Acknowledgements

Unit 1 Exercises

review

discussion

Get into small groups by country, region or district to discuss these questions.

1. 
   Which regions or districts are most affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic in your country?
   

2. 
   What might be the factors contributing to the high rate of HIV in these provinces or districts?
   

Apply what

you’ve learned/

case study

Try this case study. We’ll discuss the answers in class.
Cariba is a Caribbean nation that had its earliest cases of AIDS recognised in 1982. Data below are based on estimates of HIV prevalence by parish.
HIV prevalence (%) by parish, Cariba, 1995-2002.

Parish	1995	1998	2000	2002
St. Mary	.2	0.5	1.0	1.1
Kingstown	0.5	0.7	0.9	1.0
Arima	1.0	2.0	2.7	2.9
St. James	1.1	5.6	2.0	2.8
Yotown	0.4	0.9	1.3	1.2

1. 
   What parish has historically had the greatest proportion of its population infected with HIV?
   

2. 
   What are prominent recent trends?
   

3. 
   In 2002, which parish had the highest prevalence? Is the epidemic increasing or decreasing in this parish?
   

Unit 2

Biology, Transmission, Natural History, Prevention and Treatment of HIV Infection and AIDS

Overview

is about

questions

1. 
   Which body cells does HIV infect?
   
   1. 
      respiratory cells
      
   2. 
      skin cells
      
   3. 
      red blood cells
      
   4. 
      white blood cells
      

2. 
   How many major strains of HIV exist?
   

3. 
   Which of the following is not a method of HIV transmission?
   

2. 
   sexual intercourse
   
3. 
   casual physical contact
   
4. 
   blood exchange
   
5. 
   mother to foetus transmission
   

4. 
   What type of infectious agent is HIV?
   

1. 
   bacterium
   
2. 
   virus
   
3. 
   prion
   
4. 
   none of the above
   

5. 
   True or false? HIV infection and the onset of AIDS occur simultaneously.
   

6. 
   Which region of the world has the greatest diversity of HIV sub-types, making the development of one unique treatment or vaccine difficult?
   

7. 
   Which of the following is associated with increased risk of sexual transmission of HIV?
   
   1. 
      failure to use a male or female condom
      
   2. 
      a greater number of sexual partners
      
   3. 
      a high viral load in an infected partner
      
   4. 
      all of the above
      

8. 
   True or false? The presence of existing sexually transmitted infections (STIs) increases the risk of acquiring HIV during sexual intercourse.
   

True False

9. 
   List the three main types of antiretroviral drugs used to treat HIV infection.
   

b.
c.

10. 
    Which of the following fatal opportunistic infections commonly occur(s) in AIDS patients?
    

1. 
   herpes zoster
   
2. 
   fungal infections
   
3. 
   tuberculosis (TB)
   
4. 
   all of the above
   

11. 
    True or false? A vaccine for the prevention of HIV infection is currently available.
    

12. 
    True or false? Some STIs, such as chlamydia, are biologically more easily acquired by young women, making them more susceptible to HIV infection.
    

13. 
    _____________ is the term used to describe the treatment to prevent or suppress infection.