Glossary

active – an active drug is a drug that still works to reduce viral load. The virus is still sensitive to that drug.

antiretrovirals – the common name for any HIV drugs. HIV is a retrovirus, so drugs to fight HIV are called antiretrovirals. Also abbreviated to ARVs.

placenta – the placenta is a temporary organ that develops in pregnancy and joins the mother and foetus. The placenta acts as a filter. It transfers oxygen and nutrients from the mother to the foetus, and takes away carbon dioxide and waste products. The placenta is full of blood vessels.

The placenta is expelled from the mother’s body after the baby is born and it is no longer needed. It is sometimes called the afterbirth.

life cyle – the steps for an organism to reproduce or replicate.

The HIV life cycle includes:

• Attachment and binding to a CD4 cell).
• Fusion or joining the cell.
• Reverse transcription. When the single strand RNA becomes a double strand DNA.
• Integration. When the new double-strand virus enter the CD4 cell nucleus and is integrated into humn DNA.
• Replication. When new viral material is produced from the nucleus.
• Assembly and maturation. When new viral mateiral is cut up and reassembed to become new active virus.
• Budding. When the new virus leaves the CD4 cell.

See: HIV life cycle – how different drugs work in different ways.

varices – extended or swollen veins in the liver that can burst. They can be a complication of cirrhosis.