| 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) |
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| AIDS-related virus | An obsolete term for human immunodeficiency virus. (05 Mar 2000) |
| aids serodiagnosis | Immunologic tests for identification of HIV (HTLV-III/lav) antibodies. They include assays for HIV seropositivity and HIV seronegativity (elisa, immunofluorescence, immunoblot, etc.) that have been developed for screening persons carrying the viral antibody from patients with overt symptoms of aids or aids-related complex. (12 Dec 1998) |
| AIDS test | <investigation> A test which is performed on a standard venipuncture blood specimen which detects the presence of antibodies to HIV (virus). This test may not be positive for 3 to 6 months after infection with HIV. (27 Sep 1997) |
| aids vaccines | Vaccines or candidate vaccines containing inactivated HIV or some of its component antigens and designed to prevent aids. Some vaccines containing antigens are recombinantly produced. (12 Dec 1998) |
| audiovisual aids | Auditory and visual instructional materials. (12 Dec 1998) |
| communication aids for disabled | Equipment that provides mentally or physically disabled persons, who cannot speak effectively, with a means of communication. The aids include display boards, typewriters, cathode ray tubes, computers, and speech synthesisers. The output of such aids includes written words, artificial speech, language signs, morse code, and pictures. (12 Dec 1998) |
| hearing aids | Devices which amplify sound to help persons with hearing loss. (12 Dec 1998) |
| lymphoma, aids-related | B-cell lymphoid tumours that occur in association with aids. Patients often present with an advanced stage of disease and highly malignant subtypes including burkitt lymphoma, immunoblastic large-cell lymphoma, small non-cleaved-cell lymphoma and diffuse large-cell lymphoma. The tumours are often disseminated in unusual extranodal sites and chromosomal abnormalities are frequently present. It is likely that polyclonal B-cell lymphoproliferation in aids is a complex result of ebv infection, HIV antigenic stimulation, and T-cell-dependent HIV activation. (12 Dec 1998) |
| anti-HIV agents | Agents used to treat aids and/or stop the spread of the HIV infection. These do not include drugs used to treat symptoms or opportunistic infections associated with aids. (12 Dec 1998) |
| receptors, HIV | Cellular receptors that bind the human immunodeficiency virus that causes aids. Included are CD4 antigens, found on t4 lymphocytes, and monocytes/macrophages, which bind to the HIV envelope protein gp120. (12 Dec 1998) |
| chronic symptomatic HIV infection | This refers to an HIV infection that is characterised by signs and symptoms of HIV that are not life-threatening. Examples include oral thrush, gingivitis, seborrheic dermatitis, molluscum contangiosum, fevers, fatigue, lymph node swelling, malaise and weight loss. This stage can be a signal for the conversion from asymptomatic HIV disease to HIV disease (moe pronouced symptoms include joint pains). AIDS is diagnosed after HIV disease has started to manifest life-threatening oppotunistic infections (for example pneumocystis, cryptosporidium, toxoplasmosis, etc). (27 Sep 1997) |
| middle stage HIV disease | <disease> This refers to an HIV infection that is characterised by signs and symptoms of HIV that are not life-threatening. Examples include oral thrush, gingivitis, seborrheic dermatitis, molluscum contangiosum, fevers, fatigue, lymph node swelling, malaise and weight loss. This stage can be a signal for the conversion from asymptomatic HIV disease to HIV disease (moe pronouced symptoms include joint pains). AIDS is diagnosed after HIV disease has started to manifest life-threatening oppotunistic infections (for example pneumocystis, cryptosporidium, toxoplasmosis, etc). (27 Sep 1997) |
| primary HIV infection | <infectious disease> The flu-like syndrome that oc immediately after a person contracts HIV. This mini infection precedes seroconversion and is characterised fever, sore throat, headache, skin rash and swollen glands. (06 Mar 1998) |
| HIV | <virology> A type of retrovirus (human immunodeficiency virus) that is responsible for the fatal illness acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Two strains have been identified. Type 1: the retrovirus recognised as the agent that induces AIDS. Type 2: a virus closely related to HIV-1 that also leads to immune suppression. HIV-2 is not as virulent as HIV-1 and is epidemic only in West Africa. Acronym: HIV (11 Nov 1997) |