Human immunodeficiency virus testing shows if a patient is infected. When conducting a study in the blood serum, they look for antibodies to HIV. When a retrovirus enters the body, the immune system begins to produce antibodies and antigen proteins. For he althy, not infected people, the presence of such antibodies in the blood serum is uncharacteristic. However, they can appear in newborn babies whose mother is infected with the immunodeficiency virus. In such children, up to the age of one and a half years, antibodies may persist that have passed through the hematoplacental barrier from mother to child.
Characteristics of the disease
HIV infection is a pathological condition, which is a disease, the causative agent of which develops in the human body for a long time. At the moment, there are no effective means of combating the disease. In addition to the impossibility of curing the disease after infection, at the moment it is only possible to prevent infection through preventive measures. After the pathogen enters the bloodstream, the rapid destruction of immune cells begins.protection - leukocytes. The infection is characterized by a rapid spread and a decrease in the body's defense to external influences. Microorganisms are able to penetrate into the body cavity through cell membranes and empty spaces of the intercellular fluid, preventing the performance of its functions. As a result, the human body almost completely loses its barrier function over time, which completely eliminates the possibility of defeating an infectious disease. The process of infection and decrease in immunity is very long. The virus is capable of destroying the human body for more than ten years. At the same time, antibodies to HIV of groups 1 and 2 appear in his blood.
Transmission routes
The source of infection is a person. However, higher primates can also be carriers of the disease. A particularly high number of microorganisms lives in the humid environments of the body: blood, semen and serous secretion of parts of the uterus. Therefore, the ways of transmission of the disease are diverse.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus is most often sexually transmitted, especially if personal protective equipment is not used. In this case, the microorganism penetrates into the body of a he althy person through cracks and scratches in the mucous membranes of the genital organs. In addition to AIDS, unprotected sex leads to various STDs (sexually transmitted diseases).
Infection is possible through direct contact with the patient's blood. So, transmission is possible when using personal hygiene products: razors and scissors, medical instruments, syringes. In addition, the transfer canoccur when injecting drugs into a vein and in beauty salons using non-sterile instruments.
Transmission from an HIV-infected mother to her child is possible. However, during gestation, transmission is unlikely due to the hematoplacental barrier. Infection most often occurs at the time of birth.
Disease development
The course of the disease is long. Depending on the number of microorganisms in the human body and the affected T-lymphocytes, signs may not be detected for a long period. Even if the immune system secretes antibodies to HIV, the symptoms of the disease most often also do not appear. In fact, the development of the disease is divided into such periods.
- The incubation period is the period of time that begins at the time of infection and ends when antibodies and antigens to HIV appear in the blood serum.
- The second period is characterized by primary symptoms. It begins after the appearance of antigens to HIV and is characterized by a very high rate of reproduction of viruses in the blood serum. The number of particles that respond to infection increases greatly. During this period, a pathological condition can be diagnosed. Most patients do not show symptoms of the disease. However, hyperthermia, an increase in the size of the lymph nodes, severe pain in different parts of the head, and muscle weakness may occur. There may be pain when moving and general malaise.
- The third period is characterized by the absence of symptoms. The course is very long. During this period, gradually appliedhuge harm to the body, the activity of T-group lymphocytes decreases. The number of pathogenic microorganisms in body cavities and blood serum increases significantly. The period of occurrence of manifestations of concomitant sexually transmitted diseases is also characterized. Neoplasms of various nature may occur.
- The last stage of the disease is acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. This period is accompanied by a significant number of secondary sexually transmitted diseases, the diagnosis of which is not difficult. Over time, other body systems begin to be affected: respiratory, nervous, humoral. This is fatal.
What if antibodies were detected?
After the diagnosis, when antibodies and antigens to the human immunodeficiency virus are detected, it is necessary to monitor the general state of human he alth. It is necessary to regularly carry out diagnostic measures aimed at establishing concomitant diseases. At the moment, pharmacologists have not found drugs against the immunodeficiency virus, so it is necessary to maintain the state of the human immune system at a sufficient level. At the same time, it is necessary to be examined for diseases that are sexually transmitted, the manifestations of which are very clearly expressed against the background of the immune depression of the body.
Indications for diagnostic measures
Examination for infection with the immunodeficiency viruscan be done in several different ways. In this case, to clarify the diagnosis, it may be necessary to undergo several studies in stages. Usually, the first study is an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay of blood serum content. A study is underway to detect exoenzymes that are secreted by the virus. If the result is indeterminate or in case of inaccuracy, after receiving the results, the patient may be referred for additional examination. Testing for HIV antibodies is required in the following situations:
- During pregnancy planning.
- When pregnant.
- After sexual intercourse with an unknown partner.
- When a patient develops an unexplained fever.
- If the subject's weight has dropped sharply.
- In inflammatory processes of the lymph nodes in several areas of the body.
- In preparation for surgery.
For children or newborns whose mother is infected, the diagnosis that is made for them is not accurate. The absence of antibodies in children cannot accurately prove the absence of infection. Therefore, regular diagnostic measures will be required during the growth period.
AIDS-defining diseases
In view of the reduced immune response to other diseases, the World He alth Organization has identified some diseases as AIDS marker or AIDS indicator diseases. Diseases are divided into two groups. The first includes pathologies that appear only with severeimmunodeficiency (the level of T-lymphocytes in the blood is not higher than 200). The second group includes diseases that can occur without increased immunodeficiency syndrome.
To the first group belong:
- Fungal diseases of internal organs: candidiasis, cryptococcosis.
- Herpes simplex infection with sores that take a long time to heal.
- Kaposi's sarcoma in adults and young patients
- Cerebral lymphoma in patients under 60.
- Toxoplasmosis GM in children.
- Pneumocystis pneumonia.
Second group includes:
- Bacterial infections in children under 13 years of age with frequent occurrence.
- Coccidiosis associated with mycosis.
- Mycoses.
- Salmonella septicemia.
Antibodies to HIV 1 and HIV 2
This phenomenon may occur after infection. When antibodies to HIV are detected, what does this mean? Usually proteins of antigenic nature appear after infection. In the normal state, antigen proteins are not detected in the blood serum. Determination of antibodies to HIV is the main way to diagnose the disease. For its implementation, enzyme immunoassay is used, which is sensitive to almost all proteins. The search for indicator proteins for HIV occurs on the 4th week after probable infection in most recipients. In addition, the presence of antibodies to HIV can be detected in 10% of the examined 6 months after infection. At the last stagedisease, the amount of antibodies in the blood is almost zero.
Result
A blood test for HIV antibodies is carried out using qualitative tests. Therefore, the result is defined as positive or negative. If the result is negative, it is considered that there are no antibodies to the immunodeficiency virus in the patient's blood. This result of the analysis for antibodies to the HIV virus is handed out immediately after receipt.
If you get a positive result, you need to conduct additional examinations. Two additional analyzes are carried out on the same material. This is done to avoid false positives.
Next steps
If positive, patient data and blood samples will need to be sent to the regional he alth center. There, a positive result is confirmed or an unreliable result is clarified. Under these circumstances, the response to the examination is issued by the regional acquired immunodeficiency syndrome center.
Additional examinations
If antibodies to HIV are not detected during the enzyme immunoassay method, additional examinations for antigens of a certain category may be prescribed. Tests for HIV-resisting proteins include:
- Diagnosis for p24.
- Diagnosis by the polymerase reaction method.
Analysis for p24
Protein is the protein wall of the geneticvirus material. Its presence in the blood is evidence of the beginning of the division of viruses. May appear about 2 weeks after infection. Checking with enzyme immunoassay will give a result in the period from a month to two. After 8 weeks, the antigen completely disappears from the blood. The second formation of the p24 antigen falls on the last stages of the development of the disease, before the formation of human immunodeficiency syndrome.
Polymerase test
The reaction is carried out to clarify inaccurate results of preliminary examinations or for early detection of infection. In addition, it can be carried out to detect the current stage of the disease. The technique allows to find the gene material of the virus in the blood serum 2 weeks after infection. In this case, you can get a quality result:
- A positive test value indicates the presence of ribonucleic acid specific for the human immunodeficiency virus in the blood.
- A negative result indicates the absence of gene material in the recipient's blood serum.
Thus, it is realistic to check the presence of infection in a patient. In addition to a qualitative reaction, the detection of antibodies to HIV is carried out using a quantitative one. This is used to determine the number of T-lymphocytes in the blood, then a prediction can be made regarding the further development of the disease and the patient's condition. The decrease in the number of cells is directly related to the increase in the number of pathogenic microorganisms.
