Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
AIDS is an extremely serious disease in which the ability to mount an immune response is disabled severely. It is caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The first case of AIDS was recognized in 1981, and by 1998, over 30 million people worldwide were infected with HIV/AIDS, of whom 90% were in developing countries of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. HIV infection virtually always progresses to AIDS after a latent period of some years. To the best of our current knowledge, AIDS is a terminal disease. AIDS patients are continuously plagued by infections with microbes and parasites that cause insignificant problems in persons with normal immune responses. HIV preferentially invades and destroys CD4+ lymphocytes. CD4 protein is the major surface receptor for the virus. Normally, CD4+ cells make up 60% to 80% of the T-cell population; in AIDS they can become too rare to be detected. TH1 cells are relatively more depleted than TH2 cells, which upsets the balance of immunoregulation and results in persistent, nonspecific B cell activation.
AIDS is an extremely serious disease in which the ability to mount an immune response is disabled severely. It is caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The first case of AIDS was recognized in 1981, and by 1998, over 30 million people worldwide were infected with HIV/AIDS, of whom 90% were in developing countries of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. HIV infection virtually always progresses to AIDS after a latent period of some years. To the best of our current knowledge, AIDS is a terminal disease. AIDS patients are continuously plagued by infections with microbes and parasites that cause insignificant problems in persons with normal immune responses. HIV preferentially invades and destroys CD4+ lymphocytes. CD4 protein is the major surface receptor for the virus. Normally, CD4+ cells make up 60% to 80% of the T-cell population; in AIDS they can become too rare to be detected. TH1 cells are relatively more depleted than TH2 cells, which upsets the balance of immunoregulation and results in persistent, nonspecific B cell activation.
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