How dangerous is HIV in women and what are the symptoms of infection?

1 Conditions for the survival of the causative agent of the disease

The causative agent of the disease is a "delayed" virus. There are 2 types of disease:

• type 1 is the result of mass spread, as a rule, AIDS develops;
• 2 type is poorly spread, is still localized in West Africa.

Path of infection: during hematocontact, that is, when the blood of a healthy person comes into contact with the blood of an infected person. This is possible during the application of stabbing and cutting things with the remains of the patient's blood, during pregnancy( from mother to the fetus), with sexual contacts.

Habitat of the virus in women: blood, saliva, secret of the gonads, menstrual flow. May also be contained in tears, milk, saliva, human cerebral fluid, but these sources do not represent a serious infectious danger, as the concentration of viruses is very small. For example, to get sick from saliva, it should be 4 liters. Are not sources of infection: public places, swimming pool, bath, shower, insects.

The virus does not propagate on its own, outside its favorable environment.

It is introduced into the cell and, using T-lymphocytes of the immune system, multiplies. As a result, antibodies are produced.

In an external environment, the virus can remain viable for up to 48 hours. It is very sensitive to the effects of temperature: it dies at 80 ° C, becomes inactive at 56 ° C.

The probability of a woman becoming sexually infected depends on:

• from the presence of microtraumas in the genital area;
• on the amount( concentration) of the virus in the blood;
• on the quality of the partner's immunity.

According to Australian scientists, the risk of heterosexual women's contact with unprotected patients is 0.1% or 1 in 1000 cases. In other words, if one partner is HIV-infected, the infection will occur once every 3 years if daily contact occurs.

2 Stages of development of pathology

Initial stage - incubation period. Duration - from 20 to 90 days, sometimes up to a year. The virus is highly asymptomatic in the organism of a woman before the clinical development of the disease or before the penetration of antibodies into the blood. To detect the virus at this stage, you need an analysis of blood serum.

Further, the clinical course of the disease and the production of specific antibodies are observed. Explicit signs of the disease at this stage may not be, it is possible to determine the disease only by serological diagnosis. Acute course was observed in 60-90% of patients in the first 3 months, without development of antibodies.

Visual signs of the development of the disease: fever, papules, erythema and vesicles on the skin and mucous membranes, inflammation of the mucous membranes of the pharynx, lymph nodes, can be accompanied by diarrhea, enlargement of the liver and spleen. Approximately 10% of ill women develop fungal infections, pneumonia, sore throat, herpes.

Hidden signs of the disease. Along with obvious signs, immunity weakens. Immune cells die, the body tries to actively fill them. At this stage, HIV manifests itself:

• with serological skin rashes;
• increased lymph nodes from different groups.

This stage lasts from 2 to 20 years, on average - 7 years. Secondary signs of the manifestation of the disease: the development of various infections, the causative agents of which are parasites, bacteria and fungi. The woman's body weight decreases by about 20%, the level of working capacity decreases, the body temperature is increased, there is an unreasonable diarrhea. Often develops leukoplakia( the formation of a film, a plate on the mucous membranes of the mouth, cervix, genitals), there are malignant neoplasms of the skin( Kaposi's sarcoma).The organism comes to extreme exhaustion. Often there is tuberculosis of extrapulmonary forms. At this stage, the consequences are irreversible, the patient dies after about 2 months.

The disease can occur in a different scenario. Usually the disease lasts from 1 month to 20 years.

The specifics, signs of HIV infection in women and men differ slightly, which is due to the anatomical and biochemical features of the woman's body, hormonal differences.

3 Factors contributing to infection and symptoms of

The most common provoking factors are:

1. Venereal diseases, as they cause damage to mucous membranes.
2. Erosion of the cervix, due to which the cells exfoliate. If a woman is HIV-infected, the cells will serve as a source of infection.
3. With anal contacts, the risk of the disease increases, since the likelihood of microtrauma of the anus and rectum is high. With oral contact, too, infection can occur if there are ulcers or wounds in the oral cavity.

Circumstances that increase the risk of a woman's disease:

Unprotected sperm contact is 2-4 times more than a female secret. Thus, the concentration of virus particles increases.

Sperm can stay in the vagina for 2-3 days - this is an additional factor for infection.

HIV infection in women is different from men. The most common symptoms of the "female" disease:

• in the underarm area, inguinal zone and neck lymph nodes increase;
• rash over the body for the first 4 weeks;
• various infections of the genitals, chronic vaginal or oral thrush, vaginal infections that are difficult to treat;
• easily formed bruises;
• fever for 2-4 weeks or a powerful night sweating;
• increased irritability and general physical fatigue;
• diarrhea;
• weight loss while maintaining the usual diet and rhythm of life;
• small pelvic infection;
• white spots in the mouth;
• painful menstruation;
• violation of the periodicity of menstruation( amenorrhea or prolonged);
• herpes on the mucous surfaces of organs;
• cervical dysplasia;
• periodic headaches, as if with fatigue or with flu;
• sores on the genitals;
• development of oncological diseases;
• warts on the genitals;
• mucus from the vagina;
• persistent pain in the pelvic area.

Obviously, each of the symptoms may indicate the presence of a completely different disease.

Prevention of the disease consists in the elimination of unintentional sexual contacts;condom use;refusal of drugs;obligatory treatment to a doctor in case of inflammation in the genital area and suspected of infection.

Cautious attitude towards choosing a specialist for applying tattoos, carrying out a hardware manicure and cosmetic procedures.

Widespread therapy that inhibits the activity of viruses. To this end, appoint: Zidovudine, Stavudine, Lamivudine, Didanosine, Delavirdine, Nevirapine, Nelfinavir, Indinavir, Saquinavir. Often appoint several drugs at the same time. They are taken without interruption, otherwise the stability of the virus is formed, which makes the treatment ineffective.