Dideoxycytidine slow progression of the disease by

(dideoxycytidine) – slow progression of the disease by
preventing replication of the virus
ART – antiretroviral therapy, collective name for these drugs
Protease inhibitors – attack protease which HIV needs in order to multiply
Darunavir – drug that acts on viruses that are resistant to protease inhibitors
HAART – highly active antiretroviral therapy, a drug cocktail of a protease inhibitor combined with
AZT and one other anti-HIV drug, decreases the number of deaths related to HIV and allows HIV
positive patients to live longer, the virus remains but its count is undetectable
Women In the early epidemic there were few women with HIV/AIDS but numbers of HIV infected
women is increasing due to heterosexual contact with infected men or injection drug use
Children Referred to as Pediatric AIDS, numbers are very low as using AZT during pregnancy
drastically reduces the risk that HIV will be passed to the baby, AIDS in infants has been
nearly eliminated
Ethnic
Minorities
Increase in the proportion of AIDS cases who are black and aboriginal
Numbers of aboriginals with AIDS has been increasing and they tend to be infected at an
earlier age; prob due to lack of prevention programs and poor access to testing
Psy
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ratio
ns
Almost analogous to receiving a diagnosis of an incurable cancer as AIDS is incurable, but AIDS
is a socially stigmatized disease in a way that cancer is not
Make it more difficult for the person to fill the human need for emotional and physical intimacy,
people may become scared to have sex with their partner or choose to stay single so that they do
not have to tell people that they are HIV positive
Once the patient becomes sicker they won’t be able to hold a job so financial worries become an
additional strain
Psychotherapy is important because being happy mentally can also improve physical health, we
also need to work with improving sexual satisfaction because this is an important quality of life
Rec
ent
prog
ress
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arch
We must make a vaccine against HIV, this is difficult because there are many forms of HIV and
the virus mutates rapidly, recombines and makes even more forms
Working on a microbicide that could be placed in the vagina or anus or on the penis to stop
spread of HIV
Possible gene therapy because a mutation of a gene caused strong resistance to HIV
Killer T cells (CTLs or cytoxic T lymphocytes) battle HIV infected cells in the body by releasing 3
chemokines, possible vaccine to boost chemokines and make better treatments
In the end, prevention is better than cure and until we make a vaccination we must aim to change people’s
behaviour because it is behaviour that spreads HIV (for example in Uganda they had the ABC program –
abstain, be faithful, and use condoms – which has brought the epidemic under control)
Gonorrhea – oldest of the sexual diseases, symptoms are described in the Old Testament
(3500 yrs)
 STI caused by the bacterium gonococcus Neisseria gonorrhoeae
 Problem in wartime because it spreads rapidly among the soldiers and the prostitutes
they sleep with, esp in WWI and WWII, became less prevalent in the 50s after the
discovery of penicillin
