James Turner - Biology SL

6.3.8 - AIDS

6.3.8 - Discuss the cause, transmission, and social

implications of AIDS

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a slow lentivirus that attacks the immune system and
is the cause for acquired immunodeficiency deficiency syndrome (AIDS).
HIV, a tiny virus (0.1m in diameter) consisting of two single strands of RNA which, together with
enzymes, are enclosed by a protein coat.
HIV was first detected in central Africa from a mutation of a similar virus in monkeys. From
Africa, HIV has been spread and now HIV and AIDS occur worldwide.
SincethefirstcasesofAIDSwereidentifiedmorethan25yearsago,millionsofpeoplearoundthe
worldhavebecomeinfectedwithHIV,andtheepidemichasclaimedmillionsoflives.Globally,
thereareanestimated33.3millionpeoplelivingwithHIV,includingmorethanonemillioninthe
UnitedStates.

Causes
HIVisaretrovirusthatprimarilyinfectsvitalorgansandtargetscellsintheimmunesystemthat
displayaproteincalledCD4ontheirsurfacesuchasCD4
+Tcells(asubsetofTcells).Itdirectly
andindirectlydestroysCD4+Tcells
HIVtargetscellsintheimmunesystemthatdisplayaproteincalledCD4ontheirsurface.Such
cellsarecalledCD4positive(CD4+)cells.

James Turner - Biology SL

6.3.8 - AIDS

Aretrovirusreversesthenormalflowofgeneticinformation,whichiffromtheDNAofgenesto
messengerRNAinthecytoplasm.Thus,theinformationinRNAinthecytoplasmistranslatedinto
DNAofachromosomeinthehostsnucleus.

Inotherwords,thereversetranscriptaseisusedtomakethe
initialcopiesofviralDNAfromviralRNA.OnceaDNA
strandhasbeensynthesized,acomplementaryviralDNA
strandismade.ThesedoublestrandcopiesofviralDNAare
insertedintothehostcellchromosomeandhostcellRNA
polymeraseisusedtomakevirusrelatedRNA.TheseRNA
strandsserveastemplatesformakingnewcopiesoftheviralchromosomalRNA

Onceinsidethehostcell,theRNAandvirusenzymearereleased.HIV'sgeneticmaterialcontains
theinformationneededbythevirustoinfectcells,producenewcopiesofvirus,orcausedisease.
Forexample,thesegenesencodeenzymesthatHIVrequirestoreproduceitself.Oneenzymefrom
thevirusiscalledreversetranscriptase.Thisenzymecatalysesthecopyingofthegeneticcodeof
eachofthevirussRNAstrandsintoaDNAdoublehelix.ThisDNAthenentersthehostnucleus
andistransferredintothehostsDNAofachromosome.Thevirusattacksaparticulartypeofwhite
bloodcellscalledCD4+cells.Ithijacksthecell,insertsitsowngenesintothecell'sDNAanduses
ittomanufacturemorevirusparticles.Thesegoontoinfectothercells.

AIDSisthenlaterdeveloped(after810years)whenthebodyactivatestheHIVgenessynthesising
theviralmessengerRNA.Thesepassoutintothecytoplasmandcodesforviralproteinsatthe

James Turner - Biology SL

6.3.8 - AIDS

ribosomes.TheviralRNA,proteincoatandenzymesareformedintoviralcores.Thesemove
againstthecellmembraneandbudsnewviruses.Thevirusattacksaparticulartypeofwhiteblood
cellscalledCD4+cells(lymphocytes(Tcells))Ithijacksthecell,insertsitsowngenesintothe
cell'sDNAandusesittomanufacturemorevirusparticles.Thesegoontoinfectothercellsmaking
theirnumberstodecreaserapidly.Thebody'sabilitytofightdiseasesdecreasesasthenumberof
CD4+cellsdrops,untilitreachesacriticalpointatwhichthepatientissaidtohaveAids
AcquiredImmuneDeficiencySyndrome.

Thussimplyput,theyembedtheirgenesintotheDNAofthecellstheytarget,sothatanynewcells
thatthehostcellproducesalsocontainthevirusgenes.Retrovirusesalsocopytheirgenesintothe
targetcellwithahighleveloferror.IncombinationwithHIV'shighreplicationrate,thismeansthe
virusmutatesatspeedasitspreads.Furthermore,the"envelope"theHIVvirusparticleiscontained
insideismadeofthesamematerialassomehumancells,makingitdifficultfortheimmunesystem
todistinguishbetweenvirusparticlesandhealthycells.

James Turner - Biology SL

6.3.8 - AIDS

Virusattaches:ProteinsontheHIVvirus"dock"withCD4receptorsonthetargetcell.
Genescopied:TheHIVvirusmakesacopyofitsowngeneticmaterial.
Replication:ThevirusinsertsthiscopyintothehostcellsDNA.Whenthecellreproduces,it
manufacturesthepartsoftheHIVvirus.
Release:Thepartsareassembledandforma"bud",whichbreaksofftobecomeanewHIVvirus.

Transmissionsexualactivity

HIVinfectionisspreadinthreeways:sexualintercourse,directcontactwithbloodandfroman
infectedmothertoherunbornchild.HIVisspreadmostcommonlybysexualcontactwithan
infectedpartner.Theviruscanenterthebodythroughtheliningofthevagina,penis,rectum,or
mouthduringsexualrelations.SuchsexualactivitiesthatcanresultinHIVinclude:
Sexualintercourse
Analsex
Oralsex.
AlthoughstudieshavefoundtinyamountsofHIVinthesalivaofsomepeoplewithHIV,
researchershavefoundnoevidencethatHIVisspreadtootherpeoplethroughkissing

Bloodcontact
HIVcanbespreadthroughdirectcontactwithinfectedblood:

James Turner - Biology SL

6.3.8 - AIDS

Throughinjecteddrugs.HIVfrequentlyisspreadamongusersofillegaldrugsthatare
injected.Thishappenswhenneedlesorsyringescontaminatedwithsmallquantitiesofblood
ofsomeoneinfectedwiththevirusareshared.
Inahealthcaresetting.Transmissionfrompatienttohealthcareworkerorviceversavia
accidentalstickswithcontaminatedneedlesorothermedicalinstrumentscanoccur.
Throughabloodtransfusion.PriortothescreeningofbloodforevidenceofHIVinfection
andbeforetheintroductionin1985ofheattreatingtechniquestodestroyHIVinblood
products,HIVwastransmittedthroughtransfusionsofcontaminatedbloodorblood
components.Today,becauseofbloodscreeningandheattreatment,theriskofacquiring
HIVfromsuchtransfusionsisextremelysmall.

Womentochild

BabiesborntoHIVpositivewomencanbeinfectedvia:

Pregnancyandbirth

Breastfeeding

ThisisbecauseHIVcanbetransmittedtothefetusduringpregnancyandbodilyfluidsaredirectly
shared.

HIVtransmissionrequiresintimatecontactwithinfectedbloodorbodyfluids(vaginalsecretions,
semen,preejaculationfluid,andbreastmilk).Activitiesthatdon'tinvolvethepossibilityofsuch
contactareregardedasposingnoriskofinfection.

James Turner - Biology SL

6.3.8 - AIDS

ThespreadofHIVandonsetofAIDSinpatientsareoutpacingthecurrenteffortsofscientistsand
doctorstopreventthem.

SocialConsequence

The social implications of AIDS are devastating the economies and social life of communities in
many less-developed countries. This imposes the risk of threatening other countries with the same
pandemic. There are many social consequences as a result of AIDS that are closelyassociatedwith
widerchallengestodevelopment,suchaspoverty,foodandlivelihoodinsecurity,genderinequality.
InareasheavilyaffectedbyHIV/AIDS,thecatalyticeffectsandsystemicimpactoftheepidemicon
ruraldevelopmentmayamplifyexistingdevelopmentproblemstosuchanextentastotrigger
structuralalsocreatenewproblemsandchallengesforruraldevelopment.The social consequences
on AIDS are:

Economic

People who are infected may become deprived of money, especially if the wage-earner becomes
infected as he/she will become ill. Also, they may become deprived of employment or housing due
to being stigmatised.

James Turner - Biology SL

6.3.8 - AIDS

Child Health

The offspring of the child may become infected due to the host mother being infected or through
breast feeding in early-life.

Child development and education

Children who are affected will be unable to proceed in education due to having insufficient time and
little support provided. This is especially the case for developing countries.

Psychological

Parents, family, children or friends may suffer depression if their loved ones are infected. Again,
those who have infected other people may feel guilt for spreading the HIV virus by sexual
transmission.

Medical services provision

The medical services for that country may have to spend valuable resources and time on treating
long-term symptoms without a hope for cure. This may affect the ability to spend resources on other
diseases.

National factors

James Turner - Biology SL

6.3.8 - AIDS

Due to the major spread of the virus, this may affect and reduce the nations productive members
who contribute to the community academically and economically. As a result, the nation might
loose aspiration and motivation to strive and achieve success.