HIV, with Dr. Watiti
Mar 14, 2011
WHEN someone is infected with HIV, the virus destroys the body’s defence or immune system and with time, such a person starts to suffer from what is known as opportunistic infections.
Dear Doctor,
What are AIDS-defining diseases? My sister who has cancer called Kaposi’s sarcoma has been told it is an AIDS-defining disease and that she has to begin taking ARVS. Can someone survive with both AIDS and cancer?
George
Dear George,
WHEN someone is infected with HIV, the virus destroys the body’s defence or immune system and with time, such a person starts to suffer from what is known as opportunistic infections.
These are infections that would not normally attack a person, but take advantage or opportunity of his or her lowered immunity to do so.
At first they are not serious or life-threatening such as recurrent sinusitis or skin rashes, but with time they become more frequent and severe, leading to what is known as a syndrome or a collection of medical symptoms.
This stage is what is known as AIDS or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Normally this happens when one’s CD4 count drops to 200 cells/ml or less.
CD4 cells are part of the white blood cells and they help us fight off infections that attack us.
A normal person has between 410-1500 CD4 cells/ml of blood. However, sometimes people infected with HIV develop diseases such as TB or cancer like Kaposi’s sarcoma even when their CD4 counts are still high.
These diseases are known as AIDS-defining illnesses and such people should be put on ARVs even when they still have high CD4 counts.
Many people with HIV and Kaposi’s sarcoma do well on ARVS even without using anti-cancer drugs. However, for people with HIV and TB co-infection; anti-TB drugs have to be used in addition to ARVs.
What are AIDS-defining diseases? My sister who has cancer called Kaposi’s sarcoma has been told it is an AIDS-defining disease and that she has to begin taking ARVS. Can someone survive with both AIDS and cancer?
George
Dear George,
WHEN someone is infected with HIV, the virus destroys the body’s defence or immune system and with time, such a person starts to suffer from what is known as opportunistic infections.
These are infections that would not normally attack a person, but take advantage or opportunity of his or her lowered immunity to do so.
At first they are not serious or life-threatening such as recurrent sinusitis or skin rashes, but with time they become more frequent and severe, leading to what is known as a syndrome or a collection of medical symptoms.
This stage is what is known as AIDS or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Normally this happens when one’s CD4 count drops to 200 cells/ml or less.
CD4 cells are part of the white blood cells and they help us fight off infections that attack us.
A normal person has between 410-1500 CD4 cells/ml of blood. However, sometimes people infected with HIV develop diseases such as TB or cancer like Kaposi’s sarcoma even when their CD4 counts are still high.
These diseases are known as AIDS-defining illnesses and such people should be put on ARVs even when they still have high CD4 counts.
Many people with HIV and Kaposi’s sarcoma do well on ARVS even without using anti-cancer drugs. However, for people with HIV and TB co-infection; anti-TB drugs have to be used in addition to ARVs.