HIV pushes the immune system to its limits. Our body’s usual antiviral arsenal is coordinated, in part, by immune cells called Helper T cells. But HIV attacks Helper T cells directly, eventually leading to AIDS. In this animation we show the cellular and molecular mechanisms employed on both sides of the fight, and how antiretroviral drugs can help swing the balance in our favour.
Find a multimedia timeline on the history of HIV research here: https://www.nature.com/collections/mghkkdjlgx/timeline/
This Nature Video is editorially independent. It is produced with third party financial support. Read more about Supported Content here: https://partnerships.nature.com/commercial-content-at-nature-research/
In This Story: HIV
The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of Lentivirus (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive.
Without treatment, average survival time after infection with HIV is estimated to be 9 to 11 years, depending on the HIV subtype. In most cases, HIV is a sexually transmitted infection and occurs by contact with or transfer of blood, pre-ejaculate, semen, and vaginal fluids. Research has shown (for both same-sex and opposite-sex couples) that HIV is untransmittable through condomless sexual intercourse if the HIV-positive partner has a consistently undetectable viral load.
Non-sexual transmission can occur from an infected mother to her infant during pregnancy, during childbirth by exposure to her blood or vaginal fluid, and through breast milk. Within these bodily fluids, HIV is present as both free virus particles and virus within infected immune cells.
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