What is the cause of hiv virus

And, while it is possible not to get HIV after a single act of unprotected sex, people have gotten HIV after just one exposure. These per-act statistics may make it seem as if your general risk of HIV is extremely low, but they don't paint the complete picture. Other risk factors can amplify the risk, sometimes dramatically. Among the risk factors to consider:. The sharing of needles, syringes, and other drug paraphernalia is an effective way to pass HIV from one person to the next.

The transmission of the virus is especially high when a person has a high viral load. Other practices such as "booting" or "kicking" in which blood is drawn into the syringe and then injected further amplify the risk. In certain countries, like Russia, injecting drug use is the predominant mode of HIV transmission, not sex. Even beyond exposure to HIV-contaminated blood, people who are under the influence of drugs are more likely to engage in risky sexual behaviors, including unprotected sex, sex with multiple partners, or trading sex for money or drugs.

Since the s, clean needle exchange programs have successfully reduced the rate of HIV and other communicable diseases such as hepatitis C by distributing clean syringes to drug users. Men who have sex with men MSM are more than twice as likely to inject drugs than other men, most of whom are white and under age Trans women and other transfeminine people are also more likely to use injection drugs compared to the general population.

Pregnancy is a less common mode of infection but one that still poses risks to certain groups. There are three circumstances under which a birthing parent with HIV can pass the virus to their baby: during pregnancy, delivery, breastfeeding, or chestfeeding feeding a baby milk from your chest.

The transmission of the virus before or during childbirth is largely the result of the rupture of the placenta which exposes the baby to HIV-positive blood. HIV is also present in chest milk or breast milk and can potentially cause infection, particularly if the birthing parent does not have an undetectable viral load. Even if a birthing parent arrives at the hospital with no prior prenatal care, an intravenous infusion of antiretroviral drugs used in combination with a cesarean section can greatly reduce the risk of transmission.

In the United States, parents are advised not to breastfeed if they have HIV and to bottle-feed instead. In developing countries, the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding in terms of nutrition and the building of immunity are seen to outweigh the risks in resource-poor communities.

In , only 33 reported cases of birthing parent-to-child transmission of HIV were reported in the United States. Despite the low number of mother-to-child transmissions in the United States, the risk among Black women is eight times greater than in White women and seven times greater than in Latinx women. Needlestick injuries sometimes referred to as sharps injuries can expose a person to tainted blood or body fluids. The risk is of concern for doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers who are vulnerable to blood-borne infections from patients.

Even so, the CDC suggests that the risk is low due to universal precautions that are designed to reduce the risk of disease transmission to healthcare workers. Today, the per-incidence risk of HIV from a needlestick injury is roughly 0.

If an accident does occur, a preventive strategy called post-exposure prophylaxis PEP may avert an infection if started within 72 hours of the exposure. With the institution of HIV blood screening in and universal blood screening in , the likelihood of transmission by this route is almost unheard of. Similarly, state regulations governing the licensing of tattoo and piercing parlors have also made these procedures unlikely causes of HIV.

To date, there are no documented cases of HIV transmission from either tattooing or body piercing. The CDC considers the risk negligible. Understanding the causes and risk factors of HIV can help you develop strategies to protect yourself whether you have HIV or don't.

This first step is getting diagnosed and knowing your HIV status. If you have HIV, early treatment can cut your risk of serious HIV- and non-HIV-related illness by more than half while allowing you to enjoy a normal to near-normal life expectancy. Moreover, having an undetectable viral load reduces your risk of infecting others to zero. HIV stands for the human immunodeficiency virus. The virus causes disease by targeting and killing immune cells, called CD4 T-cells , that are responsible for coordinating the immune defense.

As these cells are progressively destroyed, the body becomes less and less able to defend itself against infections that it could otherwise control. Most people get HIV through sex, namely vaginal or anal sex. HIV can also be passed through shared needles or needlestick injuries in healthcare settings. Mothers with HIV can pass the virus to their babies during pregnancy although this is less common in the United States due to the routine testing and treatment of mothers during perinatal care.

This can happen in several ways:. You can't become infected with HIV through ordinary contact. HIV isn't spread through the air, water or insect bites. HIV infection weakens your immune system, making you much more likely to develop many infections and certain types of cancers.

But you can protect yourself and others from infection. Your doctor will also test your kidney function before prescribing Truvada and continue to test it every six months. You need to take the drugs every day. They don't prevent other STIs , so you'll still need to practice safe sex. If you have hepatitis B, you should be evaluated by an infectious disease or liver specialist before beginning therapy.

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Request an Appointment at Mayo Clinic. Share on: Facebook Twitter. Show references Jameson JL, et al. Human immunodeficiency virus disease: AIDS and related disorders. Public policy during this period took a brave step socially. The condom, rarely ever spoken of in polite company and used even less, became less taboo and more widely used than ever before. Condom sales took off in developed countries, quadrupling in some areas. In most of Africa, public opinion was backed by the leadership of African politicians who refused to acknowledge the existence of sex between men, let alone a health crisis that affected a nation's homosexual population.

In many countries, homosexuality was and still is a criminal act; it was not uncommon for early AIDS activists to end up in jail. In countries where the gay social network operated underground, reaching the population with lifesaving education and antiretrovirals was near impossible. Furthermore, in African nations, public policy was focused on treatment options, versus the needle exchange programs and safe sex awareness campaigns found in other parts of the world.

Unfortunately, a lack of trained healthcare professionals made it difficult to administer the medications that might have slowed the rate of HIV infection in these countries.

By , AIDS would overtake swaths of the African continent; nearly 40 percent of Botswana's adult population was infected , with similar percentages in Swaziland.

The outlook was especially grim for the children of HIV-positive adults. The U. Image via Avert. Even today, over 97 percent of the world's HIV-infected population lives in Africa.

While HIV and AIDS had been noted in sexually active heterosexual groups in central African countries from the earliest days of the epidemic, popular opinion that HIV was largely contained to gay communities endured well into the s. This line of thinking had stalled education and prevention efforts in the U. But as HIV gained a footing in new population groups, global leaders made historic if not overdue efforts to stop its spread in developing nations. Since , additional factors have begun contribute to the the global spread of HIV.

Heroin addiction in Asia has been on the rise, which brought with it dirty needles and the risk of new infections. India suffered with over 2 million diagnoses alone , in spite of the government's refusal to admit the epidemic had adversely affected the nation.

This report had good news for developed nations: by , the U. The report also demonstrated that while insistent public awareness campaigns about safe sex and other methods of transmission had slowed the rate of HIV infection in developed countries, there was much to be done elsewhere. Under President Bush, the U.

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