication inside the cells. “As the infection progresses, it interferes more with the immune system, increasing the risk of common infections like tuberculosis, as well as other opportunistic infections, and tumors that rarely affect people who have working immune systems.” AIDS is one of the life-threatening diseases that have created fear in the world.

HIV gets transmitted by several ways:

Blood
Semen
Rectal fluids
Pre-seminal fluid
Vaginal fluids
Breast milk

These body fluids come in direct contact with the mucous membrane or the damaged cells or with the use of contagious needle injected into the bloodstream of the human beings. The mucous membranes are found inside the vagina, penis, rectum, and mouth. During the sexual intercourse with an HIV infected person through the seminal or vaginal or rectal the virus is transmitted to the partner. These fluids increase the risk of AIDS. Sharing contagious needles during blood transfusion the virus may get passed on to an uninfected person. During pregnancy, the virus might get transmitted from the mother to the baby or may be through breastfeeding. Although HIV is contagious in nature, the virus cannot be transmitted through urine. Heterosexual mode of sexual intercourse is another major mode of transmission of this virus. Rare cases have been reported that HIV can be transmitted through acupuncture, human bite, artificial insemination and tattoo.

The symptoms of the AIDS vary from individual to individual depending on the stage complexity. In certain case, it has been observed that some people experience flu-like symptoms which develop within two to four weeks after the invasion of the virus in the body. Few of them may not feel sick during this period. “The flu symptoms involve fever, chills, night sweats, rash, sore throat, muscle aches, fatigue, swollen lymph nodes and mouth ulcers. These symptoms may last from few days to several months.” During this time, a patient might not show the positive result to the HIV test, but they would be capable enough to pass the disease to others. The early stage is known as the “clinical latency test” and during this stage, the symptoms remain generally suppressed. The late stage involves the following symptoms: rapid weight loss, recurring of flu with sweating at the night, diarrhea, sores in the mouth, pneumonia, extreme tiredness, swelling of the lymph gland, memory loss, depression. Moreover, symptom ms such as red, brown, purplish or pink blotches under or on the skin, or inside the eyelids, nose, and mouth are also observed sometimes.

Mode of transmission of AIDS

After the original symptoms vanish, HIV may not be the origin any extra symptoms for months to years. Throughout this time, HIV replicates within our body and starts to deteriorate our immune system. An individual won’t feel or look ill, but the HIV is still active, and we can effortlessly transmit it to a susceptible person. That is why early examination, even while we feel well, is so vital. It might take up to ten years or more, but HIV might ultimately break along an individual’s immune system. Once this takes place, HIV will develop to AIDS that is the final phase of infection. At this time, our immune system is harshly damaged, creating an individual more susceptible to various infections.

“HIV prevention refers to the practices done in order to prevent the spread of AIDS. These practices are may be constituted by an individual or by the government. One of the universally effective methods for preventing HIV during sexual intercourse is the use of various preventive methods.” HIV positive mothers can prevent the spread of this disease is by the consumption of antiretroviral drugs. “Medical professionals and scientists recommend treatment or prevention of other infections such as herpes, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, human papillomavirus, syphilis, gonorrhea, and tuberculosis as an indirect way to prevent the spread of HIV infection.” “Influential messages delivered via health advertising and communal marketing campaigns that are planned to educate every individual about the consequences of AIDS and straightforward prevention strategies are too an imperative way of preventing AIDS. This persuasive information has productively increased individual’s knowledge about the disease and the virus. More prominently, information sent out during advertising and social promotion also shows to be effectual in promoting more constructive manner and intentions toward future use of a condom. Even if they did not carry major change in real behaviors excluding those were targeting at precise behavioral skills. Dependable condom application reduces the danger of “heterosexual HIV transmission” by about 80% over the long period. Where one associate of a pair is infected, consistent condom use leads in rates of HIV infection for the uninfected individual of lower than 1% per year. Thus, preventive measures which can stop the passage of the fluids that can transmit the virus from an infected individual to a susceptible person should be used in order to control rate of the dreadful disease.”

Tuberculosis is a bacterial disorder that is contagious by nature and is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This disease is characterized by the infection in the lungs and many times have been observed to affect other parts of the body.” Tuberculosis is one of the most prevalent diseases in the world that has affected thirty percentage of the world population. This disease has been a threat to many countries globally.”

Symptoms of AIDS

“The mode of transmission of tuberculosis from an infected to a susceptible person is via airborne particles known as the droplet nuclei. When a person has pulmonary or laryngeal tuberculosis sneeze, cough, shout or laughs the infectious droplet nuclei containing the bacteria are released.” These droplets remain suspended in the air for many hours. These bacteria, therefore, get transmitted by the air and not by the surface contact. When a person inhales these droplets consisting of the microorganism the disease is caused. These droplets nuclei enter a susceptible person through the mouth or the nasal passage and then through the trachea enters the respiratory tract. In this way, the bacteria reaches the bronchi and ultimately make their way to the alveoli of the lungs. “People with prolonged, frequent, or close contact with people with TB are at particularly high risk of becoming infected, with an estimated 22% infection rate. A person with active but untreated tuberculosis may infect 10–15 (or more) other people per year.”

“Tuberculosis may infect any part of the body, but most commonly occurs in the lungs.” This type of tuberculosis is known as the “Pulmonary tuberculosis.” If tuberculosis develops outside the lungs, then it is termed as extra-pulmonary tuberculosis.” The general symptoms of the disease are fever, chills, loss of appetite, fatigue and night sweats. Sometimes nail clubbing might also be observed. In the case of the pulmonary tuberculosis, the infection becomes active and the signs noticed are chest pain, prolonged cough including sputum production. In certain cases blood along with a cough are also observed. If the infection erodes the pulmonary artery, it leads to massive bleeding. In terms of the extra-pulmonary tuberculosis, the common symptoms observed are “bursting of a tubercular abscess” through skin lead to a tuberculous ulcer. If the disease occurs in the lymph nodes, then the ulcer enlarges slowly with a wash leather appearance.

“Tuberculosis prevention and control efforts rely primarily on the vaccination of infants and the detection and appropriate treatment of active cases. Prevention of TB involves screening those at high risk, early detection and treatment of cases, and vaccination with the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine. Treatment requires the use of multiple antibiotics over a long period of time. Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem with increasing rates of multiple drug-resistant tuberculosis.” Adaptation to various methods has reduced the number of TB patients. One of the greatest examples is China.

“TB education is essential for every individual with Tuberculosis. People with TB require understanding that how to consume their TB drugs effectively. They also should know how to make an assurance that they would not pass TB on to another individual. But TB learning is also significant for the common public. The public requires attaining essential information regarding TB for a numeral of purposes counting dropping the stigma still linked with TB. TB facts websites have an easy TB quiz that can aid to educate individuals about TB.” “TB drug treatment for the prevention of TB, also known as chemoprophylaxis, can reduce the risk of the first episode of active TB. TB prevention the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the drug isoniazid should be taken daily for at least six months and preferably nine months. Prevention and alertness of this disease through campaigns and workshops have helped in reducing the rate of this disease.”

Prevention and control of AIDS

Malaria is a mosquito borne disease which is infectious by nature. This disease is prevalent in human beings and other animals as well as other animals. “This disease is caused by the parasitic protozoan belonging to the Plasmodium species.”

“Malaria is infected by the Plasmodium vivax where the female anopheles mosquito acts as a vector for carrying the microorganism. The infection or the germ is transmitted by a bite of the anopheles mosquito.” The mosquito when bites an infected person receives the gametocyte of the parasite via the blood stream. The gametocytes replicates and the saprophytes produced get filled into the salivary glands of the infected mosquito. These saprophytes are transmitted into the blood stream of an individual when such an infected mosquito bites the individual.

In few cases, “it has been observed that malaria can spread by the inoculation of blood from an infected person to a susceptible person. The disease can also be transmitted from mother to a child through the placenta. Accidental transmission can also take place among drug addicts those who share the same syringes or needles.”

The symptoms of the disease start developing and reflecting within eight to twenty-five days. However, the symptoms can also develop late. The initial manifestation involves flu like signs, headache, fever, vomiting, hemolytic anemia, shivering, joint pain, retinal damage, convulsions, and jaundice. The classical signs of this disease involve shivering due to fever and sweating. In the case of the cerebral malaria the patient exhibit neurological symptoms such as nystagmus, conjugate gaze palsy, abnormal posturing, seizures or coma and opisthotonus.

“Malaria is a difficult disease to control largely due to the highly adaptable nature of the vector and parasites involved. While effective tools have been and will continue to be developed to combat malaria, inevitably, over time the parasites and mosquitoes will evolve means to circumvent those tools if used in isolation or used ineffectively. To achieve sustainable control over malaria, healthcare professionals will need a combination of new approaches and tools, and research will play a critical role in the development of those next-generation strategies.”

Effective vaccines would be critical to develope against the disease as a prevention strategy. NIAID supports a wide range of research on the development of the vaccine against the disease. “Antimalarial drugs, in combination with mosquito control programs, have historically played a key role in controlling malaria in endemic areas, resulting in significant reduction of the geographic range of malarial disease worldwide. Vector management tools such as insecticides, environmental modification, and bed nets have contributed greatly to successful malaria control efforts historically.” Prevention of this disease is much more cost-effective than treatment of the disease in the long run. The cost required for using the preventive measures is accessible by most of the poor countries.

Tuberculosis

“Vector control refers to procedures used to reduce malaria by decreasing the levels of broadcast by mosquitoes. To protect an individual, the most effectual insect repellents are depended on DEET or picaridin. Insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS) have been exposed to be extremely efficient in preventing malaria between children in locations where malaria is frequent. “The risk of disease can be reduced by preventing mosquito bites by using mosquito nets and insect repellents, or with mosquito-control measures such as spraying insecticides and draining standing water. Several medications are available to prevent malariain travelers to areas where the disease is common.”

“Recent improvements in malaria prevention strategies have further enhanced its effectiveness in combating areas highly infected with the malaria parasite. Additional bite prevention measures include mosquito and insect repellents that can be directly applied to the skin. This form of mosquito repellent is slowly replacing indoor residual spraying, which is considered to have high levels of toxicity by WHO (World Health Organization). Further additions to preventive care are sanctions on blood transfusions. Once the malaria parasite enters the erythrocytic stage, it can adversely affect blood cells, making it possible to contract the parasite through infected blood. Doxycycline and the atovaquone and proguanil combination are the best tolerated with mefloquine associated with higher rates of neurological and psychiatric symptoms.”

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Mode of transmission of tuberculosis

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Symptoms of tuberculosis