Introduction

• According to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control, 56,300 people were diagnosed with an infection of HIV in the United States in 2008. According to the international AIDS charity AVERT, the international statistics for new infections were even more staggering, with as many as an estimated 2.7 million people being diagnosed throughout the world in 2007. HIV is a deadly infection that in many ways starts undetected.
  
  

Infection

• An HIV infection can occur through three main pathways. These pathways are blood, sexual fluids and from mother to baby. Blood transmission of the virus most commonly occurs with intravenous drug users who share needles. Transmission can also occur through an infected blood transfusion, but new standards of screening before a transfusion have prevented this from being a cause for concern. In addition, blood transmission can occur if infected blood comes into contact with an open wound or needle stick (such as with a diabetic testing kit or an accidental stick in a medical or research environment). HIV can infect individuals who do not practice safe sex. HIV can be spread both heterosexually and homosexually through oral, vaginal or anal sex. HIV can also be spread from mother to baby either through contact with birth fluids during labor and delivery or, in some cases, through the mother's breast milk.
  
  

CD4

• Once HIV has gained access to the body, it targets cells within the body with a specific protein coding called CD4. Since the virus does not have the necessary internal equipment to multiply and spread on its own, HIV must hijack healthy body cells and use their equipment to multiply. Sticking out of the HIV outer membrane are spikes that are specifically designed to stick to the CD4 on neighboring cells. As the virus bumps into a cell with a CD4 coating (most commonly the immune system's T-cells), it sticks to the cell and hijacks it. To hijack the cell, HIV uses the spikes to inject its viral RNA into the host cell. Once this genetic material has been inserted, the virus can use the new cell to produce more HIV.
  
  

Symptoms

• The first HIV symptoms you may experience are similar to the symptoms you would have with a cold or flu virus. Like any virus, the body reacts to the invasion by sending immune cells to the area, which, according to the Mayo Clinic, can cause flu-like symptoms such as fever, swollen lymph nodes, sore throat and headache. These symptoms are usually short-lived and go away on their own. Unfortunately, as the virus has more time in the body, other diseases can occur. This is due to the fact that every time the virus takes over a CD4 T-cell, it leaves the cell unable to do its job and eventually kills the cell itself. Without these T-cells, your body becomes vulnerable to a host of infections, such as chronic pneumonia, tuberculosis and even some types of cancer.