Term

Explanation

ACTS protocol

USA counselling programme:
Assess, Counsel, Test, Support

Adherence

Taking something such as treatment or drugs exactly as instructed

AIDS

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.  The name given to a specific group of illnesses or conditions that occur when a person is infected with HIV (the Human Immunodeficiency Virus)

Antenatal

Existing or occurring before birth

Antibody

Substance produced by the immune system with the aim of destroying or neutralising bacteria, viruses or other harmful toxins

Antigens

Substances which are capable, under appropriate conditions, of inducing a specific immune response and of reacting with the products of that response, that is, with specific antibodies or specifically sensitised t-lymphocytes, or both.

Antiretroviral

A substance used against retroviruses such as HIV

Antiviral

A drug that works against viruses or suppresses their replication (i.e. reproduction)

Approved drugs

Generally a drug needs t be approved by regulatory authorities before it can be marketed.  The approval process usually involves several clinical trials for efficacy and safety before approval can be applied for.  Then the regulatory authorities review the application and either approve or reject the drug.

ART

Antiretroviral treatment

ARVs

Antiretroviral drugs

Asymptomatic

Without symptoms.  Usually used in the HIV/AIDS literature to describe a person who is infected with HIV but who shows no clinical symptoms of the disease.

B Co

Vitamin B Complex

Blinded Study

A clinical trial in which the participants do not know who is receiving a new treatment and who is having the old treatment or a placebo.

Blip

A minor usually temporary change or error.  Unusually used in relation to the temporary detection of a viral load after a period of time when the viral load was undetectable.

Body fluids

Any fluid in the human body such as blood, urine, saliva (spit), sputum, tears, semen, mother’s milk or vaginal secretions.

Caesarean section

The operation used to deliver a baby though a cut made in the mother’s abdominal wall.

CD4

The main cell that HIV attacks is called a CD4 cell.  CD4 cells are also known as T helper cells.  They are a type of lymphocyte, which is a white blood cell that plays an important role in the immune system.

CD4 count

The CD4 count is a test that measures the number of Cd4 cells in the blood.  The more CD4 cells in the blood per millimetre, the stronger the immune system.  The stronger the immune system, the better the body can fight illnesses.

Chronic

A long term illness or problem

Clinical

Practical observation and treatment of patients

Clinical trial

A clinical trial is research or a study with people to investigate a new drug or treatment.  Clinical trials are carefully planned medical experiments.

Cohort

A group of people who have similar characteristics

Combination therapy

For antiretroviral treatment to be effective for a long time, it has been found that you need to take more than one drug at a time.  Combining drugs in this way is known as combination therapy.

Complementary therapy

Complementary therapies, sometimes known as alternative therapies, are therapies that are not normally used in conventional western medicine.  Examples are homeopathy and herbal remedies.

Compliance

Ensuring that people take the medication

Control group

A group of people in a clinical trial that are receiving standard treatment or a placebo rather then the experimental treatment which is being tested.

Cross resistance

If HIV is resistant to one drug, it will sometimes be resistant to similar rugs in the same group. This is called cross-resistance, and it means that some anti-HIV drugs will not work even though a person has not previously taken the treatment.

Diagnosis

Identifying a particular medical condition or illness.

Disclosure

Telling people of one’s HIV status

Disease progression

The further development of a disease in a person.  Often it means the disease is getting worse.

DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid – the part of the nucleus of a cell where the genetic information is stored that enables the cell to reproduce.

Double-blind

A clinical trial or study is called a double-blind if neither the researchers nor the participants know who is receiving the experimental treatment and who is receiving the standard treatment or placebo.

Drug interaction

When taking more than one antiretroviral drug, sometimes drugs react with each other or one drug will react and have a different effect with certain food, other medication or an herbal remedy.

Drug resistance

The ability of the viruses and bacteria to adapt so that they grow and survive despite ongoing drug treatment that would normally kill them.

EARS Adherence Programme

USA programme to encourage adherence among adolescents.
Engage, Assess, Readiness, Support

ELISA

Antibody test which shows that you have antibodies in your blood, confirming the presence of the HIV virus.  It is the most common test

Empowerment

People taking responsibility for and control of their lives and communities

Fusion inhibitor

A class of antiretroviral drugs that prevent HIV from entering healthy T cells in the body by attaching themselves to either the proteins of the surface of the T cell or on the surface of HIV.

GP120

Glycoprotein 120, a protein that sticks out from the surface of HIV

HAART

Highly Active AntiRetroviral Therapy – drug regimes that are highly effective in suppressing replication of HIV.  It usually consists of several drugs taken together.

Hepatitis

Inflammation of the liver

HIV

Human Immunodeficiency Virus.  It is the virus that causes AIDS.  There are two different types HIV-1 and HIV-2.  Globally HIV-1 is the most common type.

HOPE

HIV Outreach Programme and Education a Cape Town based Not for Profit Organisation

IMCI

Integrated Management of Childhood Infections

Immune system

The body’s natural defence mechanism against foreign substances.

Immunosuppression

A state of the body in which the immune system is suppressed or damaged o that it cannot work properly.

Intergrase inhibitors

A group of anti-HIV drugs which block the action of the HIV enzyme integrase

Kaposi’s Sarcoma

An AIDS defining illness consisting of lesions caused y an overgrowth of blood vessels.

Lipodystrophy

A change in the way the body produces, uses and distributes fat.

MDR

Multiple Drug Resistance

Mega-HAART

Salvage or treatment containing 5 or more antiretroviral drugs for patients who have previously received treatment.

Memory box

It is often suggested to put together a box of photographs and special possessions for people to remember the person who has died.  This is especially important for young children whose parents have died

Mutation

A change in the genetic material within a cell or virus.

Naïve

In treatment means never taken any anti-HIV drugs before.

NNRTI

Non-Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors are antiretroviral drugs that block the action of the HIV enzyme reverse transcriptase.

NPO

Not for profit organisation

NRTI

Nucleoside reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors drugs block the action of the HIV enzyme reverse transcriptase.   Also known as Nucleoside analogues

Nucleotide Analogues

Antiretroviral drugs that work in a similar way to the nucleoside Analogues.

Opportunistic Infections

Illnesses that occur and cause disease in people with damaged immune systems.

Palliative

Palliative treatment provides relief of symptoms but is not a cure.

PBO - Public Benefit Organisation

In South Africa this is a tax free status for not for profit organisations

Placebo

An inactive substance packaged as a liquid or pill to look like the experimental drug.

PMTCT

Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission

Prophylaxis

Treatment to prevent the onset of an illness or to prevent the recurrence of illness.

Protease

An enzyme that HIV uses to break down proteins into smaller particles.

Protease Inhibitors

Antiretroviral drugs which black the action of the HIV enzyme protease.

Proteins

Complex organic compounds found in all living cells which form the structure of most cells and enzymes.

Regimen

A course of treatment and how t is to be taken.

Replication

The process of viral reproduction.

Rescue therapy

The combination of anti-HIV drugs other than the first or second treatment.

Resistance

The reduction in the sensitivity of the virus to a particular drug.

Retrovirus

A type of virus that stores its genetic material in RNA rather than DNA.  HIV is a retrovirus.

Reverse transcriptase

An enzyme that converts genetic material from RNA to DNA.

Sangomas

African traditional    healers

Seroconversion

The development of antibodies to HIV, when a person’s status changes from antibody-negative to antibody-positive.

Side effects

The action or affect of a drug when it affects the body in ways other than those intended to treat a particular condition or illness.

Spot test or rapid test

This is a rapid test for finding out the HIV status of a person within half an hour.  A positive result should e confirmed by doing an EKISA test.

Stigma

Moral outrage leading to social exclusion often based on fear

STIs / STDs

Sexually Transmitted Infections / Diseases

Strain

There are many different subtypes of HIV-1 called strains.  Different strains have a different genetic make up as a result of the virus mutating as it reproduces.

Structured treatment interruptions

Also known as treatment holidays, when a person stops taking treatment for a certain period of time in a planned way and usually under guidance from a doctor.

Sub Saharan Africa

The continent of Africa below the equator.

Syndrome

A group of symptoms that together are the sign of a specific condition.

TB

Short for Tuberculosis, a disease caused by the mycobacterium tuberculosis. 

T-Cell

A type of white blood cell.

T-helper cells

Also known as CD4 cells

Toxicity

The harmful side effects of a particular drug.

UNAIDS

Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS between UN High Commission for Refugees, UNICEF, World Food Programme, UNFPA, UNDOC, International Labour Organisation, World Health Organisation, world Bank

Universal Precautions

These practices developed in 1985 by the USA Centre for Disease Control to prevent the risk of exposure to blood

VCT

Voluntary Counselling and testing.  In South Africa it is a legal requirement that people receive pre and post test counselling before taking the HIV test.  People must give written consent before the blood sample can be taken. 

Vertical transmission

Transmission of HIV from mother to baby.

Viral load

The amount of HIV in the blood.  The higher the viral load, the faster the CD4 cells are being destroyed by HIV.  The lower the viral load, the stronger the immune system.

Viral load rebound

An increase in viral load following a previous decrease due to anti-HIV therapy.

Viral load test

The result indicates how much virus there is in the blood.

Virus

An extremely small germ that reproduces within living cells of the organism it infects.

Western Blot Test

Specialised and costly confirmatory test for HIV.

Wild-type virus

Original type of HIV which has not been exposed to anti-HIV drugs.

Window period

The time between the entry of the virus into the body and the blood test becoming positive.  The person is infectious and can transmit the virus in this period.  The blood test to detect HIV in the body does not become positive immediately after the entry of the virus in the body.  It takes between 1-3 months (maximum 6 months) for the test to become positive.