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Last Updated: Oct 23, 2019
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Causes of HIV

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Dr. Vinod RainaSexologist • 23 Years Exp.MD - General Medicine
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Pathogens
The disease #aids develops from an infection hiv and is caused by the v iris immunodeficiency h umana. Hiv and substance containing rna (ribonucleic acid), unlike many other viruses or human cells whose genetic #information is stored in the form of dna (deoxyribonucleic acid). Therefore, hiv is defined rather as an rna #virus within the group of retroviruses.

The: two #types of hiv are known hiv-1, present worldwide, and hiv-2, which is found mainly in the south Africa.

Both virus types differ in their genetic substance, rna. Thus, hiv-2 rna, called aids virus from monkeys is similar to the green monkeys, while hiv-1 is more like chimpanzees. It is likely that before the explosion and rapid spread of aids in the 1980s had many people already infected with this virus monkey.

Hiv genetic material is surrounded by a protein coat. This property enables the envelope virus from attaching to the human immune cells such as helper t cells (also known as t cells). Infected t cells are destroyed by the virus, so that occurs weakening the immune system over time. This favors the emergence of other diseases.


Hiv transmission
#hiv is transmitted primarily by blood and sperm. Therefore, people who have unprotected sex or drug addicts who exchange syringes are most prone to the transmission of hiv. In Spain, 79% of hiv cases in 2010 were sexual.

In the case of sex, hiv transmission can occur for the following situations:

  •   for anal or vaginal sex acts (active or passive) with a high risk of infection.

  •   for fellatio in which the semen reaches the mouth (lowest risk).


Less than 1% of transmissions of hiv in 2010 occurred in childbirth because the hiv positive mother infected the child. This form of transmission is attached to a particular risk, because if appropriate prevention measures at birth the possibility that an hiv-positive mother passing the disease to the baby is 15 to 20% are not taken. Also, the transplantation of organs from an hiv positive donor can infect the recipient. The risk of infection in patients requiring blood transfusion or blood product is very rare, because of the strict controls to which they are subjected.

Talk about a 'transmission of aids' is wrong and wrong as it may appear as a result of hiv infection but does not why. What is transmitted is the pathogen (hiv) no disease (aids).

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