Assignment

1. What are three types of cancers that are specifically AIDS-related? Choose 3 answers from the following list.
Kaposi's sarcoma
Cervical cancer
Lymphoma
Lung cancer
Brain cancer

2. What are the three main clinical stages of HIV infection? Choose 3 answers from the following list.
Exposure
Initial infection and the asymptomatic period
Initial symptoms
Immunological damage
Death

3. Many AIDS patients have opportunistic infections, beginning in the early immune failure stage and progressing to full blown AIDS. List 3 or more of the AIDS defining symptoms associated with full blown AIDS, and explain why these generally kill the patients, when the infections associated with early immune failure generally do not. (This is a thought question. You won't find a direct answer in the book)

4. A patient presents with swollen lymph nodes and fever. He tests negative in the HIV antibody test but high levels of HIV are detected in his blood by PCR. His CD4 T cell count is within the normal range. What is your diagnosis?
Asymptomatic HIV infection
Early immune failure
Acute phase seronegative HIV
End stage AIDS

5. How long does it usually take before an untreated HIV-infected individual develops symptoms of AIDS?
10-12 years
1 year
2 years
20 years

6. Which class of anti AIDS drugs is used to prevent the virus from integrating into the host genome so that it can live indefinitely in a dormant state inside the host.
Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor
Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor
Protease inhibitor
Integrase inhibitor

7. Which class of drug interferes with the maturation of the virus by preventing a long nonfunctional polypeptide from being cut into three separate functional proteins?
Fusion inhibitor
Integrase inhibitor
Protease inhibitor
CCR5 inhibitor

8. What is the approximate annual cost of triple combination therapy for HIV infection?
$2,000
$5,000
$15,000
$25,000

9. Will triple combination therapies be useful in treating HIV infection in developing countries? Explain your answer.

10. What is the major limitation in the use of Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors ( NRTIs) for AIDS treatment?