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HIV is commonly transmitted via unprotected sexual activity, blood transfusions, hypodermic needles, and from mother to child. Upon acquisition of the virus, the virus replicates inside and kills T helper cells , which are required for almost all adaptive immune responses .
HIV is a retrovirus that primarily infects components of the human immune system such as CD4 + T cells, macrophages and dendritic cells. It directly and indirectly destroys CD4 + T cells. [88] HIV is a member of the genus Lentivirus, [89] part of the family Retroviridae. [90] Lentiviruses share many morphological and biological characteristics.
HIV-1 is more virulent and more infective than HIV-2, [20] and is the cause of the majority of HIV infections globally. The lower infectivity of HIV-2, compared to HIV-1, implies that fewer of those exposed to HIV-2 will be infected per exposure. Due to its relatively poor capacity for transmission, HIV-2 is largely confined to West Africa. [21]
Lentivirus is a genus of retroviruses that cause chronic and deadly diseases characterized by long incubation periods, in humans and other mammalian species. [2] The genus includes the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS.
SARS-CoV-2 and HIV-1 have similarities—notably both are RNA viruses—but there are important differences. As a retrovirus, HIV-1 can insert a copy of its RNA genome into the host's DNA, making total eradication more difficult. [156] The virus is also highly mutable making it a challenge for the adaptive immune system to develop a response.
On a special episode (first released on September 25, 2024) of The Excerpt podcast: This year, for just the seventh time since the start of the HIV pandemic, a person was cured of the virus. That ...
As of 2021, the prevalence rate among adults ages 15–49 was 1.2% with 14 000 new HIV cases presenting in both adults and children which is a 28% decrease from 2010. [35] [72] HIV transmission occurs largely through heterosexual intercourse. A greater number of people who get infected with HIV/AIDS are heterosexuals.
A retrovirus is a type of virus that inserts a DNA copy of its RNA genome into the DNA of a host cell that it invades, thus changing the genome of that cell. [2] After invading a host cell's cytoplasm, the virus uses its own reverse transcriptase enzyme to produce DNA from its RNA genome, the reverse of the usual pattern, thus retro (backward).