One Cell At a Time
HIV CAN REMAIN HIDDEN FOR YEARS, ADDING TO ITS SPREAD
By COSHANDRA DILLARD
Second in a four-part series
Human immunodeficiency virus. It’s a disease that slowly ravages certain cells in the body. In most cases, people do not learn about the infection until years later after it has weakened the immune system and they become sick. Dr. Richard Yates, a Tyler infectious disease doctor, said when the virus enters the bloodstream it bonds onto CD4-T cells. It then injects its genetic material into the cells, creating new virulent DNA, eventually making its host more susceptible to infections that would normally be easy for the body to fight. CD4 cells are critical to good health because it initiates the body’s response to microorganisms, he said. This includes fungal infections, certain viral infections and tuberculosis. "They are kind of like the general directing the troops," Dr. Yates said. "If you wipe out the CD4 cells, the immune system is not really effective in terms of treating certain types of infections." As the virus slowly works to destroy all of the CD4 cells, it may take five to 10 years before an HIV-positive person has any symptoms. "The main problem is it’s such a long time between when you get infected and when you get sick," Dr. Yates said. "You can spread the virus during that time. A lot of people don’t know they’re HIV-positive and can spread the virus before they get sick enough to seek medical attention."
At the early stages of HIV infection - HIV syndrome - patients may experience flu-like symptoms including sore throat and high fever. Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS, occurs when the CD4 count plummets. A patient can develop additional opportunistic infections and cancer.
Tackling Myths
The biggest myth about HIV, Dr. Yates said, is how it spreads. Typically, it is through sexual intercourse, sharing of needles, a mother can pass it to her baby and occasionally, health care workers or public servants can be exposed to tainted blood via dirty needles. Dr. Yates said it is "relatively hard to catch" as it is usually contracted when someone has an open sore or cut that allows the virus to enter into the bloodstream. In addition, sexually transmitted diseases like herpes also make people more susceptible to the virus, hence the importance of being tested for all STDs. Even though, he said, people still believe it can be contracted from tears, sweat and toilet seats. But medical experts say the virus is very fragile and does not live long outside the body. "People are fearful to drink a glass of water after someone who is infected or afraid to use the bathroom after someone who is infected," Dr. Yates said. "They don’t have a clear understanding of how HIV spreads."
He also noted that during intercourse, it is more easily spread from man to woman than from woman to man since women can have microscopic tears in the vagina. Dr. Yates said after regularly taking medications, patients can go "undetectable." This means the viral load - a measure of the severity of HIV infection - is low and the progression of the disease has slowed. The patient may be at a lower risk of spreading the virus, Dr. Yates said. However, he said patients still are counseled on safe sex practices because the patient is not cured. With improved medications introduced each year, the treatment of HIV/AIDS has drastically changed and in the future, Dr. Yates said he expects many will live to their full life expectancy.
"The future of HIV care looks very good if you take your medicines," he said. "If you’re noncompliant with your medication it is going to be typically difficult to survive it. … Obviously curing it would be good but prevention of this disease is the best route."
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