Why do we get over the Cold/Flu virus but not the HIV virus?
Besides the fact that the virus mutates but there is no cure for the common cold or flu. Why does the HIV virus last forever???? When you are "undetectable" does that mean the virus has left your body?
cool thanx guys... thanx for the mature, intelligent answers
Posted by Amanda
our bodies cannot fight off HIV because it enters the interior of the cell, instead of remaining on the outside surface of the cell where it will be attacked by our immune system. It tricks the body's immune system; it masks itself inside a regular cell. Therefore, our immune system will recognize the cell as "self" and will not destroy it. The infected cell survives and multiplies, thereby, multiplying the HIV virus as well.
Posted by Wert
The HIV virus attacks the very cells which fight off infections, which opens the doors to other kinds of infections that we normally wouldn't have any problems fighting off.
The HIV virus is kinda like herpes, or cold sores. The body can't get rid of it 100%. Unlike Herpes or cold sores, it doesn't flare up once in a while and then go away. It builds up momentum, lowering the body's immune system slowly and steadily. It lurks about, fighting off the very immune system which is supposed to kill it.
When it's "undetectable" they are usually referring to the viral load. Undetectable nowadays means less than 48 copies per milliliter of blood. That means that they can find only 48 viral copies or more per milliliter of blood they sample. Anything less than 48 is "undetectable". That doesn't mean that you're cured, it means that the techniques for detecting the virus aren't sensitive enough to see anything less than 48 copies. Medication, which targets the virus via several different methods, can drop the viral load down to undetectable levels, which is good for you, if you have HIV. A high white cell count (CD-4) count and low viral load means a healthy person, even if they are HIV positive.
To put things into perspective, having 1000 copies per milliliter is considered fine as long as your CD-4 count is high. Some people who begin to experience AIDS have viral loads from 100,000 copies, to sometimes over a million copies in advanced cases.
Unfortunately, even with medication, you cant eradicate the virus 100%, however studies are being done to see if the body's natural immune system can seek-and-destroy the last remaining bits through other types of therapies. These results are likely decades off. However, HIV medication is very robust, and quite varied, which means that people can continue to keep themselves alive as treatments progress. It's not the same virus from 10 or even 5 years ago.
Posted by Patrick
Your body constantly fights it even when it is inside human cells using NK cells and CD8 T cells.
However the HIV virus enters an asymptomatic phase for about 2-15 years where it is controlled by your immune system but not eradicated, due to its high rate of mutation. It is the persistant mutation and infection which eventually causes the decline of immune cells to exceed their production which causes the immune deficiency.
Flu viruses do not mutate at the same rate as HIV virus and are usually eradicated by the immune system before they can mutate to a new form.
Posted by Matante
The flu makes you violently sick because of its weakness: your immune system recognizes it immediately and throws everything into the fight, causing intense symptoms but killing the virus in a few days.
HIV takes years to make a person feel sick but can't be cured because it's better at hiding. While its most destructive action is seen in white blood cells, it thrives quietly in stem cells found in bone marrow, lymph nodes and the spleen, who act as a virus reservoir, meaning that even if all the virus in blood was destroyed, it would still come back. It takes a few days for HIV to make it to this stronghold, so the post-exposition treatment - an aggressive antiviral therapy starting less than 48 hours after contamination - can prevent infection in more than half of cases.
One cure for HIV is currently being researched at the Mc-Gill's University in Montreal, involving such an aggressive drug approach combined with a radiotherapy to destroy reservoir cells. It works on chimps but hasn't been tested on humans yet.
Posted by whensquintsattack
Well HIV works by destroying the cells of the immune system, so as well as crippling the one system in the body that normally destroys the virus it mutates with every time it reproduces so the immune system can't destroy it. I know you said aside from the mutation aspect but that's an important one.
The cold/flu virusus don't mutate as quickly and they attack the tissues in the respritory system so the immune system can still fight it and win most of the time.
The various drugs used to treat HIV stop the virus from infecting new cells and so stop it from doing damage. The virus is still in the blood of the person but it just sits there doing nothing. It can still be transmitted.
I've never heard of the virus leaving someone's body though. There was a case in Germany where a woman who had HIV got a bone marrow transplant for leukaemia and that seems to have gotten rid of the virus in her but other than that...
Hope I helped :)
What do you think? Answer below! Cold and Flu Basics - Cold and Flu Center - Gocoldflu.info
How to recognize the symptoms of cold and flu, which treatments work best, and advice on staying healthy during cold and flu season
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