What Are the Pros and Cons of Using Gene Therapy for HIV?

AIDS is a highly harmful infectious disease caused by infection with the HIV virus. HIV is a virus that can attack the human immune system. It takes the most important CD4T lymphocytes in the human immune system as its main target of attack, destroying a large number of these cells and causing the body to lose its immune function. Therefore, the human body is susceptible to various diseases, and malignant tumors can occur, and the mortality rate is high. The average incubation period of HIV in the human body is 8-9 years. Before suffering from AIDS, you can live and work for many years without any symptoms.

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2019-12-01 21:12 The HIV / AIDS Story at the Forefront of AIDS Prevention and Control2019-12-01 21:12

On December 1st, on the occasion of "World AIDS Day", reporters approached grassroots workers and volunteers to listen to touching stories on the front lines of AIDS prevention and control. As a serious infectious disease with high harm and high mortality rate, AIDS is currently incurable and no vaccine can prevent it. In recent years, the prevention and treatment departments at all levels in China have detected and treated HIV infection to the greatest extent, and the AIDS epidemic has been continuously controlled at a low epidemic level. ... more

Basic Information

nickname: Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
English name: AIDS
English alias: acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
Visiting department: Infectious Diseases

Multiple groups: Young people
Common causes: Caused by HIV infection
Common symptoms: Persistent fever, weakness, night sweats, and enlarged lymph nodes throughout the body
Contagious: Have
way for spreading: Sexual contact, blood, mother-to-child transmission

Causes of AIDS

Research suggests that AIDS originated in Africa and was brought to the United States by immigrants. On June 5, 1981, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a case report of five AIDS patients in the "morbidity and mortality weekly", which is the first official record of AIDS in the world. In 1982, the disease was named "AIDS". Soon after, AIDS spread rapidly to all continents. In 1985, a foreigner traveling to China died of illness shortly after being admitted to Peking Union Medical College Hospital. He was later confirmed to have died of AIDS. This is the first case of AIDS in China.

It takes several years, even as long as 10 years or longer, for an HIV-infected person to develop into an AIDS patient. A variety of infections such as shingles, oral fungal infections, tuberculosis, etc. may occur due to the extreme decline in body resistance. Severe infections caused by pathogenic microorganisms such as enteritis, pneumonia, encephalitis, candida, pneumocystis, etc., often occur in the later stages of malignant tumors, with long-term consumption, and even systemic failure and death.

Despite the tremendous efforts of many medical researchers around the world, no effective medicine for curing AIDS has been developed, and no effective vaccine for prevention has been developed. AIDS has been listed as a Class B legal infectious disease in China, and it has been listed as one of the infectious diseases in frontier health surveillance.

Clinical manifestations of AIDS

There are many young adults, and the age of onset is 80% in the age of 18 to 45, that is, the age group with more active sexual life. After infection with AIDS, they often suffer from some rare diseases such as pneumocystis pneumonia, toxoplasmosis, atypical mycobacteria and fungal infections.

After HIV infection, there are no clinical manifestations in the first few years to more than 10 years. Once progressing to AIDS, patients can show various clinical manifestations. Generally, the initial symptoms are like common cold and flu-like symptoms, including general fatigue, loss of appetite, and fever. As the illness worsens, symptoms increase day by day, such as Candida albicans infection on the skin and mucous membranes, herpes simplex, banding Herpes, purpura, blood blister, congestion spots, etc .; gradually invading internal organs, unexplained persistent fever, which can last up to 3 to 4 months; cough, shortness of breath, dyspnea, persistent diarrhea, blood in the stool , Liver and splenomegaly, and malignant tumors. Clinical symptoms are complex and variable, but not all of these symptoms occur in every patient. Breathing of the lungs often causes dyspnea, chest pain, cough, etc .; violations of the gastrointestinal tract can cause persistent diarrhea, abdominal pain, wasting weakness, etc .; and can also invade the nervous and cardiovascular systems.

General symptoms

Persistent fever, weakness, night sweats, and persistent generalized lymphadenopathy. In particular, lymphadenopathy of the neck, axilla, and groin is more pronounced. Lymph nodes are more than 1 cm in diameter, have a solid texture, are mobile, and have no pain. Weight loss can reach more than 10% within 3 months, and can be reduced by up to 40%. Patients' weight loss is particularly obvious.

2. Respiratory symptoms

Long-term cough, chest pain, dyspnea, and blood in sputum in severe cases.

3. Gastrointestinal symptoms

Decreased appetite, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and blood in the stool in severe cases. Medications commonly used to treat digestive tract infections are not effective against this type of diarrhea.

4. Nervous system symptoms

Dizziness, headache, unresponsiveness, mental retardation, mental disorders, convulsions, hemiplegia, dementia, etc.

5. Skin and mucosal damage

Herpes simplex, shingles, inflammation and festering of the oral and pharyngeal mucosa.

6. tumor

A variety of malignancies can occur, with Kaposi's sarcoma located on the surface showing red or purplish rash, papules, and invasive masses.

HIV test

Body immune function test

The main types of cellular immunodeficiency include: depletion of CD4 ⁺ T lymphocytes, marked reduction in peripheral blood lymphocytes, CD4 <200 / l, CD4 / CD8 <1.0, (normal people 1.25 to 2.1), late-onset allergic skin test Negative, low response to mitogen stimulation. NK cell activity decreased.

2. Pathogen inspection of various pathogenic infections

Such as the detection of related pathogens by PCR, histopathological examination of malignant tumors.

3. HIV antibody testing

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, gelatin particle agglutination test, immunofluorescence detection method, immunoblot detection method, and radioimmunoprecipitation method are used. The first three items are often used for screening tests, and the latter two are used for confirmation tests.

4. PCR technology to detect HIV virus.

AIDS diagnosis

Acute phase

Diagnostic criteria: The patient has a recent epidemiological history and clinical manifestations, and can be diagnosed by combining laboratory HIV antibodies from negative to positive, or only laboratory tests of HIV antibodies changing from negative to positive. About 80% of HIV-infected people can detect antibodies in the initial screening test 6 weeks after infection, and almost 100% of HIV-infected people can detect antibodies in 12 weeks. Only a few patients can detect the infection within 3 months or 6 months after infection. .

Asymptomatic period

Diagnostic criteria: Have epidemiological history, diagnose with HIV antibody positive, or diagnose with laboratory-only HIV antibody test.

3. AIDS

(1) Unexplained persistent irregular fever above 38 ° C,> 1 month;

(2) the number of chronic diarrhea is more than 3 times / day,> 1 month;

(3) Weight loss of more than 10% within 6 months;

(4) recurrent candida albicans infection;

(5) recurrent herpes simplex virus infection or shingles virus infection;

(6) Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP);

(7) recurrent bacterial pneumonia;

(8) Active tuberculosis or non-tuberculous mycobacterium disease;

(9) Deep fungal infections;

(10) Occupying lesions of the central nervous system;

(11) Dementia in young and middle-aged people;

(12) active cytomegalovirus infection;

(13) Toxoplasmosis encephalopathy;

(14) Penicillium infection;

(15) recurrent sepsis;

(16) Kaposi's sarcoma, lymphoma of the skin, mucous membrane or viscera.

AIDS treatment

Effective medicines to cure HIV infection are still lacking worldwide. The goals of treatment at this stage are: to reduce viral load to the greatest extent and lastingly; to rebuild and maintain immune function; to improve quality of life; to reduce HIV-related morbidity and mortality. The treatment of this disease emphasizes comprehensive treatment, including: general treatment, antiviral treatment, treatment to restore or improve immune function, and treatment of opportunistic infections and malignancies.

General treatment

There is no need for isolation for HIV-infected or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome patients. Asymptomatic HIV-infected persons can still maintain normal work and life. Antiviral treatment should be performed according to the specific condition, and changes in the condition should be closely monitored. Patients with pre-AIDS or those who have developed AIDS should pay attention to rest according to the condition and be given a high-calorie, multi-vitamin diet. Those who cannot eat should be supplemented with intravenous fluids. Enhance supportive therapies, including blood transfusions and nutritional support therapies to maintain water and electrolyte balance.

2. Antiviral treatment

Antiviral therapy is the key to AIDS treatment. With the application of high-efficiency antiretroviral combination therapy, the efficacy of anti-HIV has been greatly improved, and the quality of life and prognosis of patients have been significantly improved.

HIV prevention

There is no effective vaccine to prevent AIDS, so the most important thing is to take preventive measures. The method is:

1. Adhere to cleanliness and self-love, do not engage in prostitution, prostitution, and avoid high-risk sexual behavior.

2. Do not use drugs, and do not share syringes with others.

3. Don't transfusion and use blood products without authorization, use it under the guidance of a doctor.

4. Do not borrow or share personal items such as toothbrushes, shavers, shavers, etc.

5. Condom use is one of the most effective measures to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS in sexual life.

6. Avoid direct contact with blood, semen, and breast milk of AIDS patients and cut off their transmission.

New HIV strains

On November 6, 2019, a research team led by US researchers obtained the genome sequence of a new HIV strain and confirmed the new strain for the first time 19 years after the publication of HIV-related naming guidelines. A research paper published in the American Journal of AIDS showed that this new strain belongs to the HIV-1 type M group and was confirmed to be the L subtype. Most patients in the world are infected with the HIV-1 strain, of which the M group is the most common. ^[1]