Hope you all have had another amazing week. My week has been a little bit crazy and I have mainly been getting ready for a quiz coming up in this class. Last week I went over all the different tests for HIV and got tested myself a couple of weeks ago. It surprised me how many different tests there where for HIV and how they worked. To shorten it for you, the ELISA, IFA, Western Blot, OraSure, and Oraquick tests for HIV antibodies, and the PCR and Western Blot tests for viral DNA. The main test given for free most times at local health departments is the ELISA test. This test consists of HIV antibodies at the bottom of a plate and if the patients serum attaches to the plate the patient is HIV positive. One of the most expensive and accurate tests is the PCR test. The PCR test, tests for the viral DNA and can detect it even if the virus is in a latent stage and is often used to confirm ELISA results. The OraQuick and OraSure tests are basically quicker, but less accurate versions of the ELISA test. The OraQuick test is taken by blood and the OraSure test is taken through saliva. The IFA test is a stain that attach's to the HIV antibodies. Last of all the Western Blot tests for HIV antibodies and viral DNA by running the serum through the magnetized gel plate and comparing the DNA to HIVs viral DNA. It amazed me how many different tests there are for HIV. I hope that one day if HIV/AIDS is still around testing will become mandatory and free.
Also this week I was told to talk about if my grandpa contracted HIV from a nursing home what would I do about it. STDs are a major problem in the elderly community, just because someone is old does not mean they cannot be sexual. I do not know why this is, mainly I think it is because the elderly think that if they all already old whats the point of worrying anymore. Another issue is that if the elderly were HIV positive would the medication even be worth it? Depending on the side effects and the severity of the HIV/AIDS I would take the medication, but mainly just try to make the patients life as normal as possible. The elderly is a highly sexual community and a haven for STDs, and I really have no idea how to prevent it.
Did y
ou Know
ou KnowIn this weeks did you know I would like to talk about PEP or Post-exposure prophylaxsis. PEP is a antiretrovial drug that is used immediately after someone has been exposed to HIV. According to avert.org PEP should be taken within 72 hours of being exposed to HIV or the chances of fighting off HIV is extremely diminsihed. PEP aims to stop HIV from becoming established in the body by helping the immune system fight it off. The most common drugs prescribed for PEP are zidovudine, lamivudine, and nelfnavir, which are also drugs that are commonly prescribed for HIV patients. This also means that patients on PEP will have side effects such as, diarrhea, headaches, nausea, and vomiting. According to advert.org patients should stay on the medication for about a month. Also according to advert.org not enough studies have been done to prove whether PEP is effective or not, but in most of the studies conducted positive results have been shown.
ADVERT (2010). What is PEP? (Veiwed March 23, 2010). http://www.advert.org/pep-prep-hiv.htm
Hey Jenna!
ReplyDeleteI definitely feel you on how hectic this week has been! I'm hoping that this test flows and we all do well. This QOTW was pretty interesting, and I agree that the older community doesn't take STD's and HIV as serious as they should. It is that mindset that will be any person's downfall.
Sounds like things have been a bit busy for everyone. A friend took PEP and then could identify what taking medications was like. You just don't know it until you experience it. However, things are a lot gentler on the system these days, or at least can be.
ReplyDeleteI haven't kept up with all the tests out there, so that was interesting to have a brief synopsis of what is available these days.
Western Blot doesn't test for DNA it tests for the antibodies to the HIV proteins.
ReplyDeleteOraSure is tested using ELISA so it is just a good as the blood test that uses ELISA. OraSure doesn't test saliva it tests the exudate from the stimulation of the cheek.
OraQuick doesn't tell you if you are positive or negative, it only tells you if you are reactive or nonreactive. You can use oral fluid or blood as your sample.
PCR is never used for confirmation of ELISA, that is the Western Blot.
If you are going to post information like this you need to be 100% accurate because of the people who may read your blog. You can't give out misinformation.
I wish I could give students a month of the drugs that are used for PEP, but that wouldn't be wise only because it could render them ineffective should the student ever get infected at some later date.