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?