A Brief Description of AIDS

The waltz of death hovers above the ten million of the over one billion youth in the age group of fifteen and twenty four and an average of six thousand are getting infected every day with the deadly virus. To the dismay of all, forty million deaths in this millennium are predicted. AIDS - the most dreadful and deadliest scourge that has afflicted mankind in the twentieth century. The very name sends a chill down the spine.

Shock, panic, shame, anguish, disgust and vulnerability have captured man, the most brilliant of all creatures. Nothing could shatter the edifice so much so that the whole world now is stark raving mad. With dime-a-dozen misconceptions enfolding, the disease and no cure in the vicinity, it is really difficult to cope with this problem. Before going deep into the how and where, let's see what this thorn in the flesh called AIDS primarily is.

AIDS is the acronym for acquired immune deficiency syndrome. It is a disease which weakens the bodies immune system thereby making the body vulnerable to other infections. Infections known as "opportunistic infections" and other illnesses capitalize on this condition of the body and thrive on it.

HIV, acronym for Human Immune-Deficiency Virus is the virus that causes AIDS. HIV, hailing from a group of viruses called retroviruses, infects human cells. It grows and multiplies using the energy and nutrients provided by those cells. The virus enters the body of a person and multiplies in the white blood cells that guard the entire immune system from infectious diseases.

HIV destroys a specific type of immune cell called the T-helper or CD4. The HIV virus aims at the T-cells as it recognizes the CD4 protein on its surface. These viruses, considerably smaller than the host T-cells grow using it's host's cellular resources! The body desperately tries to replace the infected ones by producing billions of T cells, but right from the word go it fights a losing battle.

By reverse transcriptase RNA, the genetic material of the virus is converted into complementary DNA. This DNA is integrated into the host genome. This is the preliminary stage of infection. This latent phase of the infection can continue without showing any symptoms. The infected person if tested at this stage shows the signs of being HIV positive but AIDS negative. As the virus multiplies in the body it damages these cells and paves the way for other fatal diseases like pneumonia and cancer. The HIV virus lives in the lymph nodes, which are an integral part of the immune system. These lymph nodes, with their net like structures that act as a protective shield or filter, catch the infected T-cells and virus. Thus the healthy T-cells also get polluted as they pass through infected lymph nodes.

There are two major categories of HIV, namely HIV-1 and HIV-2. HIV-1, with 10 subtypes, is the most common. This form is prevalent in the US. HIV-2 is not that active and is restricted to West Africa, where it is fast spreading. Now how and where did this scary disease first make its drastic presence? Debates and arguments are in full swing where in a licentious flight attendant to an ill-planned vaccine programme are held responsible.