I have a 28-year-old friend who works in a call center. He has been in and out of the hospital due to complaints of difficulty breathing, chest pain and easy fatigability. He does not smoke and drinks occasionally. He has been re-admitted due to the same symptoms and this time he needs to be placed on oxygen to aide his breathing. Chest CT scan revealed diffused interstitial pneumocystis and they are suspecting HIV.
He has been referred to an Infectious Disease Specialist but since his mother was there all the time, the doctor cannot expound on my friend’s sexual activity. Well, we have known his sexual preference for the longest but it is really hard to break the news to his mother. Hearing his unsafe sexual activity, which according to him, is common in the call center place and the gym, it is not really impossible for him to catch the disease.
The IDS doctor requested for a sputum staining to test for Pneumocystis Carinii Pneumonia infection and unfortunately the test is not available in the hospital where he is admitted. Respitory discharge needs to be submitted and be brought to a hospital that cater the Indirect Fluorescent Antigen study or IFA which is 97% reliable in confirming PCP. PCP is common among HIV positive patients. It is a kind of pneumonia caused by bacteria called Pneumocystis jiroveci which is classified as fungal pneumonia. It is the most common opportunistic infection among HIV positive patients.
The first signs of PCP are difficulty breathing, fever, and a dry cough which are the spot on signs manifested by my poor friend.
Upon admission he has been placed on IV antibiotics such as Meropenem and Fluconazole (which is actually an antifungal medicine). He is also on antibiotic pill Cotrimoxazole Bactrim Forte. My online research agrees that Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) has been shown to be as effective as intravenous pentamidine and more effective than other alternative treatment regimens
HIV can only be passed from person to person through body fluids, such as blood, semen and vaginal fluid. Children born to infected mothers can also become infected during pregnancy. HIV causes AIDS by damaging the immune system cells until the immune system can no longer fight off other infections that it would usually be able to prevent.
It takes around ten years on average for someone with HIV to develop AIDS.
The most common ways HIV is passed are:
There are various ways a person can become infected with HIV:
• Unprotected sexual intercourse with an infected person: Sexual intercourse without a condom carries the risk of HIV infection.
• Contact with an infected person’s blood: If sufficient blood from somebody who has HIV enters someone else’s body, then HIV can be passed on in the blood.
• Use of infected blood products: Many people in the past have been infected with HIV by the use of blood transfusions and blood products which were contaminated with the virus. In much of the world this is no longer a significant risk, as blood donations are routinely tested for HIV.
• Injecting drugs: HIV can be passed on when injecting equipment that has been used by an infected person is then used by someone else. In many parts of the world, often because it is illegal to possess them, injecting equipment or works are shared.
• From mother to child: HIV can be transmitted from an infected woman to her baby during pregnancy, delivery and breastfeeding.
Source: www.avert.org
I do not understand but he has not been placed on ELISA which is the definitive test for HIV infection but I have secretly discussed the matter with my friend. detects HIV antibodies in a person’s blood. It is necessary to wait at least 3 months which is called the window period after the last possible exposure before having an HIV antibody test, to be certain of an accurate result.
I just do not know how he could come out to his parent which is badly needed. He is worried about the stigma that he needs to face if his health condition also becomes known to the public.
I hope that it is not PCP.
