Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1987. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
PATHOGENESIS OF ACQUIRED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY SYNDROME
Animal Models of Retrovirus Infection and Their Relationship to AIDS. Salzman LA, ed. Orlando, Florida, Academic Press, p. 161-8, 1986.. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE ICDB/87629274 Francis D; Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control,; Atlanta, GA
Abstract:
There are some unique aspects of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) that have made it a markedly difficult disease to understand and treat: it has an extremely long incubation period; it concerns groups of people who are unique in terms of lifestyle; and the politics of AIDS. The pathogenesis of AIDS is discussed in terms of disease progression. The transmission of AIDS is first described, then the establishment of infection in the host, then disease outcome, and finally the epidemiology of AIDS. Transmitters may be the equivalent of the carrier as seen in hepatitis B. There appears to be a much lower amount of virus in AIDS than in hepatitis B; it is cell-associated to an extent, although it occurs in plasma as indicated by the observation that hemophiliacs who receive a plasma concentrate derivative get this disease. It appears that the AIDS virus preferentially infects lymphocytes. AIDS started in the coastal areas of the United States, in New York City, California, then Miami, and then Texas. It has spread essentially to all of the United States. The mortality from AIDS is high. Essentially everyone meeting the definition of AIDS, as supplied by the Centers for Disease Control, dies of the disease. AIDS appears to be transmitted by blood and by sexual activity. The virus is relatively difficult to transmit, but there is effective transmission within groups that share blood or share sex with each other. The epidemic is large in the United States; and tens of thousands will die of AIDS over the coming years.
Keywords: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/MICROBIOLOGY/*PHYSIOPATHOLOGY/ TRANSMISSION Adult Blood Blood Transfusion/ADVERSE EFFECTS Carrier State/MICROBIOLOGY Chimpansee troglodytes Female Homosexuality Human HIV/IMMUNOLOGY/ISOLATION & PURIF Male Opportunistic Infections/PHYSIOPATHOLOGY Sex Behavior Substance Abuse/COMPLICATIONS MONOGRAPH
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Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1987. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
