Aim: How does HIV affect the immune system?

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Aim How does HIV affect the immune system?
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What could have made him look so sick?
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How can we contract HIV?

• Sexual intercourse
• Blood transfusion
• Passed through the placenta
• Open wound
• Sharing needles - drugs

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What is HIV?

• It is a virus that attacks our immune system.
• It is a retrovirus. It has RNA not DNA as its
  genetic material.
• How does our body know this is an enemy?

ANTIGEN
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What part of our immune system does it attack?
White blood cells
HIV attacks special WBCs called T-Cells
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How are B-cells different than T Helper Cells?
Send signals to B-cells to make antibodies
Make antibodies
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How does HIV replicate?
HIV Virus

• HIV binds to a T-cell
• It inserts its RNA into the T-cell
• It produces HIV DNA
• It hides HIV DNA inside the cell's DNA
• This turns the cell into a HIV factory.

T-Cell
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How does HIV destroy our immune system?
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Effects

• You dont die from the HIV infection, rather you
  die from the diseases/infections you get because
  your body cant defend itself. (ex pneumonia)
• These infections are called OPPORTUNISTIC
  INFECTIONS.

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Can we make a vaccine?
It is very difficult because the virus mutates
very quickly and produces different antigens
after only a few generations.
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Where is AIDS an epidemic?