Preventing and Treating HIV/AIDS

Main Idea: There are many actions you can take to avoid contracting HIV/AIDS.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that more than one million Americans live with HN, and 40,000 are infected each year. About 5,000 of those will be young people between the ages of 13 and 24. Teens who are sexually active or who use intravenous drugs have a particularly high risk for contracting HIV/AIDS.

The following healthful behaviors will help protect you from infection:

Practice abstinence.
Do not share needles.
Avoid situations where drug and alcohol use might compromise your decision making.
Use refusal skills when you feel pressured to engage in risky behaviors.

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Diagnosing HIV/AIDS

Main Idea: Several tests are used to diagnose HIV/AIDS.

If someone believes he or she may have been exposed to Hrv, the person needs to be tested. Testing is available in a doctor’s office, local health department or hospital, and sites that specialize in HIV testing. Some places, such as the health department, will do the test for free.

Typically, a blood sample or an oral specimen from between the inside ofthe cheek and the gum is collected and sent to a laboratory for analysis. Results are usually available within two weeks. At most testing sites, qualified personnel are available to answer questions, make referrals, and explain results.

Types of Laboratory HIV Tests

After collected samples are sent to a laboratory, technicians screen them for HIV antibodies. A person’s body does not naturally have HIV antibodies: they are produced only in the presence of an infection. The most common laboratory tests used to screen, diagnose, and confirm HIV antibodies are the EIA and Western blot tests.

EIA Test

The first test technicians run on a sample is an enzyme, a test that screens for the presence of HN antibodies in the blood. If the results are positive, that means HIV antibodies are present, and the EIA test repeated. If the second test is also positive, then the Western blot test is run. Both tests are more than 98 percent accurate.

Western Blot Test

The Western blot is a test that detects HIV antibodies and confirms the results of earlier EIA tests. The Western blot test is used only after EIA tests produce positive results. If the results of the two EIA tests and the Western blot test are all positive, a person is diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. The combined EIA and Western blot tests are expensive. However, many health departments and HIV/ AIDS information and counseling centers will pay for the costs of these tests.

Additional Tests Two other tests-the RNA and the CD4– may be run when a Western blot test comes back positive. The RNA, or viral load test, shows how many copies of the virus are circulating in the blood. The CD4 test looks at the number of white blood cells in a sample of blood. These two tests give a more complete picture of an HIV-infected person’s condition.They can also help doctors monitor the disease and determine how much medicine, if any, a patient needs.

A rapid test is an HIV test that produces results in only 20 minutes. It can be used in situations where the infected person might not come back to learn the results of the test. A blood sample is collected and analyzed immediately on site. Although the results are fairly accurate, they are considered preliminary. If the result is positive, a Western blot test is done to confirm HIV antibodies.

Home Testing Kits

Home testing kits are marketed on the Internet and in newspapers and magazines. However, most are not trustworthy, particularly if they claim to provide results in a short time in your own home. Check to make sure that any home test is approved by the FDA. An FDA- approved test requires providing a spot of dried blood, which is then mailed to an approved lab for analysis. The results are more than 99 percent accurate and are available within two weeks. Appropriate counseling and referrals are provided for negative and positive test results.

Benefits of Early Diagnosis

There are several benefits to early testing and diagnosis of HIV/AIDS. Early detection allows a person to

begin proper medical care early to slow the progress of the virus.
avoid behaviors that could spread HIV to others.
gain peace of mind when the results are negative.

Treating HIV/AIDS

Main Idea: Medications can slow the growth of HIV/AIDS, but there is no cure.

Since the early 1980s, drugs have been developed that slow the growth of the human immunodeficiency virus and treat some of the symptoms. No drug yet exists to cure HIV/AIDS. Many of the drugs available are also used to treat opportu- nistic infections. As you learned in Lesson 3, these infections occur in individuals who do not have healthy immune sys- tems. AIDS-opportunistic illnesses include pneumonia and some types ofcancers that can ultimately cause death.

To slow the growth of the AIDS virus, people take a combination of drugs, a treatment known as highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). In 2006, the FDA approved a once-daily, single-pill treatment for HIV/AIDS.