What precaution(s) would you recommend to a patient requiring repeated blood transfusion? If the advise is not followed by the patient, there is an apprehension that the patient might contract a disease that would destroy the immune system of his/her body. Explain with the help of schematic diagram only how the immune system would get affected and destroyed.

a. What precaution(s) would you recommend to a patient requiring repeated blood transfusion?

Question

What precaution(s) would you recommend to a patient requiring repeated blood transfusion?
If the advise is not followed by the patient, there is an apprehension that the patient might contract a disease that would destroy the immune system of his/her body. Explain with the help of schematic diagram only how the immune system would get affected and destroyed.

Diagram

Explain

Solution

a. For those who need frequent blood transfusions, we will advise taking the following safety measures. Use sterile syringes; stay away from contaminated needles, and don’t use the same needles twice, as this can spread HIV/AIDS. Furthermore, a drug addict shouldn’t donate blood. It is best to prevent transfusions of tainted blood or blood products.

b. If this advice is not being followed by the patient, he might contract AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome). AIDS is a serious health problem in which the immune system of the patient gets weakened greatly. It is caused by a virus named HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). It is a retrovirus, which attacks the helper T-cells of the body and greatly reduce their number. These helper T-cells are responsible for stimulating the antibody production by B-cells. Thus, reduction in their number results in the loss of natural defence of our body.
HIV can attack and replicate inside the host cell by using reverse transcription method, which is shown below: