HIV Pulmonary Infections
AIDS or HIV is a common ailment being battled with today. With every giant stride man has made as far as science and technology is concerned, there has been an increase in the health problems that have cropped up during the ages.
The ailment referred to as AIDS is an immune system disorder that is brought on by the infection that sets in after the system is infected by the human immune deficiency virus. The pandemic condition is life threatening and almost always results in death. Around two years back, the 2007 statistics revealed that the virus claimed the lives of more than 33 million people worldwide. The death toll on children affected by the virus shot up to a whooping 340,000!
The deaths due to HIV infection are the result of an immune system break down that occurs once a person is infected. One of the worst case scenarios is when the unborn child is affected due to the mother being a HIV infected person. The genetically transferred disease is caught on via contact with body fluids since the virus is known to thrive and grow in the mucus membranes throughout the body and even the blood stream. HIV deaths not only take a toll on overall human population, placing non-affected people at risk too, but also retard economic growth and completely destroy human capital. There has been a lot of research that has been conducted with regards to the onset and onslaught of HIV and the probable cures.
However, it is of utmost importance to be able to understand the symptoms and catch them early to increase probable longevity of the patient. Genetic research in this field reveals that the HIV virus was first investigated in west-central Africa in the early twentieth century. Although the disease itself was first recognized by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention only in the year 1981, its causes and symptoms were identified much earlier. There are a number of treatment options available to slow down the course of the disease, but there is no sure shot cure or vaccine that can totally eradicate the threat it poses to human life. There are a number of pulmonary infections that set in on account of the immune system crack down that is caused by HIV.
Pneumocystis pneumonia or Pneumocystis carinii is one type of pneumonia that is commonly observed in an AIDS patient. The development of the PCP or Pneumocystis pneumonia is rare if not totally absent in the case of healthy and highly immunocompetent individuals. The ailment takes a toll on the pulmonary system of the infected person's body and is caused by the presence of the Pneumocystis jirovecii virus. This malady not only ushers in the right conditions for immediate cause of death but also witnesses a general deterioration in the person's well being. The CD4 count drops to less than 210 cells per µL of blood and leaves enough scope for the development of yet another malady in the form of Tuberculosis or TB.