1. A significant global health challenge remains HIV/AIDS, which is caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). In order to combat the disease, it is crucial to understand its transmission, pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, treatment, and prevention (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC, 2021).
HIV primarily spreads through sexual contact, exposure to contaminated blood, and perinatal transmission (CDC, 2021). The virus targets CD4+ T cells, macrophages, and dendritic cells, leading to a progressive decline in the immune system’s function (Koyama et al., 2020). As the disease progresses, individuals may experience clinical manifestations such as flu-like symptoms, opportunistic infections, and malignancies. Further clinical manifestations of acute HIV infection include fever, headache, fatigue, arthralgia, vomiting, diarrhea, pharyngitis, rash, ulcers, and swollen glands. AIDS infection can manifest in the form of opportunistic infections, most commonly thrush, esophageal candida, Kaposi sarcoma, recurrent bacterial pneumonia, and disseminated or pulmonary tuberculosis.
HIV/AIDS is managed with antiretroviral therapy (ART), which suppresses viral replication, preserves immune function, and reduces transmission (CDC, 2021). ART consists of a combination of different classes of drugs, including nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, protease inhibitors, integrase strand transfer inhibitors, and fusion inhibitors (CDC, 2021; Koyama et al., 2020). In addition, HIV/AIDS treatment generally consists of monitoring for increased CD4 levels, lowering the viral load with antiretroviral therapy, and treating opportunistic infections. When untreated, patients with HIV tend to develop AIDS within about 10 years, and once diagnosed with AIDS, if they do not receive treatment, they usually die within two years. In addition HIV prevention medications like pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis can be used to lower viral loads (Waymack & Sundareshan, 2021).
Prevention strategies are crucial to controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS. These include promoting safe sexual practices, ensuring the availability of clean needles for injection drug users, and implementing programs for early identification and treatment of HIV-infected individuals (CDC, 2021). Additionally, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is recommended for individuals at high risk of acquiring HIV (CDC, 2021).
In conclusion, a comprehensive understanding of the transmission, pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, treatment, and prevention of HIV/AIDS is essential in addressing this global health issue. Efforts should focus on implementing effective prevention strategies, ensuring access to treatment, and promoting public awareness.
2. Please provide 1-2 examples of passive and active immunity. discussion question
3. Discuss the transmission, pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, treatment, and prevention of HIV/AIDS.
Transmission: HIV/AIDS is transmitted through sexual intercourse, blood or blood products, IV drugs, and maternal-child transmission (2022). Some genetic factors influence the transmission of HIV such as polymorphism of the CXCR4 or CCR5 coreceptor molecules are less likely to become infected. Also, someone that is homozygous for the ?32 mutation of CCR5 coreceptor is immune to the virus (Rogers, 2023). Lastly, a person’s viral load of the source of the infection and the person’s effectiveness of immune function influence a person’s chance of transmission.
Pathogenesis:HIV first infects macrophages and dendritic cells which then travel to the lymph nodes to affect Th cells. As HIV begins to replicate, it enters the bloodstream and produces flu-like symptoms (Rogers, 2023). The more Th cells that become infected, the more HIV replicates. T cytotoxic (Tc) cells activate in order to kill cells that have been infected. The bone marrow produces more Th cells to replace the one being killed (Rogers, 2023). Eventually the bone marrow loses its capability of producing enough Th cells to replace those being killed off and HIV then advances to AIDS.
Clinical Manifestations:According to the Mayo Clinic, clinical manifestations can be broken down by the stages of HIV: primary infection, clinical latent infection, symptomatic HIV infection, and progression to AIDS (2022). During the primary infection a person will experience: fever. Headache, muscle aches and joint pain, rash, sore throat with painful mouth sores, swollen lymph glands on neck, diarrhea, weight loss, cough, and night sweats (2022). When the virus progresses to clinical latent infection, a person may have no symptoms or infections and can stay this way for many years if treatment with antiretroviral therapy is happening. Symptomatic HIV infection includes the above, plus oral yeast infections, shingles, and pneumonia get added to the list of symptoms. HIV has progressed to AIDS when the Th cells are less than 200 cells/ mm or when opportunistic infections or cancers occur (Rogers, 2023). Other manifestations include neurologic or metabolic complications, and lesions on tongue or mouth (Rogers, 2023).
Treatment:While there is no current cure for HIV, there are antiretroviral therapy (ART) medications that can help slow the progression. The use of multiple different drug classes is used to best treat the virus (Rogers, 2023).
Prevention:Prevention strategies include avoiding unprotected sex and needle sharing (Rogers, 2023). It is also important for those that are infected to take their medications as prescribed. Frequent testing can also help to prevent the spread of HIV. New advances have also shown pre and post-exposure prophylaxis in antiretroviral medication (Rogers, 2023).
4. For many, the most significant stand-out feature between quantitative and qualitative research is the numerical factor. Quantitative research focuses on measuring and quantifying data, while qualitative research focuses on gathering and interpreting non-numerical data such as from interviews, documents, and observations (Hoover, 2021). Table 4-2 from Tappen’s textbook demonstrates helpful compare/contrast descriptions between quantitative and qualitative research. Quantitative research is objective and demonstrates reliability and validity, while qualitative data is subjective and its purpose is to discover information (Tappen, 2016, table 4-2). Personally, I prefer quantitative research because for me the data is clearer because it is numerical and objective. With good quantitative research, one can make predictions about subsequent experiments. Depending on what topic is being researched one will need to decide between using quantitative or qualitative research. If the ultimate goal of the research is to test hypotheses or quantify data, then quantitative research would be more suited. On the other hand, qualitative research is helpful for topics where more in-depth research is sought after to provide more detailed information. For myself, quantitative research seems to be more mathematical, while qualitative research can be more philosophical.
5. One of the differences between quantitative and qualitative research is that quantitative includes numbers and qualitative does not (Tappen, 2015). The goal of quantitative research is to create proposals that can describe and predict certain situations that can be used to generalize other situations (Tappen, 2015). For example, if a hospital floor wanted to reduce the chance of patients falling, they could use data from quantitative research that showed the instance of it happening (Tappen, 2015). This data could show the different factors that have increased patient falls and could be used to hopefully decrease patient falls in that hospital floor (Tappen, 2015). Qualitative research is based on why or how something happened (Tappen, 2015). The data gathered in qualitative studies are usually non-numerical and are more subjective in nature rather than objective like in quantitative research (Tappen, 2015). I would choose to develop a research project that was quantitative if I wanted data that had reliability and validity (Tappen, 2015). I’d also choose quantitative if I wanted verification of a topic. I would choose to develop a research project that was qualitative if I wanted data that was trustworthy (Tappen, 2015). I’d also choose qualitative if my overall goal was to discover the truth.
6. Some challenges when it comes to combining methodologies when creating a research proposal, can be that quantitative and qualitative research do not align in their views. Another challenge is one researcher rarely is an expert in multiple methods. These challenges are not simple to overcome, however ways to overcome them are to work in a team of experts utilizing all fields of views. By using a multi-disciplinary approach to research, a team can be used to input their individual expertise. Such as pharmacist, physicians, microbiologist, etc.. Another way to combat these challenges would be to use a meta-analysis approach. This approach builds on research already conducted and can be answered in a more in-depth way compared to projects conducted individually. Most importantly to overcome these challenges, being flexible and adapting to the project is vital when combining methods.
7. When conducting a search, the majority of research tends to be quantitative in nature, particularly in healthcare (Tariq & Woodman, 2013). Combining methodologies means that both quantitative and qualitative methods are used within one research study. This can pose several challenges. First and foremost, implementing both methods can create a less coherent and more difficult-to-follow study. It is more time-consuming and creates more work for the researchers in order to determine how to combine, integrate, and interpret the data (Tariq & Woodman, 2013). Communicating the results from the combined research can also be challenging. After interpreting the data, researchers need to be able to present it in a coherent and easy to comprehend manner (Tariq & Woodman, 2013). There is a benefit to combining methodologies. One such benefit is that the combined method can address certain research questions in a more comprehensive manner (Tariq & Woodman, 2013). This allows for a more holistic understanding of the topic. Some ways to overcome these challenges are to plan accordingly by creating a detailed research plan. The objectives of the research should be clearly defined with a concrete timeline. Clear communication is probably one of the most important ways to overcome challenges. An explanation of the research design, methodology, and rationale for each methodology will create a coherent research study (Tariq & Woodman, 2013).
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