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Explain how HIV infects CD4+ cells?
The HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is the virus which belongs to a group of viruses known as the retroviruses. HIV causes in AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) by infecting the cells of the human and uses up all the energy inside the cells which is required for the growth and development of human cells. AIDS is a fatal disease in which the immunity system of the human body is destroyed due to which the body becomes vulnerable to various infections and also the weakness of the body's immune system also allows other diseases to attack the body. Once a person is infected with HIV, this virus feeds on the energy present in the cells and multiplies in the white blood cells. White blood cells are the ones which build up the immune system and when they are weakened by the HIV then it means there is no immune system. A particular type of immune cells (white blood cells) called the T-helper or CD4 progressively decrease when a body is infected with HIV. CD4 cells work against the attack of the infections (Whiteside, 2008)
Since the HIV resides in the CD4 cells (white blood cells) the genetic code of the virus is transferred into the CD4 cells. When the CD4...
This is how the HIV infection spreads throughout the body (Whiteside, 2008). When a person is infected with the HIV and is not getting it treated then the number of CD4 cells decreases in the body and this is a major sign that the infection is spreading; this results in weak immune system and more chances of attracting more and more infections.
Describe the development of AIDS and common resulting opportunistic infections?
The CD4 antigen is the receptor for HIV which causes AIDS. When it infects human cells it infects most often are CD4 +, they multiply to fight infections and produce more copies of HIV. The absolute number of CD4 + or T cell is the parameter most closely associated with the progression of the disease caused by HIV and patient prognosis.
There are many families of CD4 cells and each family is responsible for resisting a specific type of infection or disease. Once the number of CD4 cells decrease, a lot of families will simply disappear and the body becomes vulnerable to more and more infections and diseases also called opportunistic infections (McClatchey, 2002)
When the absolute number of CD4 cells is
