WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE PROBLEM?

AIDS is the consequence of infection with HIV. HIV is a retrovirus that primarily infects vital organs of the human immune system. Once HIV has killed so many vital cells known as CD4+ T there are fewer than 200 of these cells per  micro liter of blood. The median time of progression from HIV infection to AIDS is nine to ten years. The median survival time after developing AIDS is only 9.2 months.  

           

Older people have weaker immune systems, and therefore have a greater risk than younger people. Poor access to health care and the existence of infections such as tuberculosis.

HIV seeks out and destroys the vital cells known CD4+ during the later stages of the infection. A vigorous immune response controls the infection and initiates the clinically latent phase. However, CD4+ T cells in mucosal tissues remain depleted throughout the infection, although enough remain to initially ward off life-threatening infections. Immune activation, which is reflected by the increased activation state of immune cells and release of proinflammatory cytokines. Another cause is the breakdown of the immune surveillance system of the mucosal barrier caused by the depletion of mucosal CD4+ T cells during the later phase of disease.

A major cause of CD4+ T cell loss appears to result from their heightened susceptibility to apoptosis when the immune system remains activated. Although new T cells are produced by the thymus to replace the ones lost, the regenerative capacity of the thymus is slowly destroyed by direct infection of its thymocytes by HIV. Eventually, the minimal number of CD4+ T cells necessary to maintain a sufficient immune response is lost, leading to AIDS.