What on earth are they talking about?
A brief list of definitions for some of the HIV/AIDS related lingo (with help from the McGill background material)
ART: Anti Retroviral Therapy
CD4 (T4): A protein receptor located on the cell surface of T-lymphocyte and other immune cells. When the HIV invades it first attaches to the CD4 receptor molecules. As untreated AIDS progresses CD4 counts drop, if treatment is started and working the numbers will return.
ELISA: Enzyme Linked Immunosorbant Assay - a blood test used to screen for HIV infection based on the presence of antibodies to HIV. A positive result must be confirmed by a Western Blot.
HAART: Highly Active Anti Retroviral Therapy, also known as the AIDS cocktail. A potent combination of medications for the treatment of infections by retroviruses, primarily HIV. Usually with three or more drugs from different classes that act at different stages of the HIV life cycle.
HIV: Human Immunodeficiency virus (please tell me you *all* knew this one)
Immunocompromised: A state when the body's immune system defenses are lowered and therefore the body is more susceptible to diseases and infections.
P24: A core protein in HIV.
P24 Antigen Level: A level that can be measured in blood and other body fluids. The test used to measure P24 levels detects the presence of a core protein fragment on HIV.
PLWA: People (Person) Living with AIDS
PMTCT: Prevention of Mother To Child Transmission
Resistance: diminished effectiveness of a drug against a disease-causing agent. As seen with the "superbugs" that surface occationally in Canadian cities.
Retrovirus: A class of viruses which includes HIV, so named because they carry their genetic information on RNA instead of DNA and the genetic information must be translated backwards.
Western Blot: A confirmation test for the presence of specific antibodies that is more accurate than the ELISA test for detecting true negatives. (wow this one is a throw back to Biochemistry 301 - I think I passed that class base on my ability to Western blot)
ART: Anti Retroviral Therapy
CD4 (T4): A protein receptor located on the cell surface of T-lymphocyte and other immune cells. When the HIV invades it first attaches to the CD4 receptor molecules. As untreated AIDS progresses CD4 counts drop, if treatment is started and working the numbers will return.
ELISA: Enzyme Linked Immunosorbant Assay - a blood test used to screen for HIV infection based on the presence of antibodies to HIV. A positive result must be confirmed by a Western Blot.
HAART: Highly Active Anti Retroviral Therapy, also known as the AIDS cocktail. A potent combination of medications for the treatment of infections by retroviruses, primarily HIV. Usually with three or more drugs from different classes that act at different stages of the HIV life cycle.
HIV: Human Immunodeficiency virus (please tell me you *all* knew this one)
Immunocompromised: A state when the body's immune system defenses are lowered and therefore the body is more susceptible to diseases and infections.
P24: A core protein in HIV.
P24 Antigen Level: A level that can be measured in blood and other body fluids. The test used to measure P24 levels detects the presence of a core protein fragment on HIV.
PLWA: People (Person) Living with AIDS
PMTCT: Prevention of Mother To Child Transmission
Resistance: diminished effectiveness of a drug against a disease-causing agent. As seen with the "superbugs" that surface occationally in Canadian cities.
Retrovirus: A class of viruses which includes HIV, so named because they carry their genetic information on RNA instead of DNA and the genetic information must be translated backwards.
Western Blot: A confirmation test for the presence of specific antibodies that is more accurate than the ELISA test for detecting true negatives. (wow this one is a throw back to Biochemistry 301 - I think I passed that class base on my ability to Western blot)
posted by Angela at 8:11 PM
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