Difference between revisions of "HIV"
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
(rv, no it really isn't. also removing generic unsourced opinion) |
(Increased accuracy of article, good jumping point for further revision) |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| − | HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. | + | HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus, and is a chronic disease that gradually weakens the immune system by disabling and killing "T-helper cells", which normally signal other constituents of the immune system to perform their respective roles. When HIV reduces the number of T-helper cells below a certain threshold, an infected person is vunerable to opportunistic infections and cancers that typify Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, or AIDS. [http://www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/howhiv.htm] It is transmitted primarily through sexual contact with an infected person, sharing of needles or syringes, and, less frequently, through transfusion of infected blood or blood clotting factors.[http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/factsheets/transmission.htm]. |
| + | |||
| + | HIV is a retrovirus, and integrates its genetic information into the host cell's genome. | ||
| + | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
<references/> | <references/> | ||
Revision as of 22:12, February 22, 2007
HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus, and is a chronic disease that gradually weakens the immune system by disabling and killing "T-helper cells", which normally signal other constituents of the immune system to perform their respective roles. When HIV reduces the number of T-helper cells below a certain threshold, an infected person is vunerable to opportunistic infections and cancers that typify Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, or AIDS. [1] It is transmitted primarily through sexual contact with an infected person, sharing of needles or syringes, and, less frequently, through transfusion of infected blood or blood clotting factors.[2].
HIV is a retrovirus, and integrates its genetic information into the host cell's genome.