HIV AIDS classification

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] ; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Ammu Susheela, M.D. [2]

Overview

Since June 5, 1981, many definitions have been developed for epidemiological surveillance such as the Bangui definition and the 1994 expanded World Health Organization AIDS case definition. However, clinical staging of patients was not an intended use for these systems as they are neither sensitive, nor specific. In developing countries, the World Health Organization staging system for HIV infection and disease, using clinical and laboratory data, is used and in developed countries, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Classification System is used.

Classification

WHO Disease Staging System for HIV Infection and Disease

Main article: WHO Disease Staging System for HIV Infection and Disease

In 1990, the World Health Organization (WHO) grouped these infections and conditions together by introducing a staging system for patients infected with HIV-1. An update took place in September 2005. Most of these conditions are opportunistic infections that are easily treatable in healthy people.

• Stage I: HIV infection is asymptomatic and not categorized as AIDS
• Stage II: includes minor mucocutaneous manifestations and recurrent upper respiratory tract infections
• Stage III: includes unexplained chronic diarrhea for longer than a month, severe bacterial infections and pulmonary tuberculosis
• Stage IV: includes toxoplasmosis of the brain, candidiasis of the esophagus, trachea, bronchi or lungs and Kaposi's sarcoma; these diseases are indicators of AIDS.

WHO staging system for HIV infection and disease in adults and adolescents

Clinical stage	Features
Clinical stage 1	Asymptomatic Generalized lymphadenopathy
Clinical stage 2	Weight loss of less than 10% body weight Minor mucocutaneous manifestations Herpes Zooster within the last five years Recurrent respiratory tract infections (such as sinusitis, bronchitis, otitis media, pharyngitis) Recurrent oral ulcerations Papular pruritic eruptions Angular cheilitis Seborrhoeic dermatitis Fungal finger nail infections
Clinical stage 3	Conditions where a presumptive diagnosis can be made on the basis of clinical signs or simple investigations Unexplained chronic diarrhoea for longer than one month Unexplained persistent fever (intermittent or constant for longer than one month) Severe weight loss (>10% of presumed or measured body weight) Oral candidiasis Oral hairy leukoplakia Pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) diagnosed in last two years Severe presumed bacterial infections (e.g. pneumonia, empyema, meningitis, bacteraemia, pyomyositis, bone or joint infection) Acute necrotizing ulcerative stomatitis, gingivitis or periodontitis Conditions where confirmatory diagnostic testing is necessary Unexplained anaemia (< 80 g/l), and or neutropenia (<500/µl) and or thrombocytopenia (<50 000/ µl) for more than one month
Clinical stage 4	Conditions where a presumptive diagnosis can be made on the basis of clinical signs or simple investigations HIV wasting syndrome Pneumocystis pneumonia Recurrent severe or radiological bacterial pneumonia Chronic herpes simplex infection (orolabial, genital or anorectal of more than one month’s duration) Oesophageal candidiasis Extrapulmonary Tuberculosis Kaposi’s sarcoma Central nervous system toxoplasmosis HIV encephalopathy Conditions where confirmatory diagnostic testing is necessary Extrapulmonary cryptococcosis including meningitis Disseminated non-tuberculous mycobacteria infection Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy Candida of trachea, bronchi or lungs Cryptosporidiosis Isosporiasis Visceral herpes simplex infection Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection (retinitis or of an organ other than liver, spleen or lymph nodes) Any disseminated mycosis (e.g. histoplasmosis, coccidiomycosis, penicilliosis) Recurrent non-typhoidal salmonella septicaemia Lymphoma (cerebral or B cell non-Hodgkin) Invasive cervical carcinoma Visceral leishmaniasis

WHO staging system for HIV infection and disease in children

Clinical stage	Features
Clinical stage 1	Asymptomatic Generalized lymphadenopathy
Clinical stage 2	Chronic diarrhoea lasting for more than 30 days in the absence of known etiology Severe persistent or recurrent candidiasis outside the neonatal period Weight loss or failure to thrive in the absence of known etiology Persistent fever lasting for more than 30 days in the absence of known etiology. Recurrent severe bacterial infections other than septicemia or meningitis like osteomyelitis, bacterial pneumonia or abscesses
Clinical stage 3	AIDS defining opportunistic infections Severe failure to thrive in the absence of known etiology Progressive encephalopathy Malignancy Recurrent septicemia or meningitis

CDC Classification System for HIV Infection

Main article: CDC Classification System for HIV Infection

In the beginning, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) did not have an official name for the disease, often referring to it by way of the diseases that were associated with it, for example, lymphadenopathy, the disease after which the discoverers of HIV originally named the virus. They also used Kaposi's Sarcoma and Opportunistic Infections, the name by which a task force had been set up in 1981. In the general press, the term GRID, which stood for Gay-related immune deficiency, had been coined. However, after determining that AIDS was not isolated to the homosexual community, the term GRID became misleading and AIDS was introduced at a meeting in July 1982. By September 1982 the CDC started using the name AIDS, and properly defined the illness. In 1993, the CDC expanded their definition of AIDS to include all HIV positive people with a CD4⁺ T cell count below 200 per µL of blood or 14% of all lymphocytes. The majority of new AIDS cases in developed countries use either this definition or the pre-1993 CDC definition. The AIDS diagnosis still stands even if, after treatment, the CD4⁺ T cell count rises to above 200 per µL of blood or other AIDS-defining illnesses are cured.

Comparison Between AIDS and HIV

The following tables compares AIDS and HIV:

Parameter	AIDS	HIV
Definition	Most advance stage of HIV disease. A CD4 count of fewer than 200 cells/mm3 is one of the qualifications for a diagnosis of AIDS. It occurs when weakened immune system of the patient, due to Human Immunodeficiency Virus , developes one or more opportunistic infections.	HIV is a virus, harming the body’s immune system by attacking helper T cells or CD4 cells.
Spread of infection	Only patients with HIV can develop AIDS	HIV can be spread through various ways; most notable being sexual intercourse, the exchange of certain body fluids (blood, pre-ejaculate, semen, vaginal secretions, and breast milk).
Treatment	ART has only proved to be palliative rather being curative	ART can slow the progression from HIV to AIDS, and increase survival. Some researches have claimed to cure the disease , while others have a different opinion.

Summary

HIV virus can cause AIDS. However not everyone who is infected with HIV develops AIDS. HIV infected patients can live for years without developing AIDS symptoms.