What does HIV look like under a microscope? | Dr. Carlo

Question 1

What does HIV look like under a microscope?

Accepted Answer

You can't see it with the regular light microscope used in a pathology lab. HIV is about 100 nanometers wide, a thousandth the thickness of paper. An electron microscope can show it, down to the layered protein shells inside. To find it, doctors use blood tests, such as viral load and antibody tests.

Question 2

If the stomach is so strong, why doesn't it destroy HIV when it gets in?

Accepted Answer

Stomach acid does kill many germs, but HIV doesn't come in that way. It goes straight into the blood or through mucous membranes, so the acid never reaches it. Once HIV is inside, most CD4 cells, the immune cells it attacks, are lost in the gut.

Question 3

What do your cells look like when they're infected with HIV, or once it has become AIDS?

Accepted Answer

Unlike herpes or HPV, HIV leaves no changes in cells you can spot under the microscope. What can be measured is its effect: a drop in CD4 cells, the immune cells it destroys. Once it becomes AIDS, the microscope does show something. It shows the opportunistic infections that take hold when defenses are low.

Question 4

What can you do to protect yourself from HIV?

Accepted Answer

Condoms are the foundation, and they also protect against other sexually transmitted infections. For people at higher risk, PrEP adds a medicine taken before exposure. People with HIV who stay on treatment also lower the risk of passing it on. After a risky exposure, PEP only works if started within 72 hours.