HIV & Herpes
Herpes and HIV are the two common sexually transmitted diseases. Being infected with genital herpes increases your chances of being infected by HIV, which causes AIDS disease. The causative agent of herpes is also the herpes simplex virus. HIV medicines can’t cure the infection, but they help people live longer and healthier lives.
Herpes:
HSV, or the herpes simplex virus, causes herpes. Once you get infected with the virus, then the virus remains in your cells for life. Hence, even if your infection is not showing symptoms still, you transmit the virus to others.
Herpes virus is of two types; both can cause oral and genital infections. The two types are:
Oral herpes is marked by tingling and painful blisters found in regions like the nostrils, the roof of the mouth, and the gums. But the most affected region is the edge of the lips, where the edge meets the skin surface. Oral herpes treatment helps alleviate symptoms such as redness, pain, itching, and painful blisters that leak fluid. A doctor may prescribe the best treatment for oral herpes.
Genital herpes has the symptoms such as painful blisters in the region, such as the genitals and anal area. The condition is accompanied by fever, headache, and muscle aches.
Transmission of HSV Virus
It is a very easily transmissible disease. The virus can be transferred from the transmitted person to the healthy person via the mouth, genital, and anus. So, any direct skin-to-skin contact with the infected blister-like kissing and other sexual contact. The very dangerous thing is that the disease can spread even by touching the-the blisters and transferring the fluid of the blisters to the other part of the skin like the face or eye, etc. Eye infection is a very dangerous situation as the infection can result in further problems. HSV can also pass to the baby if the pregnant woman delivers the baby vaginally.
Precautions:
HSV Treatment:
There has been no treatment for herpes to completely eradicate the virus from the body as the virus may remain in nerve and skin cells for life. However, certain medicines like Acyclovir, valacyclovir and famciclovir are good for reducing the discomfort caused by the virus and the amount of replication.
HIV (Human Immuno Virus)
HIV causes AIDS or Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome. It damages the immune system of the body by attacking the immune cells. The condition of AIDS makes a person becomes vulnerable to many infections due to the weakened immune system. But if proper care is taken, the person with HIV can live a long and healthy life.
Transmission:
HIV is found in the blood cells, genital fluids (sperm, vaginal fluids, rectal moisture, and semen) and breast milk.
The ways of transmission of HIV:
Precautions:
HIV Treatment:
It is still a topic of huge research on whether HIV is curable. Until now, there has been no cure for HIV. Still, if the proper HIV prevention medication is taken, the person with HIV can live a long and healthy life. The treatment of HIV/AIDS involves the use of a combination of retroviral drugs. The HIV medications help by stopping the reproduction process of the viral cells. The pills for HIV prevention help boost the immune system by halting the multiplication rate of HIV. The most common drug for HIV prevention is lamivudine, Zidovudine, Stavudine, Nevimune, Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, etc. These anti-HIV medications do not cure HIV, but they effectively make the body healthy enough to fight the infection and live a long and normal life. The infected person still inhibits the HIV and can transmit the virus to the other person via unsafe sex, infected needles and from mother to child.
The most effective treatment for HIV is antiretroviral therapy (ART). This is a combination of several medications that aim to reduce and control the amount of virus in your body. These drugs slow the rate at which the virus grows. They can lower your chances of transmitting HIV to others, but if you take them incorrectly, you can still spread the virus to others. They do not cure the condition. The goals for antiretroviral drugs are to:
HIV is treated with antiretroviral drugs, which stop the virus from replicating in the body. This allows the immune system to heal itself and prevent future damage. Having less HIV in the body gives the immune system a chance to recover and produce more CD4 cells (loss of these cells makes it hard for the body to fight against infections and certain HIV-related cancers). Even though there is still some virus in the body, the immune system is strong enough to fight against infection and certain HIV-related cancers. A combination of HIV drugs is used because the virus can adapt and become resistant quickly.
Yes, HIV treatment, also known as antiretroviral therapy or ART involves a variety of drugs, are available. The medications that come under this category work by reducing the amount of HIV in your body and helping you stay healthy for a long period. They help to lower viral load, fight infections, and improve the overall quality of life. Till now, there is no cure for HIV, but you can control it with HIV therapy. Most HIV patients can get the virus under control within six months. However, these antiretroviral drugs do not prevent transmitting other sexually transmitted diseases.
There are several different types of HIV/AIDS medicines. Some work by blocking or changing enzymes that HIV requires to make copies of itself. This prevents the deadly virus from copying itself, which reduces the amount of HIV in the body. Several medicines follow this mechanism of action:
-Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs)- Didanosine, Lamivudine, stavudine, Abacavir, Emtricitabine, Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, land Zidavudine
-Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) (for ex-Efavirenz, nevirapine, Doravirine, Cabotegravir, Efavirenz).
-Protease inhibitors (PIs)- For ex- Atazanavir, darunavir, Ritonavir, Indinavir, Tipranavir, Nelfinavir, Fosamprrenavir, saquinavir.
-Integrase inhibitors- Cabotegravir, Raltegravir, Dolutegravir, Elvitegravir
-Fusion inhibitors- Enfuvirutide
-Other medications
Having genital herpes may put you at risk of developing HIV, which ultimately gives rise to AIDS, and it can cause serious troubles for people living with HIV.
People suffering from genital herpes are at high risk of getting HIV during intercourse. When you develop a sore, your immune system tries to heal it, so many immune cells are concentrated in that spot. Those are the body cells that HIV infects. If the human immunodeficiency virus comes in contact with semen, vaginal fluid, or blood with the herpes blister, the risk of infection is high.
Having herpes can increase the risk of developing HIV, ultimately leading to AIDs. This causes serious health issues for people who have HIV. Those with genital herpes sores are more likely to be infected with HIV during sexual contact.
Testing for both herpes and HIV can be done with a blood sample. But your health care specialist might want to use another test like an oral swab for HIV or fluid from an open sore for herpes.
The US FDA has approved some drugs for treating HIV and AIDS. Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTI) interrupt the virus from duplicating, which may slow the spread of HIV in the body. The commonly prescribed HIV medicines are Emtricitabine, Lamivudine, and Tenofovir.
Drug treatments help reduce the viral load, keep your immune system healthy, and decrease the complication you develop. There are two drug categories that the FDA approves for HIV include: