HIV/AIDS
Clinical Manifestations
HIV infection begins when the individual is inoculated with the human immunodeficiency virus. Within a few weeks of initial infection, many people experience a few days of clinical symptoms suggestive of a viral illness. Symptoms may include fever, rash, myalgia, neuralgia, headaches, and gastrointestinal disturbances. After the initial response, persons usually become asymptomatic and remain so for years. As the infection continues to progress, the virus causes increasingly serious damage to the body’s immune system. This allows otherwise controllable infections to occur and cause severe, and ultimately fatal, diseases. Transmission is very specific and very limited. It is transmitted from an infected person to someone else by intimate sexual contact, sharing of needles, from a mother to her unborn child, and very rarely, through a blood transfusion.
Incubation Period
Highly variable, from months to years.
Period of Communicability
For the remainder of the person’s life following exposure to the virus.
Applicable Laws For Indiana Schools
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Children with HIV are allowed to attend school and may only be excluded if the exclusion provision found in IC 16-41-9-3 is met.
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All confidentiality requirements found in IC 16-41-8 must be followed. To link to this law, see "Related Sites/Additional Information" on this page.
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Universal Precautions must be used when there is possibility of contact with blood, body fluids containing blood, semen, or vaginal secretions. Schools must have a Blood Borne Pathogen Exposure Plan. (410 IAC 1-4)
School Nursing Implications
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Education is the key to control of spread in the school-age population.
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Use of gloves is recommended when dealing with non-blood containing vomitus, feces, urine, or other body fluid spills. Although HIV is not transmitted through these fluids, other communicable diseases may be, so barrier precautions are recommended.
Related Sites/Additional Information
www.cdc.gov/hiv/pubs/facts.htm
http://www.nih.gov/health/InformationIndex/HealthIndex/Pubincov.htm
HIV Quick Facts
- Where do I obtain a copy of an Indiana birth or death certificate?
- What is INShape Indiana?
- How do I create an INShape account?
- Where is the INShape Indiana login page?
- Can I talk to an INShape Indiana fitness trainer about my specific health needs?
- Can I talk to an INShape Indiana nutritionist about my specific health needs?
- Is the old INShape Indiana tracking system still available?
- As an adopted child, how do I get information about my birth parents?
- How do I request a representative from INShape Indiana to attend my event?
- How can I find out more about the flu epidemic?
