Lab Med

There is loss of normal lymph node architecture as the immune system fails with emergence from latency of HIV infection. It is marked by developmen…

Unlike most infections in past epidemics, AIDS is distinguished by a very long latent period before the development of any visible signs of infecti…

Primary HIV infection may go unnoticed in at least half of cases or produce a mild disease which quickly subsides, followed by a long clinical &quo…

HIV infects definable population subgroups ("risk groups"). The transmission of HIV is a function of where the virus appears in the body …

Presence or emergence of different HIV subtypes may also account for the appearance of antiretroviral drug resistance as well as the variability in…

The primary target of HIV is the immune system itself, which is gradually destroyed. Viral replication actively continues following initial HIV inf…

After initial entry of HIV and establishment of infection, replication may at first occur within inflammatory cells at the site of infection or wit…

After entering the body, the viral particle is attracted to a cell with the appropriate CD4 receptor molecules where it attaches by fusion to a sus…

The mature virus consists of a bar-shaped electron dense core containing the viral genome--two short strands of ribonucleic acid (RNA) about 9200 n…

HIV primarily infects cells with CD4 cell-surface receptor molecules, using them to gain entry. Many cell types share common epitopes with this pro…

There are definable risks for HIV infection based upon the major modes of spread: As a sexually transmitted disease Through injection drug use A…

AIDS is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus of the lentivirus family that was unknown until the early 1980's, but si…