Hiv/Aids: Molecular and Cell Biology of Opportunistic Infections

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) causes a life threating condition known as acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). The first stage of HIV infection is acute infection, following latency and then AIDS, which is the last and critical stage. Patients of AIDS generally have fully dysfunctional immune systems and they acquire a number of severe illnesses known as opportunistic infections (OIs). These illnesses occur in HIV patients with greater severity. Various OIs include tuberculosis (TB), pneumonia, toxoplasmosis, salmonella infection and candidiasis. These infections are caused by various germs, which can be transmitted through contaminated water and food, body fluids and air. AIDS normally takes years to grow following an infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Infected AIDS patients are more likely to acquire cancers, such as Kaposi's sarcoma, cervical cancer, and cancers caused by damaged immune-system known as lymphomas. AIDS patients can benefit from certain medications like antiretroviral medicines. This book contains some path-breaking studies on the molecular and cell biology of opportunistic infections in HIV/AIDS. It will provide comprehensive knowledge to the readers. This book will serve as a reference to a broad spectrum of readers.