| Term | Definition |
|---|
| AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) | the end stage of chronic HIV infection |
| AIDS - dementia complex | dementia caused by HIV infection of the brain or HIV-related central nervous system problems caused by lymphoma, toxoplasmosis, cytomegalovirus (CMV), herpes virus, Cryptococcus, progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), dehydration, or medication side effects |
| HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) | causative agent of HIV infection |
| Immunodeficiency | inadequate protection of the body by the immune system |
| KS (Kaposi's Sarcoma) | a common type of neoplasm seen in HIV-infected patients that is thought to be caused by the human herpes virus 8 (HHV8) and can affect many organ systems, but lesions are most frequently seen on the skin and oral mucosa |
| Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRT) | drugs that combine with reverse transcriptase enzyme to block the process needed to convert HIV RNA into HIV DNA |
| nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRT) | drugs that insert a bit of protein (a nucleoside) into the developing HIV DNA chain, blocking further development of the chain and leaving the production of the new strand of HIV DNA incomplete |
| OI (opportunistic infection) | infections and cancers that occur in immunosuppressed patients that can lead to disability, disease, and death |
| oral hairy leukoplakia | an Epstein-Barr virus infection that causes painless, white, raised lesions on the lateral aspect of the tongue |
| PCP (Pneumocystis carinii penumonia) | fungus commonly causing opportunistic pneumonia in those with HIV infection |
| post-exposure prophylaxis | treatment with combination antiretroviral therapy upon exposure to HIV-infected fluids |
| protease inhibitor (PI) | drugs that prevent the protease enzyme from cutting HIV proteins into the proper lengths needed to allow viable virions to assemble and bud out from the cell membrane |
| retrovirus | RNA virus that replicate in a "backward" manner (going from RNA to DNA) |
| reverse transcriptase | enzyme that is present in retroviruses; allows for synthesis of DNA from RNA |
| seroconversion | development of antibodies following infection |
| viral load | quantity of viral particles in a biologic sample |
| viremia | large amounts of virus in the blood, resulting from initial infection with a virus |
| window period | time period of two months after infection during which an infected individual will not test HIV-antibody positive |
Combine with other sets
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