| africa, eastern | The geographical area of africa comprising burundi, djibouti, ethiopia, kenya, rwanda, somalia, sudan, tanzania, and uganda. (12 Dec 1998) |
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| africa, northern | The geographical area of africa comprising algeria, egypt, libya, morocco, and tunisia. It includes also the vast deserts and oases of the sahara. It is often referred to as north africa, french-speaking africa, or the magreb. (12 Dec 1998) |
| africa, southern | The geographical area of africa comprising angola, botswana, lesotho, malawi, mozambique, namibia, south africa, swaziland, zambia, and zimbabwe. It includes what was formerly called south-west africa or german southwest africa but it was terminated in 1966 by a united nations resolution. (12 Dec 1998) |
| africa south of the sahara | All of africa except northern africa (africa, northern). (12 Dec 1998) |
| africa, western | The geographical area of africa comprising benin, burkina faso, cote d'ivoire, gambia, ghana, guinea, guinea-bissau, liberia, mali, mauritania, niger, nigeria, senegal, sierra leone, and togo. (12 Dec 1998) |
| central africa | <geography> The geographical area of africa comprising cameroon, central african republic, chad, congo, equatorial guinea, gabon, and democratic republic of the congo. (12 Dec 1998) |
| south africa | A republic in southern africa, the southernmost part of africa. It has three capitals: pretoria (administrative), cape town (legislative), and bloemfontein (judicial). The history is a fabric interwoven with hostile activity among the native tribes, particularly the zulus, the boers (dutch settlers), and the british. Officially the republic of south africa since 1960, it was called the union of south africa 1910-1960. (12 Dec 1998) |
| AIDS | <immunology, syndrome> An epidemic disease caused by an infection by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1, HIV-2), a retrovirus that causes immune system failure and debilitation and is often accompanied by infections such as tuberculosis. AIDS is spread through direct contact with bodily fluids. Acronym: AIDS (10 May 1997) |
| aids-associated nephropathy | Renal syndrome in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients characterised by nephrotic syndrome, severe proteinuria, focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis with distinctive tubular and interstitial changes, enlarged kidneys, and peculiar tubuloreticular structures. The syndrome is distinct from heroin-associated nephropathy as well as other forms of kidney disease seen in HIV-infected patients. (12 Dec 1998) |
| AIDS-defining illness | <immunology> One of a list of serious illnesses that occurs in HIV-positive individuals and is reason for an AIDS diagnosis according to the CDC's definition of AIDS. Among these conditions are PCP, MAC, AIDS dementia complex, AIDS wasting syndrome, invasive cervical cancer, Kaposi's sarcoma and CMV retinitis. (09 Oct 1997) |
| AIDS dementia | <immunology> A frequent cerebral condition in people with AIDS that results in the loss of cognitive capacity, affecting the ability to function in a social or occupational setting. Its cause has not been determined exactly, but may result from HIV infection of cells in the brain or an inflammatory reaction to such infection. (09 Oct 1997) |
| AIDS dementia complex | <immunology> A frequent cerebral condition in people with AIDS that results in the loss of cognitive capacity, affecting the ability to function in a social or occupational setting. Its cause has not been determined exactly, but may result from HIV infection of cells in the brain or an inflammatory reaction to such infection. (09 Oct 1997) |
| aids-related complex | A prodromal phase of infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Laboratory criteria separating aids-related complex (arc) from aids include elevated or hyperactive B-cell humoral immune responses, compared to depressed or normal antibody reactivity in aids; follicular or mixed hyperplasia in arc lymph nodes, leading to lymphocyte degeneration and depletion more typical of aids; evolving succession of histopathological lesions such as localization of kaposi's sarcoma, signaling the transition to the full-blown aids. (12 Dec 1998) |
| aids-related opportunistic infections | Opportunistic infections found in patients who test positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The most common include pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, kaposi's sarcoma, cryptosporidiosis, herpes simplex, toxoplasmosis, cryptococcosis, and infections with mycobacterium avium complex, microsporidium, and cytomegalovirus. (12 Dec 1998) |
| AIDS-related virus | An obsolete term for human immunodeficiency virus. (05 Mar 2000) |