Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was detected in the early 80s and has since become the largest epidemic in a global pandemic that affects more than 35 million people. AIDS is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
What are HIV and AIDS?
By death or damage to the cells of the immune system, HIV progressively destroys the body’s ability to fight infections and certain cancers. People diagnosed with AIDS are susceptible to live threatened by illnesses called opportunistic infections that are caused by microbes that usually do not cause disease in people with healthy immune systems.
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The target of HIV is a particular type of white blood cells called CD4 + cells. These cells are important because they are the ones that tell cells to fight infection when they start work.
HIV infection reduces the number of CD4 lymphocytes, CD4 + cells.
When the number of CD4 lymphocytes, CD4 + cells drops to a certain level, weakens the body’s immune system. A person infected with HIV is said to have AIDS when the amount of CD4 is below 200 or when they appear opportunistic infections or cancers.
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is the advanced stage of HIV infection. Occurs when a person infected with the virus has some of the tumor or infectious disease known as defining events (tuberculosis, pneumonia, etc.)..