Download HIV Hurts the Immune System

LESSON 7 Introduction to Blood Borne Pathogens
Subject(s): Health
Topic or Unit of Study: Making Informed choices
Grade/Level: 7
Outcomes:
USC 7.2 Examine critically and use purposefully blood-borne pathogen information/ education,
including HIV and Hepatitis C, for the purpose of committing to behaviours that do not put one at
risk of infection or co-infection.
Indicators:
a. Locate sources and evaluate information, according to specific criteria, about behaviours
that do/do not put one at risk of HIV and/or Hepatitis C infection.
d. Examine personal knowledge in terms of what is already known about HIV and Hepatitis
f. Analyze implications of/of not evaluating sources of and information about blood-borne
infections.
Summary:
MATERIALS AND RESOURCES
Instructional Materials:
Resources:
IMPLEMENTATION
Set:
Procedure/Sequence of Activities:

Ask class to share what the know about blood borne pathogens/ HIV/ HEP C
o Slide show
o Share some basic notes about HIV/ HEP C – use kids health for info
o Have students do a reading and answer questions about the reading
o Students will have the majority of the class to work on this worksheet


Come back to slide show and ask students where they would feel most comfortable
learning about HIV HEP C and AIDS
Why do we need to be careful of where we find our information?
Closure:
Differentiated Instruction: slide show, work sheet, reading, class discussion
Time Allotment: 1hour
Assessment/Rubric:
REFLECTION
HIV Hurts the Immune System
People who are HIV positive have been tested and found to have signs of the human
immunodeficiency virus in their blood. HIV destroys part of the immune (say: ih-myoon) system.
Specifically, it affects a type of white blood cell called the T lymphocyte (say:lim-fuh-site), or T cell. T
cells are one type of "fighter" cell in the blood that help the body fight off all kinds of germs and
diseases.
After HIV enters the body, it piggybacks onto a T cell and works its way inside of that cell. Once
inside, the virus completely takes over the T cell and uses it as a virus-making factory to make a lot of
copies of itself. The newly made viruses then leave the T cell and go on to infect and destroy other
healthy T cells as they continue to multiply inside the body. T cells invaded by the virus can no longer
properly fight infections.
Someone who is infected with the virus is called HIV positive. But it may take years for the virus to
damage enough T cells for that person to get sick and develop AIDS. Although the HIV-positive person
may feel fine, the virus is silently reproducing itself and destroying T cells.
However, thanks to new medications, someone infected with HIV can stay relatively healthy and
symptom-free for many years. These medications are very expensive and not available to everyone in
the world.
When the person's immune system has weakened and more of the blood's T cells have been destroyed
by the virus, the person can no longer fight off infections. This is when he or she gets very sick. A
doctor diagnoses someone with AIDS when the person has a very low number of T cells or shows
signs of a serious infection.
How Is HIV Spread?
HIV infection isn't like a cold or the flu. A kid cannot get HIV by riding a school bus with or visiting the
home of someone who has HIV, or by holding that person's hand. HIV is passed only through direct
contact with another person's body fluids, such as blood.
The majority of people in North America get infected with HIV by:

sexual contact

sharing needles or syringes (used to inject drugs or other things) with another person
Other ways of getting HIV:

An infected pregnant woman passes it to her unborn child (this can be prevented by treating the
mother and child around the time the baby is delivered).

A person has a blood transfusion (say: trans-fyoo-zhun). But in North America today, all donated
blood is tested for HIV, so the risk of getting HIV that way is less than 1 in a million.
What Are the Symptoms of HIV/AIDS?
It's important to know that you can't tell that someone has HIV just by what he or she looks like. Most
people don't feel any different after they are infected with HIV. In fact, infected people often do not
experience symptoms for years. Some develop flu-like symptoms a few days to a few weeks after
being infected, but these symptoms usually go away after several days.
If untreated, an HIV-positive person will eventually begin to feel sick. The person might begin to have
swollen lymph nodes, weight loss, fevers that come and go, infections in the mouth, diarrhea, or he or
she might feel tired for no reason all of the time. Eventually, the virus can infect all of the body's
organs, including the brain, making it hard for the person to think and remember things.
When a person's T cell count gets very low, the immune system is so weak that many different
diseases and infections by other germs can develop. These can be life threatening. For example,
people with AIDS often develop pneumonia (say: nu-mo-nyah), which causes bad coughing and
breathing problems. Other infections can affect the eyes, the organs of the digestive system, the
kidneys, the lungs, and the brain. Some people develop rare kinds of cancers of the skin or immune
system.
Most of the children who have HIV got it because their mothers were infected and passed the virus to
them before they were born. Babies born with HIV infection may not show any symptoms at first, but
if they are not treated, the progression of AIDS is often faster in babies than in adults. Doctors need
to watch them closely. Kids who have HIV or AIDS may learn more slowly than healthy kids and tend
to start walking and talking later.
How Are HIV/AIDS Diagnosed?
Someone can be infected with HIV without even knowing it. So doctors recommend testing for anyone
who might have been exposed to the virus, even if the chance seems very small. Doctors test a
person's blood or saliva to find out if he or she is infected with HIV.
People who are HIV positive need to have additional blood tests every so often. The doctor will want to
see how many T cells the person has. The lower the T cell count, the weaker the immune system and
the greater the risk that someone will get very sick.
How Are HIV/AIDS Treated?
Right now there is no cure for HIV or AIDS, but new medicines can help people live long and healthy
lives like people with other chronic diseases (such as diabetes).
Scientists are also researching vaccines that one day might help to prevent HIV infection, but it's a
very tough assignment and no one knows when these vaccines might become available.
Can HIV/AIDS Be Prevented?
People can help stop the spread of HIV by practicing safe sex and by not sharing needles
Health care workers ( such as doctors, nurses, and dentists) help prevent the spread of HIV by wearing
protective gloves when working on a patient.
Hospitals have strict procedures for handling samples of blood and other body fluids to prevent others
from coming in contact with HIV.
Living With HIV/AIDS
New drugs make it possible for people who are HIV positive to live for years without getting AIDS.
They can work or go to school, make friends, hang out, and do all of the things other people can do.
They will have to take certain medicines every day and see their doctors pretty often, and they may
get sick more than other people do because their immune systems are more fragile.
Even though they may look OK, people who are HIV positive may sometimes feel scared, angry,
unhappy, or depressed. They may feel afraid that the people at work or school, or their friends or
family could find out and start treating them differently. If you know someone who is HIV positive,
treat him or her just like any other friend.
Hepatitis C
The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is spread by direct contact with an infected person's blood. However,
infection with HCV can lead to chronic liver disease and is a leading reason for liver transplantation in
the United States. Chronic HCV infection is also associated with liver cancer.
HCV is more common in adults than in children. In kids, it's often acquired through transmission from
a mother to her newborn. It also can be spread by:

sharing drug needles and intranasal drug use (snorting drugs)

getting a tattoo or body piercing with unsterilized tools

blood transfusions or organ transplants (especially before 1992; since then the U.S. blood supply
and donated organs have been routinely screened for hepatitis C)

sexual contact (although this is less common)

hemodialysis (especially before 1990)
Rarely, people living with an infected person can contract HCV by sharing items that might contain
that person's blood, such as razors, toothbrushes, or scissors.
Diagnosis
All of these viral hepatitis conditions can be diagnosed through blood tests.
Liver function tests might be used to determine how well the liver is working or if it is damaged.
Sometimes, a liver biopsy (the removal of a small liver tissue sample for examination) is done to
further check for organ damage. A liver biopsy also can help doctors choose the best treatment.
Signs and Symptoms
Hepatitis, in its early stages, may cause flu-like symptoms, including:

fever

muscle aches

abdominal pain

loss of appetite

nausea

vomiting

diarrhea

jaundice (a yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes)
But some people with hepatitis have no symptoms and might not know they're infected.
If hepatitis progresses, its symptoms begin to point to the liver as the source of illness. Chemicals
normally secreted by the liver begin to build up in the blood, which causes:

jaundice

foul breath

a bitter taste in the mouth

dark or "tea-colored" urine

white, light, or "clay-colored" stools
Abdominal pain also can occur, which may be centered below the right ribs (over a tender, swollen
liver) or below the left ribs (over a tender spleen).
Contagiousness
hepatitis C is contagious.
The hepatitis C virus can spread through shared drug needles, contaminated blood products, and less
commonly through sexual contact. It can spread from a mother to her fetus during pregnancy, but this
risk is about 5%. If you're pregnant, contact your doctor if you think you may have been exposed to
hepatitis C.
Over the past several years, improved medical technology has almost eliminated the risk of catching
hepatitis from contaminated blood products and blood transfusions. But as tattoos and acupuncture
have become more popular, the risk of developing hepatitis from improperly sterilized equipment has
increased. Shared needles in drug use and shared straws in intranasal drug use (snorting) are two
very common ways for hepatitis C to spread.
75% to 85% of those who are infected with hepatitis C do not recover completely and are more likely
to continue to have a long-term infection.
Prevention
In general, to prevent viral hepatitis you should:

Follow good hygiene and avoid crowded, unhealthy living conditions.

Take extra care, particularly when drinking and swimming, if you travel to areas of the world
where sanitation is poor and water quality is uncertain.

Never eat shellfish from waters contaminated by sewage.

Remind everyone in your family to wash their handsthoroughly after using the toilet and before
eating.

Use antiseptic cleansers to clean any toilet, sink, potty chair, or bedpan used by someone in the
family who develops hepatitis.
Unfortunately, there's no vaccine for hepatitis C — studies indicate that it may not be possible because
the virus doesn't cause the kind of response needed for a vaccine to be successful.
Treatment
Hospitalization might be necessary when symptoms are severe or laboratory tests show liver damage.

The treatment of chronic hepatitis C has improved significantly with the use of two medications,
interferon and ribavirin, often used in combination.
QUESTION SHEET
1. What does HIV stand for?
2. What does AIDS stand for?
/1
/1
3. List 3 symptoms of HIV /AIDS
/3
4. Is it possible to live with HIV/AIDS? Please explain your answer
5. How is HIV/AIDS transmitted?
/2
/2
6. What is Hepatitis C?
/1
7. List 4 symptoms of Hepatitis C
/4
8. How can we prevent ourselves from catching a blood borne pathogen such as HIV/AIDS &
Hepatitis?
/2
9. Why is it important that we learn about blood borne pathogens such as HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis
C?
/4