Can you die from AIDS? Death from HIV infection

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), associated with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), is by far the most well-known condition among a wide range of people associated with a lack of the body's defenses. And this is not without reason, because death from HIV infection occurs much more often than, for example, with AIDS associated with herpes, cytomegalovirus and other viral agents.

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How serious is the problem?

HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is a virus that damages the immune system, which helps the body fight infections. Once in the body, HIV infects and kills CD4 cells (or T cells), which are responsible for the immune system's response to various infections.

Over time, as HIV kills more CD4 cells, the body is more likely to develop various types of infections and cancers.

AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is a disease that can develop in people with HIV. In other words, AIDS is the most recent stage of the development of HIV. However, the presence of the immunodeficiency virus in a person does not mean that he will develop AIDS.

The threat of this disease to human health is very high. For example, throughout Russia, as of 2016, there were more than 1,000,000 HIV-positive patients. And the question of whether it is possible to die from AIDS is answered by dry statistics: 26,000 people at that time had already lost their lives for reasons directly related to this pathology. At the same time, only 600,000 people were registered, and approximately 250,000 patients received adequate therapy.

Since the fight is not being carried out actively enough, HIV is spreading more and more widely among the population of our country. According to the Ministry of Health, the average annual increase in the number of infected people is 10%. Are more people dying from HIV infection? Yes, the number of deaths is growing by 7.5% every year!

For most people, AIDS seems like something far away that may not happen to them. But in vain! In 2016, for every 100,000 people, 35 infected people were registered, and those who do not take specific antiretroviral drugs continue to infect others.

Important! In order not to once again wonder whether people are dying from AIDS, it is enough to know that HIV currently accounts for up to 45% of the total mortality from all infectious diseases.

Who is at greater risk of contracting HIV than others?

There is still information that AIDS is mainly a problem of drug addicts and homosexuals, but is it possible for a person who does not belong to these groups to die from HIV infection? Unfortunately, the disease has long gone beyond these social groups.

For example, among patients who are now being diagnosed for the first time, the causes of infection are common as follows:

injection of narcotic drugs with non-sterile syringes - 52.8%;
sexual contacts with the opposite sex - 44.5%;
same-sex sexual contacts - 1.5%;
newborns from infected mothers - 1.1%.

There are also cases of infection of patients in hospitals and doctors from patients, patients and carriers of HIV. So these days, most people cannot consider themselves completely safe.

Why do people die from AIDS?

Having understood whether it is possible to die from HIV infection, you should understand what is the reason for such a high mortality rate of the pathology. Statistics from the Russian Federation show that, on average, people suffering from AIDS die at the age of 35. And this is due to the fact that among the infected population, not all people take antiretroviral therapy.

It is also important to know whether patients die from AIDS itself or from other diseases that have nothing to do with this infection. For example, a patient who is taking antiretroviral drugs:

lives the normal life of a healthy person;
does not infect others in any way, including sex and contact with blood;
if they die, it is from causes unrelated to HIV infection and AIDS.

If specific treatment is not carried out, then the opposite picture is observed. And how people die from HIV infection should be conveyed to everyone, starting from school. It's scary, it's painful, it's long.

People must understand that AIDS is not a death sentence, but everyone must fight it and prevent further infection - by their behavior, timely seeking medical help and taking medications responsibly.