Week 2 Discussion Response
Great work with your post! I agree that in the acute stages of HIV infection, minor symptoms that resemble the flu may present. According to the presentation, the patient is in the chronic stage of HIV infection. Pneumonia has not been tested to ascertain whether it is bacterial or otherwise which may make it difficult to accurately determine the patient’s stage of infection. However, pneumonia can manifest in patients who are at different stages of the illness. As the CD4 cell count reduces, the rate of infection increases (Huang & Crothers, 2009).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highlights various differences in the acute and chronic stages of HIV infections. In the acute stage, patients may present with flu symptoms, while some will not feel sick immediately. In the chronic stage, patients rarely fall sick or exhibit any symptoms (CDC, 2021). However, as the viral load increases, the patient’s CD4 cell count reduces, and they begin to exhibit symptoms and progress to the final stage, which is AIDS. Therefore, the patient perfectly falls within the latter category due to a low CD4 count, which is ideal for opportunistic illnesses such as pneumonia. This presentation confirms that the patient’s condition is progressing due to a high viral load.
As you have stated, HIV cannot replicate in the body. Therefore, cellular replication enables the viral load to increase as the pathogen creates more copies by overpowering and killing the white cells. This leads to less immunity due to a high amount of HIV virus in the body. In the case of the female patient, pneumonia occurred due to low immunity and the presence of an infection. The body’s white blood cells were unable to fight off the infectious organisms (Huang & Crothers, 2009).
References
CDC. (2021). About HIV. Retrieved from HIV: https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/basics/whatishiv.html
Huang, L., & Crothers, K. A. (2009). HIV-associated Opportunistic Pneumonias. Respirology, 14(4), 474-485.
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Week 2 Discussion Response
Discussion Response
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Week 2 Discussion Response
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