By: Hannah Clay
The Human Immunodeficiency Virus, or HIV, continues to be a serious global health threat that affects millions of people globally and has a significant negative economic impact on communities.
Metro-Atlanta is now the third highest ranked city in the United States.
In 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 2,371 new HIV diagnoses reported in Georgia and a total of 59,422 people living with HIV in the state altogether.
It has been reported that the city of Atlanta makes up more than half of the new HIV cases according to the CDC.
The CDC also reports that there are 1.2 million people in the United States living with HIV at the end of 2021.
What is HIV?
“HIV weakens the immune system, making the body less capable of fending off illness and infection,” Dr. Edward Spilker, a primary care physician said.
HIV starts to infect and kill CD4 cells as soon as it enters the bloodstream. CD4 cells are crucial for organizing the body's defenses against infections.
The immune system is gradually weakened as the virus spreads and the number of CD4 cells drops, making the body more susceptible to infectious diseases and malignancies that a healthy immune system would normally be able to fight off.
It is very common for people to experience flu-like symptoms in the early stages of HIV infection, including fever, exhaustion, sore throats, enlarged lymph nodes, and rash.
“The symptoms of HIV can be mild and may not be detected,” Spilker said.
HIV can enter a clinical latency stage after this initial acute phase, during which the virus stays in the body and replicates at low levels without producing noticeable symptoms.
If HIV is left without treatment, it will eventually turn into Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, also known as AIDS.
How does HIV spread?
Blood, semen, vaginal fluids, and breast milk are among the body fluids that carry the HIV virus and are the main means of transmission.
Common routes of transmission include unprotected sexual contact, sharing syringes or needles tainted with HIV-positive blood, and perinatal transmission—the transfer of HIV from an HIV-positive mother to her child during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding.
HIV transmission can also occur through occupational exposure among healthcare professionals and transfusion of tainted blood products; however, these are uncommon in areas with strict blood screening guidelines.
Who should worry?
HIV can impact people of any age, gender, or socioeconomic background, yet it disproportionately affects some communities.
Men who have sexual intercourse with other men, transgender persons, people who inject drugs (PWID), sex workers, and members of marginalized communities who experience restricted access to healthcare facilities and socioeconomic inequality are among the key affected populations.
64% of new diagnosis in the United States comes from male-to-male sexual contact. 22% comes from heterosexual contact according to data from the CDC.
Moreover, a combination of biological, societal, and economic variables puts young people at higher risk of contracting HIV.
“As a gay black man, it is important for me to be educated on things that could directly affect me. It is scary that I live in a city where the rates are so high,” Evan Livesey, a Georgia college student said.
How can it be prevented?
The cornerstone of HIV control initiatives is prevention, which involves a variety of approaches adapted to various settings and populations.
Important preventive measures include encouraging the use of condoms and providing access to sterile injecting supplies, putting in place thorough sex education programs, increasing the availability of HIV testing and counseling services, and increasing the number of people who can receive pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for those who are at high risk of contracting the virus.
“I think that it is important for all gay men to be educated and if not on PrEP. This will not only protect ourselves but others around us,” Nick Ike said.
Furthermore, programs aimed at addressing the structural factors that contribute to HIV transmission—such as prejudice, stigma, and poverty—are essential to creating an atmosphere that is supportive of successful preventative measures.
How is it treated?
Antiretroviral therapy (ART) advancements have allowed people living with HIV to live long, healthy lives, transforming the virus from a potentially fatal sickness to a chronic condition that can be managed.
In order to lower the amount of HIV virus in the blood and maintain immune function, antiretroviral therapy suppresses viral replication. After an HIV diagnosis, starting ART as soon as possible is essential to attaining viral suppression and stopping the disease's development.
Furthermore, antiretroviral therapy is essential for HIV prevention since it lowers the chance of viral suppression, often known as "treatment as prevention" (TasP).
Apart from conventional antiretroviral therapy regimens, innovative treatment approaches like long-acting injectable formulations and new medication classes have the potential to improve treatment compliance and streamline HIV care.
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