Dereck Smith is likely to be suffering from HIV/AIDS that has weakened the immune system. The exposure to this disease is from the injection of the drugs being abused. There is a high risk of contracting the disease in the population who use injection drugs due to the habits of sharing sharp objects (Fauci et al. 2020). In the process, they transmit infections to one another. As such, HIV/AIDS has been identified to be very prevalent among this population. Pneumocystis pneumonia.
How the immune system is weakened,
Song et al. (2016), when one is infected with HIV cells, the immune system responds by activating the innate immune system that involves the macrophages, dendritic cells, and the natural killer cells, which act as first-line defense mechanisms. Due to the specificity of the immune system, the cell mediated immune system is activated. The CD8+ cells lyse the virus cells to reduce viremia. However, due to the rapid replication of the retrovirus, viremia progresses, and CD4+ cells in the body continue to decrease in numbers to a very low count. At that particular point, the immune system is weaker, and the patient is susceptible to opportunistic infection. Pneumocystis pneumonia.
Clinical manifestations
HIV/AIDS is a gradually progressive disease that symptoms present with the weakening immunity and increased risk of opportunistic infection. Tchatchouang et al. (2019) noted that early signs include fever, chills, mouth ulcers, and sore throat. It enters a clinical latency. After that, rapid weight loss, Recurring fever, unexplained tiredness, lymph node swelling, diarrhea that lasts for more than a week, Sores of the mouth, anus, or genitals, neurologic disorders occur. Often these symptoms are a result of opportunistic infections. Pneumocystis pneumonia.
Plan of care
First, stabilnzing the patient is the priority. This is through starting oxygen therpy 2L via nasal cannula. Then administer acetaminophen which will serve as an antipyretic. The patient will be started on Highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART). Thereafter, started on sulfamethoxazile trimethoprim which will treat the current diagnosis and provide prophylaxis to other infections. Counseling is necessary to promote compliance with antiretroviral therapy. The patient will also need to be initiated on rehabilitative therapy (Fauci et al. 2020). This will reduce susceptibility to other severe opportunistic infections
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