Communicable Disease Causes, Symptoms, Mode of Transmission, Complications, Treatment

Epidemiology
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Introduction
From the beginning of time, the world has been faced with numerous diseases and infections, some of which have had catastrophic impacts on mankind. The plagues of the Middle and Dark Ages come to mind, which killed millions of people, especially across Europe. There discovery of vaccines and more research in medicine brought about solutions to most of the early centuries’ diseases. However, with increased studies into treatments, there seems to have always been those diseases that are proving a menace to humanity.
As part of the medical field, nurses are therefore expected to be on their toes, to ensure that there is proper management and care of the patients affected by these diseases. As a case in point, HIV/AIDS comes to the fore. As its name suggest, it is a virus that ravages the body’s immune system, thereby weakening its natural defenses against other opportunistic diseases. Since its discovery in the early 80s, the disease has continued causing havoc and misery, especially in the developing world.
Causes
The disease is caused by the infection of the blood cells, which later on weakens the immune system. The immune cells in question here are the B and T cells. To understand this better, it is important to delve deeper into the physiology of body, particularly the macrophages, and another type known as the CD4 lymphocytes. These link the immune cells to the others which are producing the antigens. The two main strains of the viruses here are the HIV 1 and HIV2.Based on their respective compositions and resilience; these two strains affect different regions of the world. For example, the Strain 1 virus is very common in a large part of the West, such as Europe and the U.S (Hall et.al. 2011).
Once a cell becomes defective, it galvanizes the increased immunity to the impacts of the blood cells in combating infections. As a result, there is a sharp drop in the count of the CD4 cells, which results to the colonization of portions of the blood by the virus. This then continues until virtually every cell in the blood is colonized. This colonization occurs through the replication of the HIV virus cells in the blood, which is done through copying of the cell structure.
Transmission
The virus is transmitted from one individual to another mainly through the exchange of bodily fluids. These fluids can be semen, blood, milk, as well as rectal and vaginal fluids. The transmission of the virus from one person to the other is irreversible. This is to mean that once one contracts it, he or she will stay with it for the rest of his or her life. There is only a small window period that one can be fully treated of it, when it is still incubating in the blood, during which the cells are still strong and viable. As a result, all the instances which place people at risk of exchanging fluids also place them at risk of infection of the virus. Such include breastfeeding, the sharing of sharp objects, such as intravenous needles during drug usage, unprotected sexual intercourse and childbirth (Hall et.al. 2011).
Symptoms
It is worth noting that the symptoms of HIV/AIDS continues manifesting itself more strongly as time goes by and t...