[헬스S] AIDS is invisible?… What is wrong common sense?

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS · AIDS) is often considered a semi-obvious disease. AIDS is more common in homosexuals.

However, AIDS is a disease caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which destroys some immune cells in the body and reduces immunity. In other words, AIDS patients are some of the patients who are infected with HIV, and it means that people with very low immunity due to HIV infection.

Two to six weeks after being infected with HIV, you may have a fever, sore throat, or body aches. In severe cases, headache, skin rash, vomiting, joint pain, etc. appear, which is called acute HIV syndrome. Looking at the symptoms alone, it is difficult to distinguish them from other viral infections. Only a blood test can confirm HIV infection.

After 6 weeks of infection, there is an asymptomatic incubation period in which no specific symptoms appear for up to 7 years. During this period, the body’s immune cells are still being destroyed by HIV. When immunity drops below a certain level, the incidence of certain infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, shingles, and cytomegalovirus increases. This period is called AIDS.

HIV can also be treated with antiviral treatment. However, it is known that although it can stop the spread of the virus in the blood, it is impossible to remove the HIV virus.

Professor Choi Gyun from the Department of Infectious Diseases at Seoul National University Hospital said, “According to statistics from the early 2000s, if people with HIV take medication well, their prognosis has improved to the point where life expectancy is similar to the life expectancy of people without HIV infection. “It has become a chronic disease that can be managed with medication to prevent complications, such as diabetes or high blood pressure,” he said.