Basic Info on HIV & AIDS in Malaysia

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Written by Joel Wong, Medically reviewed by Dr.Deyn

 

HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a virus that attacks the body’s immune system. If HIV is not treated, it can lead to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). Learning the basics about HIV can keep you healthy and? prevent HIV transmission.  

 

What is HIV? 

• HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a virus that attacks the body’s immune system. If HIV is not treated, it can lead to? AIDS? (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). 
• There is currently no effective cure. Once people get HIV, they have it for life. 

• But with proper medical care, HIV can be controlled. People with HIV who get effective HIV treatment can live long, healthy lives and protect their partners. 

 

Where Did HIV Come From? 

• HIV infection in humans came from a type of chimpanzee in Central Africa. 
• The chimpanzee version of the virus (called simian immunodeficiency virus, or SIV) was probably passed to humans when humans hunted these chimpanzees for meat and came in contact with their infected blood. 

• Studies show that HIV may have jumped from chimpanzees to humans as far back as the late 1800s. 
• Over decades, HIV slowly spread across Africa and later into other parts of the world. We know that the virus has existed in the United States since at least the mid to late 1970s. 

 

How Do I Know if I Have HIV? 

The only way to know for sure whether you have HIV is to get tested. Knowing your HIV status helps you make healthy decisions to prevent getting or transmitting HIV. 

 

Are there Symptoms of HIV? 

Some people have flu-like symptoms within 2 to 4 weeks after infection (called acute HIV infection). These symptoms may last for a few days or several weeks. Possible symptoms include 

• Fever, 
• Chills, 
• Rash, 
• Night sweats, 
• Muscle aches, 
• Sore throat, 
• Fatigue, 
• Swollen lymph nodes, and 
• Mouth ulcers. 

 

But some people may not feel sick during acute HIV infection. These symptoms do not mean you have HIV. Other illnesses can cause these same symptoms. 

See a health care provider if you have these symptoms and think you may have been exposed to HIV. Getting tested for HIV is the only way to know for sure. 

 

What are the stages of HIV? 

When people with HIV & display HIV signs and symptoms and do not get treatment, they typically progress through three stages. But HIV medicine can slow or prevent progression of the disease. With the advancements in treatment, progression to Stage 3 is less common today than in the early days of HIV. 

 

 

Stage 1: Acute HIV Infection 

• People have a large amount of HIV in their blood. They are very contagious. 
• Some people have flu-like symptoms. This is the body’s natural response to infection. 
• But some people may not feel sick right away or at all. 
• If you have flu-like symptoms and think you may have been exposed to HIV, seek medical care and ask for a test to diagnose acute infection. 
• Only antigen/antibody tests or nucleic acid tests (NATs)/Viral Load?can diagnose acute infection. 

 

Stage 2: Chronic HIV Infection 

• This stage is also called asymptomatic HIV infection or clinical latency. 
• HIV is still active but reproduces at very low levels. 
• People may not have any symptoms or get sick during this phase. 

• Without taking HIV medicine, this period may last a decade or longer, but some may progress faster. 
• People can transmit HIV in this phase. 
• At the end of this phase, the amount of HIV in the blood (called viral load) goes up and the CD4 cell count goes down. The person may have symptoms as the virus levels increase in the body, and the person moves into Stage 3. 
• People who take HIV medicine as prescribed may never move into Stage 3. 

 

Stage 3: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) 

• The most severe phase of HIV infection. 
• People with AIDS have such badly damaged immune systems that they get an increasing number of severe illnesses, called opportunistic infections. 
• People receive an AIDS diagnosis when their CD4 cell count drops below 200 cells/mm, or if they develop certain opportunistic infections. 
• People with AIDS can have a high viral load and be very infectious. 

• Without treatment, people with AIDS typically survive about three years. 

 

Read: People Living with HIV can live a healthy life 

 

 

What are opportunistic infections? 

Opportunistic infections (OIs) are illnesses that occur more frequently and are more severe in people with HIV. This is because they have damaged immune systems. 

• Today, OIs are less common in people with HIV because of effective HIV treatment. 
• But some people with HIV still develop OIs because 

• they may not know they have HIV, 
• they may not be on HIV treatment, or 
• their HIV treatment may not be working properly. 

 

 

COMMON OPPORTUNISTIC INFECTIONS
Candidiasis	Candidiasis is caused by infection with a fungus called Candida.  Candidiasis can affect the skin, nails, and mucous membranes throughout the body.  People with HIV often have trouble with Candida, especially in the mouth and vagina.  Candidiasis is only considered an OI when it causes severe or persistent infections in the mouth or vagina, or when it develops in the esophagus (swallowing tube) or lower respiratory tract, such as the trachea and bronchi (breathing tube), or deeper lung tissue.
Cryptococcal Meningitis	This illness is caused by infection with the fungus Cryptococcus neoformans.  Most people likely breathe in this microscopic fungus at some point in their lives but never get sick from it.  In people with weakened immune systems, such as those living with HIV, Cryptococcus can stay hidden in the body and later cause a serious (but not contagious) brain infection called cryptococcal meningitis.
Cytomegalovirus (CMV)	CMV can infect multiple parts of the body and cause pneumonia, gastroenteritis (especially abdominal pain caused by infection of the colon), encephalitis (infection) of the brain, and sight-threatening retinitis (infection of the retina at the back of eye).  People with CMV retinitis have difficulty with vision that worsens over time. CMV retinitis is a medical emergency because it can cause blindness if not treated promptly.
Herpes simplex virus (HSV)	HSV is a common virus that causes no major problems for most people.  HSV is usually acquired sexually or passed from mother-to-child during birth.  In most people with healthy immune systems, HSV is usually latent (inactive).  Stress, trauma, other infections, or suppression of the immune system, (such as by HIV), can reactivate the latent virus and symptoms can return.  HSV can cause painful cold sores (sometime called fever blisters) in or around the mouth, or painful ulcers on or around the genitals or anus.  In people with severely damaged immune systems, HSV can also cause infection of the bronchus (breathing tube), pneumonia (infection of the lungs), and esophagitis (infection of the esophagus, or swallowing tube).
Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS)	KS is caused by a virus called Kaposi’s sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV) or human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8).  KS causes small blood vessels to grow abnormally and can occur anywhere in the body.  KS appears as firm pink or purple spots on the skin that can be raised or flat.  KS can be life-threatening when it affects organs inside the body, such as the lung, lymph nodes, or intestines.
Lymphoma	Lymphoma refers to cancer of the lymph nodes and other lymphoid tissues in the body.  There are many kinds of lymphomas. Some types, such as non-Hodgkin lymphoma and Hodgkin lymphoma, are associated with HIV.
Tuberculosis (TB)	TB is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis.  TB can spread through the air when a person with TB coughs, sneezes, or speaks. Breathing in the bacteria can lead to infection in the lungs.  Symptoms of TB in the lungs include cough, tiredness, weight loss, fever, and night sweats.
Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP)	PCP is a lung infection caused by the fungus?Pneumocystis jirovecii.  PCP occurs in people with weakened immune systems.  The first signs of infection are difficulty breathing, high fever, and dry cough.