HIV and AIDS

HIV is primarily a STI, that attacks the immune system and causes AIDS.

HIV is a sexually transmitted infection (STI), found in circulating blood lymphocytes, plasma, semen, body fluids and in all the tissues of the body. These viruses destroy the T4 helper cells that are vital for immune responses to pathogens, bringing about a vulnerability to diseases in the patient.

The structure of the virus, the pathogenesis and immune response, clinical features, manifestation, test for monitoring infection and treatment are discussed in this presentation.

Editor: Dr. Jay A. Levy, MD, co-discoverer of HIV in 1983 and discoverer of a novel immune response that controls HIV infection; Professor, Department of Medicine; Research Associate, Cancer Research Institute; Head of the Laboratory for Tumor and AIDS Virus Research, UCSF (University of California in San Francisco).